[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3774 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3774

 To improve homeland security by providing for national resilience in 
preparation for, and in the event of, a terrorist attack, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2004

 Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island (for himself, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, 
   Mr. Turner of Texas, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Frost, and Mr. 
   Thompson of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Judiciary, 
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 improve homeland security by providing for national resilience in 
preparation for, and in the event of, a terrorist attack, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Resilience Development Act 
of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) According to the Institute of Medicine of the National 
        Academy of Sciences, the Department of Health and Human 
        Services and the Department of Homeland Security should analyze 
        terrorism preparedness to ensure that the public health 
        infrastructure is prepared to respond to the psychological 
        consequences of terrorism, and Federal, State, and local 
        disaster planners should address these psychological 
        consequences in their planning and preparedness for terrorist 
        attacks.
            (2) Research concerning the psychological impact of ongoing 
        terrorism in Israel published in the Journal of the American 
        Medical Association and ongoing research undertaken by the 
        National Institutes of Health demonstrate that there are 
        effective ways to enhance resilience and minimize the damaging 
        psychological impact of terrorism.
            (3) According to the New England Journal of Medicine, after 
        September 11, 2001, Americans across the country, including 
        children, had substantial symptoms of stress. Even clinicians 
        who practice in regions that are far from the sites of the 
        attacks should be prepared to assist people with trauma-related 
        symptoms of stress.
            (4) According to Military Medicine, experiences from the 
        1995 chemical weapons attack by terrorists in the Tokyo subway 
        system suggest that psychological casualties from a chemical 
        attack will outnumber physical casualties by approximately 4 to 
        1.
            (5) According to the Journal of the American Medical 
        Association, the lessons learned from the 2001 anthrax attacks 
        should motivate local health departments, health care 
        organizations, and clinicians to engage in collaborative 
        programs to enhance their communications and local preparedness 
        and response capabilities.
            (6) According to the National Advisory Committee on 
        Children and Terrorism, it is important to recognize that the 
        means through which the effects of terrorism are propagated are 
        largely psychological and that it will generally be the terror 
        generated by a major event, not the event itself, that will 
        have the greatest long-term negative impact on children and 
        families throughout the Nation. There is a great need for 
        increased attention to the promotion of family and community 
        resilience in terror and disaster planning.
            (7) According to ``Schools and Terrorism: A Supplement to 
        the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism 
Recommendations to the Secretary'', schools may or may not be the 
targets of terrorism, but they are certain to be affected by terrorism, 
because on any given weekday more than one-fifth of the United States 
population can be found in schools. Although the United States 
Department of Education strongly encourages every school to have an 
emergency management plan, few plans address how the school fits in 
with the larger public health and emergency management response to a 
community-wide event, such as a terrorist attack.
            (8) According to a national study by leading health care 
        foundations, in this time of growing threats of terrorism, many 
        doctors and other primary care providers are increasingly being 
        confronted with patients who complain of aches and pains, or 
        more serious symptoms, which mask serious anxiety or 
        depression.
            (9) Substantial effort and funding are still needed to 
        adequately understand and prepare for the psychological 
        consequences associated with bioterrorism.
            (10) The integration of mental health into public health 
        efforts, including integration and cooperation across Federal 
        agencies and State public health and mental health authorities, 
        is critical in addressing the psychological needs of the Nation 
        with regard to terrorism.

SEC. 3. GOALS.

    The goals of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To identify effective strategies to respond to the 
        behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts of terrorism and 
        their implications for disaster management and to integrate 
        these strategies into the United States' plans to mitigate, 
        plan for, respond to, and recover from potential and actual 
        terrorist attacks.
            (2) To coordinate the efforts of different government 
        agencies in researching, developing, and implementing programs 
        and protocols designed to increase the psychological resilience 
        and mitigate distress reactions and maladaptive behaviors of 
        the American public as they relate to terrorism.
            (3) To facilitate the work of the Department of Homeland 
        Security and other departments and agencies by incorporating 
        programs and protocols designed to increase the psychological 
        resilience of the American public and respond to the 
        behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts of terrorism and 
        their implications for disaster management, into those 
        Departments' and agencies' efforts in reducing the 
        vulnerability of the United States to terrorism.
            (4) To enable the States and localities to effectively 
        respond to the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts of 
        terrorism and their implications for disaster management and to 
        integrate appropriate strategies into their terrorism planning, 
        preparedness, and response efforts.
            (5) To integrate mental health and public health emergency 
        preparedness and response efforts in the United States.

SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON NATIONAL RESILIENCE.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) 
is amended by inserting after section 319K the following:

``SEC. 319L. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON NATIONAL RESILIENCE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall convene and lead an 
interagency task force for the purpose of increasing the psychological 
resilience of the American public and improving the ability of Federal, 
State, and local governments to respond to the behavioral, cognitive, 
and emotional impacts of terrorism and their implications for disaster 
management.
    ``(b) Members.--The task force convened under this section shall 
include the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, the 
Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 
Administration, the Director of the Office of Public Health Emergency 
Preparedness, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, and 
such other members as the Secretary deems appropriate.
    ``(c) Duties.--The duties of the task force convened under this 
section shall include the following:
            ``(1) Coordinating and facilitating the efforts of the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National 
        Institute of Mental Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental 
        Health Services Administration, the Health Resources and 
        Services Administration, the Office of Public Health Emergency 
        Preparedness, and the Office of the Surgeon General of the 
        Public Health Service in their endeavors to develop and 
        implement programs and protocols designed to increase the 
        psychological resilience of the American public and respond to 
        the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts of terrorism 
        and their implications for disaster management, including by 
        integrating appropriate strategies into the Department of 
        Health and Human Service's terrorism preparedness, response, 
        and recovery efforts.
            ``(2) Consulting with, and providing guidance to, the 
        Department of Homeland Security to integrate into its efforts 
        in reducing the vulnerability of the United States to 
        terrorism, programs and protocols designed to increase the 
        psychological resilience of the American public and respond to 
        the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts of terrorism 
        and their implications for disaster management.
            ``(3) Consulting with the Department of Defense, the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Labor, the 
        American Red Cross, national organizations of health care and 
        health care providers, national organizations representing 
        public safety officials, and such other organizations and 
        agencies as the task force deems appropriate to advance 
        understanding of successful strategies to respond to the 
        behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts of terrorism and 
        their implications for disaster management and to coordinate 
        implementation of such strategies.
            ``(4) Consulting with the Department of Education on the 
        impact of terrorism on children and schools' role in the 
        development, implementation, and coordination of strategies to 
        increase children's psychological resilience and respond to the 
        behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts of terrorism.
            ``(5) Consulting with and providing guidance to the States 
        and local governments for the purpose of enabling them to 
        effectively respond to the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional 
        impacts of terrorism and their implications for disaster 
        management.
            ``(6) Developing strategies for encouraging State and local 
        public health and mental health agencies to closely collaborate 
        in the development of integrated, science-based programs and 
        protocols designed to increase the psychological resilience of 
        the American public and respond to the behavioral, cognitive, 
        and emotional impacts of terrorism and their implications for 
        disaster management.
            ``(7) Preparing and presenting to the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services and the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        specific recommendations on how their respective departments, 
        agencies, and offices can strengthen existing and planned 
        terrorism preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation 
        initiatives by integrating programs and protocols designed to 
        increase the psychological resilience of the American public 
        and respond to the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impacts 
        of terrorism and their implications for disaster management.
    ``(d) Meetings.--The task force convened under this section shall 
meet not less than 4 times each year.
    ``(e) Staff.--The Secretary shall staff the task force as necessary 
to ensure it is able to perform the duties described in subsection 
(c).''.

SEC. 5. ACTIVITIES OF STATES, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND TERRITORIES 
              REGARDING NATIONAL RESILIENCE.

    (a) Public Health Service Act.--Subsection (d) of section 319C-1 of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d-3a) is amended by 
inserting after paragraph (18) the following:
            ``(19) To enable State mental health authorities, in close 
        collaboration with the respective State public health 
        authorities and the interagency task force convened under 
        section 319L, to better understand and manage human emotional, 
        behavioral, and cognitive responses to disasters, including by 
        increasing the psychological resilience of the public and 
        mitigating distress reactions and maladaptive behaviors that 
        could occur in response to a conventional, biological, 
        chemical, or radiological attack on the United States.''.
    (b) USA Patriot Act.--Subsection (b) of section 1014 of the Uniting 
and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to 
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (42 
U.S.C. 3714) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``may be used to purchase'' and inserting 
        ``may be used for the following:
            ``(1) To purchase'';
            (2) by striking ``In addition, grants under this section 
        may be used to construct'' and inserting the following:
            ``(2) To construct''; and
            (3) by inserting at the end the following:
            ``(3) To enable State mental health authorities, in close 
        collaboration with the respective State public health 
        authorities and the interagency task force convened under 
        section 319L of the Public Health Service Act, to better 
        understand and manage human emotional, behavioral, and 
        cognitive responses to disasters, including by increasing the 
        psychological resilience of the public and mitigating distress 
        reactions and maladaptive behaviors that could occur in 
        response to a conventional, biological, chemical, or 
        radiological attack on the United States.''.

SEC. 6. EFFORTS BY FEMA REGARDING NATIONAL RESILIENCE.

    Paragraph (2) of section 507(a) of the Homeland Security Act of 
2002 (6 U.S.C. 317(a)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, including the 
        risk of psychological injury'' before the semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``and the 
        psychological consequences of trauma'' before the semicolon; 
        and
            (3) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``overcome the 
        psychological consequences of trauma,'' before ``life,''.

SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARIES OF HHS AND HOMELAND SECURITY.

    Not less than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and 
the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly, shall submit a 
report to the Congress that includes the following:
            (1) The recommendations of the interagency task force 
        convened under section 319L of the Public Health Service Act 
        (as amended by section 4 of this Act) that are relevant to the 
        Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of 
        Homeland Security.
            (2) A description of the steps that have or have not been 
        taken by each Federal department to implement the 
        recommendations described in paragraph (1).
            (3) Thorough explanations for rejection of any 
        recommendations made by the interagency task force convened 
        under section 319L.
            (4) Other steps undertaken to meet the goals of this Act.
                                 <all>