[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4663 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4663

   To authorize funds to compensate New York City public schools for 
 operating and education-related expenses (including mental health and 
 trauma counseling and other appropriate support services), resulting 
     from the terrorist attack on such city on September 11, 2001.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 3, 2002

  Mr. Sweeney (for himself, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Nadler, Mr. 
Towns, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Rangel, and Mr. Engel) introduced 
      the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize funds to compensate New York City public schools for 
 operating and education-related expenses (including mental health and 
 trauma counseling and other appropriate support services), resulting 
     from the terrorist attack on such city on September 11, 2001.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade 
        Center represented the single greatest act of terrorism 
        perpetrated against the United States.
            (2) The Federal Government has responded quickly and 
        provided many of the necessary resources to begin the 
        rebuilding process in New York City, New York.
            (3) September 11, 2001, had a damaging impact on the 
        1,100,000 students, 137,000 staff members (superintendents, 
        principals, teachers, administrators and staff), and millions 
        of families comprising the New York City public schools 
        (referred to in this Act as the ``NYCPS'') community.
            (4) More than 1,500 students and 800 staff members lost a 
        family member or loved one as a result of the disaster.
            (5) Faculty and staff of the NYCPS reacted with 
        extraordinary calm, grace, and bravery to evacuate and ensure 
        that every child in their care was safe. Their diligence 
        prevented even a single injury from occurring in the midst of 
        unprecedented mayhem.
            (6) The Chancellor of the New York City Board of Education, 
        members of community school boards, principals, assistant 
        principals, teachers, and counselors worked tirelessly after 
        the event to ensure that schools resumed classes and returned 
        to their regular school schedule as soon as possible. They also 
        worked aggressively to restore a safe, supportive school 
        environment and to regain normalcy and stability throughout the 
        entire school system.
            (7) The closure of certain bridges and tunnels to 
        Manhattan, New York City, New York, in the aftermath of the 
        disaster, impacted not only Manhattan-resident students. 
        Approximately 50,000 students (a population that exceeds the 
        individual student enrollments of school districts for the 
        cities of Atlanta, Georgia, Oakland, California, Minneapolis, 
        Minnesota, and Seattle, Washington) from other boroughs that 
        attend school in Manhattan were affected by travel disruptions 
        and lost instructional time.
            (8) Extended classroom instruction is needed for all 
        students who lost valuable lesson time as a result of the 
        September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. Without this extra help, 
        student performance on high-stakes standardized tests may 
        suffer. Failure to prepare students adequately for State and 
        city examinations will increase the risk for such students to 
        repeat a grade and further strain the already limited resources 
        of the school system.
            (9) A recent study commissioned by the Board of Education 
        of the City of New York, New York, and conducted by Applied 
        Research and Consulting and the Columbia University School of 
        Public Health found profound effects since September 11, 2001, 
        on the mental health of schoolchildren across New York City, 
        New York, not just those in close proximity to Ground Zero. 
        Their report indicates that more than a fourth of New York City 
        schoolchildren surveyed in the 4th through 12th grades are 
        suffering from at least one trauma-related disorder in the wake 
        of last fall's attack on the World Trade Center. These 
        disorders include major depression (8.4 percent), posttraumatic 
        stress (10.5 percent), agoraphobia (15 percent), separation 
        anxiety (12.3 percent), acting out (10.9 percent), general 
        anxiety (10.3 percent), and panic anxiety (9.3 percent).
            (10) Based on the findings of this study, NYCPS needs 
        additional resources for mental health and trauma counseling 
        and other appropriate support services to meet the mental 
        health needs of students impacted by the single worst terrorist 
        attack in the United States.
            (11) The NYCPS system incurred significant expenses as a 
        result of the terrorist attack. These costs include clean up 
        and repair costs, loss of textbooks and classroom supplies, and 
        transportation and food revenue losses. The Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency and other Federal agencies have yet to 
        provide adequate resources to address these losses.
            (12) The Federal Government provided resources to the 
        school systems of Miami-Dade, Florida, Los Angeles, California, 
        and Columbine, Colorado after those districts incurred 
        extraordinary expenses resulting from a traumatic event or 
        disaster. The Government needs to partner with the New York 
        City public school system to ensure that it receives similar 
        Federal assistance in the wake of this tragedy.
            (13) The President of the United States instructed the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency on September 11, 2001, to 
        do whatever it takes to help those affected by the terrorist 
        attacks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency needs to 
        commit to ensuring that those instructions are carried out.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency and other appropriate Federal agencies have 
the authority and direction to provide necessary resources to the New 
York City public school system to meet any extraordinary expenses 
resulting from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and to 
prevent any of the resulting financial losses from infringing on the 
ability of the system to provide all school children of New York City, 
New York, with a fair and equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality 
education.

SEC. 2. USE OF FUNDS.

    From the amounts appropriated to the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency for fiscal year 2002, $161,000,000 may be used to compensate the 
New York City, New York, Board of Education for additional operational 
and education-related expenses (including mental health and trauma 
counseling and other appropriate support services) for the period 
beginning September 11, 2001 and ending December 31, 2002, resulting 
from the terrorist attack on New York City, New York, on September 11, 
2001, including the following activities:
            (1) Providing additional classroom instruction time and 
        related activities to students who lost instructional time as a 
        result of the terrorist attack.
            (2) The cost of providing mental health and trauma 
        counseling and other appropriate support services to students 
        suffering from trauma-related disorders resulting from the 
        events of September 11, 2001.
            (3) The cost of providing guidance and grief counseling and 
        mental health services, including overtime payment for 
        counselors and mental health professionals, for students and 
        school staff.
            (4) Clean up and structural inspections and repairs of 
        school facilities.
            (5) Reimbursement for textbooks and other school supplies 
        and equipment used to support the relocation of students from 
        schools in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City, New York.
            (6) The cost of relocating students, including 
        transportation of students relocated from schools such students 
        attended at the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year to 
        temporary school facilities and reimbursement for the amount 
        expended for the daily rate of bus service paid by the New York 
        City, New York, Board of Education.
            (7) Reimbursement for loss of perishable food stock and 
        revenue lost from food services.
                                 <all>