ACES Act

The bill would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine within 30 days of enactment to study cancer rates among veterans who served as active-duty aircrew on fixed-wing aircraft — including pilots, navigators, weapons systems operators, and other regular fliers. The study would identify occupational exposures (chemicals, compounds, agents, and other phenomena), review existing scientific literature on their links to specific cancers, and use VA, Defense Department, and public health databases to assess prevalence and mortality for up to a dozen named cancer types plus others the VA deems appropriate. The National Academies would submit a final report to the VA and the Veterans' Affairs committees in both chambers.

The bill would not itself establish new benefits or presumptions for affected veterans; its operative effect is to commission a study. It also makes a narrow technical amendment extending a pension payment deadline by one month — from November 30, 2031 to December 31, 2031 — in title 38 of the United States Code.

Veterans who served on active duty as aircrew members of fixed-wing aircraft — pilots, navigators, weapons systems operators, aircraft system operators, and other crew who regularly flew — are the population studied. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine would be directly tasked. Veterans' Affairs committees in both chambers would receive the final report.

If the study finds elevated cancer rates or clear exposure links, it could lay the scientific groundwork for Congress or the VA to expand disability presumptions or health benefits for military aircrews — a population not currently covered by major toxic-exposure programs like the PACT Act. Without such evidence, benefit claims for these veterans remain difficult to establish individually.

The VA would have 30 days after enactment to initiate negotiations with the National Academies, then 60 days to finalize the agreement. If the VA misses that deadline, it must report to the Veterans' Affairs committees explaining the delay and provide progress briefings every 60 days until the agreement is signed. The study would draw on VA and Defense Department administrative health databases, the CDC's national death index, and a prior study conducted under the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act. At completion, the National Academies would submit findings to the VA Secretary and both Veterans' Affairs committees.