The current draft language of the 1994 U.S. House of Representative's Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3116), includes language calling for a demonstration project for chiropractors as commissioned officers in the military. The "Report of the Committee on Appropriations" that accompanies H.R. 3116 states:
"The fiscal year 1993 Defense Authorization Bill provided authority for the Department to appoint Doctors of Chiropractic as commissioned officers of the Armed Forces. To date, the Department has chosen not to use this permissive authority. The Committee recommends that the Department consider establishing a chiropractic services demonstration project at four military medical centers to test efficacy, efficiency and cost savings attributed to chiropractic health care services. The Department should provide a progress report to the Committee not late than March 31, 1994, on this project."
The appropriations bill, including the chiropractic demonstration project proposal, goes before the U.S. Senate for consideration.
The positive outcomes of such demonstration projects would of course be critical for chiropratic's hopes to breakdown the military roadblock that has detoured chiropractic inclusion in the military these many years.
