WASHINGTON _ The Department of Defense would be required to identify how many of its current or former aviators have been diagnosed with cancer in bills passed by the House and Senate this week, a study long sought by military pilots who have questioned why there are so many serious illnesses in their community.
The legislation was included in both chambers' versions of the $740 billion fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act following a series of stories by McClatchy on the alarming clusters of cancer among current or former military aviators, including four commanding officers at a premiere Navy weapons testing base in California who have died of cancer since 2015.
The two versions of the 2021 spending bill will now go to House and Senate negotiators to iron out differences before being sent to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
