PUBLIC LAW 103-160—NOV. 30, 1993 107 STAT. 1613 SEC. 269. AUTHORIZED USE FOR FACILITY CONSTRUCTED WITH PRIOR DEFENSE GRANT FUNDS. The plasma arc facilities constructed using funds provided under grants made to the South Carolina Research Authority from amounts appropriated in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1988 (Public Law 100-463), and the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1991 (Public Law 101-511), may be equipped and operated as prototype materials processing facilities. SEC. 270. GRANT TO SUPPORT RESEARCH ON EXPOSURE TO HAZARD- OUS AGENTS AND BfATERIALS BY MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO SERVED IN THfe PERSIAN GULF WAR. (a) FINDINGS.— Congress makes the following findings: (1) A number of veterans of the Persian Gulf War have reported unexplained illnesses and claim that such illnesses are a consequence of exposure to hazardous agents or materials as a result of service m Southwest Asia during the Persian GulfWar. (2) Reports indicate that members of the Armed Forces who served in Southwest Asia diuing the Persian Gulf War may have been exposed to hazardous agents, including chemical warfare agents, biotoxins, and other substances during such service. (3) It is in the interest of the United States that medical professionals providing care to members of the Armed Forces and to veterans understand the nature of the illnesses that such members and veterans may contract in order to ensure that such professionals have sumcient information to provide proper care to such members and veterans. (b) GRANT TO SUPPORT ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH FACILITY To STUDY LOW-LEVEL CHEMICAL SENsmviriES.— The Secretary of Defense is authorized to make a grant in the amount of $1,200,000 to a medical research institution for the purpose of constructing and equipping a specialized environmental medical facility at that institution for the conduct of research into the possible health effect of exposure to low levels of hazardous chemicals, including chemical warfare agents and other substances and the individual susceptibility of humans to such exposure under environmentally controlled conditions, and for the conduct of such research, especially among persons who served on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. The grant shall be made in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Health and Himian Services. The institution to which the grant is to be made shall be selected through established acquisition procedures. (c) FUNDING SOURCE.— Funds for the grant under subsection (b) shall be made from amounts appropriated to the Department of Defense for fiscal year 1994 for research, development, test, and evaluation. (d) SELECTION CRITISRIA.— TO be eligible to be selected for a grant under subsection (b), an institution must meet each of the following requirements: (1) Be affiliated with an accredited hospital and be affiliated with, and in close proximity to, a Department of Defense medical and a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. (2) Enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Defense to ensure that research personnel of those affiliated medical
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