[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1705 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1705

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 
of a homeland security academic centers for public health preparedness 
                                network.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 15, 2001

   Mr. Bond introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 
of a homeland security academic centers for public health preparedness 
                                network.

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

SECTION 1. HOMELAND SECURITY ACADEMIC CENTERS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH 
              PREPAREDNESS NETWORK.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting 
after section 319G (42 U.S.C. 247d-7) the following:

``SEC. 319H. HOMELAND SECURITY ACADEMIC CENTERS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH 
              PREPAREDNESS NETWORK.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the `Director'), 
acting through the Centers for Public Health Preparedness program, 
shall establish a national network of academic centers for public 
health preparedness to train and prepare the national public health 
workforce, health care providers and the general public against 
terrorist threats.
    ``(b) Composition.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this section, the Director, acting through the cooperative 
agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 
the Association of Schools of Public Health, shall establish the 
network described in subsection (a) through the creation or funding of 
not less than 25 centers for public health preparedness, including 
centers funded or approved by the Public Health Practice Program Office 
prior to such date of enactment.
    ``(c) Functions.--Each center funded under this section, shall--
            ``(1) provide training and education to State and local 
        health department staff, emergency first responders, and 
        primary and acute care providers concerning the best practices 
        necessary to protect against, and respond to, the array of 
        potential threats facing the American public, including 
        bioterrorism, infectious disease, and weapons of mass 
        destruction;
            ``(2) provide information to health care providers and 
        other components of the health care industry on the threats 
        described in paragraph (1);
            ``(3) provide information and education on relevant 
        bioterrorist threats to the public; and
            ``(4) assist the Director, as requested, to improve the 
        evaluation, monitoring, risk and threat assessment, 
        communications, and research about homeland security threats 
        affecting the public health.
    ``(d) Expertise.--Each center funded under this section shall be 
located at an accredited school of public health, or an academic 
institution that is likely to have an accredited school of public 
health within the 5-year period beginning on the date on which the 
center is established at such institution.
    ``(e) Traineeships.--Not less than 25 percent of the amount 
provided in each fiscal year to a center under this section shall be 
used for traineeships to enable students to receive certificates in 
public health or Masters in Public Health degrees.
    ``(f) Center Funding.--The Director shall provide not less than 
$1,000,000 in each fiscal year to each center established or otherwise 
funded under this section, and may provide additional sums in each such 
year if the Director determines that additional resources are necessary 
to carry out regional or national training activities at a particular 
center.
    ``(g) Public Health Preparedness Workforce Strategy.--Not later 
than 6 months after the date of enactment of this section, the Director 
shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives, a detailed strategy, including schedule, target 
audiences and curriculum content, on how the network of academic 
centers will assist the United States to train and educate the national 
public health workforce on homeland security threats that could 
potentially affect the public health.
    ``(h) Evaluation.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
enactment of this section, the Director shall undertake an evaluation 
of the effectiveness of the network established under this section in 
meeting the goals established by the Director.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $50,000,000 for fiscal year 
2002, $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, $80,000,000 for fiscal year 
2004, $95,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, and such sums as may be 
necessary for each subsequent fiscal year.''.
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