[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 566 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 566

 To provide protections and services to certain individuals after the 
terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, in New York City, in the State 
                  of New York, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 2005

Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Mr. Shays, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Owens, Mr. Kind, 
Mr. McDermott, Mrs. McCarthy, and Mr. Hinchey) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 provide protections and services to certain individuals after the 
terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, in New York City, in the State 
                  of New York, 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 ``Remember 9/11 Health Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Thousands of rescue workers who responded to the areas 
        devastated by the terrorist attacks of September 11th and local 
        residents continue to suffer significant medical problems as a 
        result of compromised air quality and other toxins at the 
        attack sites.
            (2) To date, the Mount Sinai Center for Occupational and 
        Environmental Medicine in New York City has examined 
        approximately 9,000 first responders and Ground Zero workers. 
        Of those examined, more than 50 percent show physical or mental 
        health problems that are directly related to their work at the 
        World Trade Center and Fresh Kill sites.
            (3) It appears that no Federal program exists to support 
        fully the medical treatment of those who responded to the 
        September 11th aftermath and who continue to experience health 
        problems as a result.
            (4) A significant portion of those who responded to the 
        September 11th aftermath have no health insurance, lost their 
        health insurance as a result of the attacks, or have inadequate 
        health insurance for the medical conditions they developed as a 
        result of recovery work at the World Trade Center site.
            (5) Rescue workers and volunteers seeking workers 
        compensation apparently have had their applications denied, 
        delayed for months, or redirected, instead of receiving 
        assistance in a timely and supportive manner.
            (6) Confusion still exists within the population of 
        recovery workers and first responders about where to obtain 
        compensation for income losses and medical costs related to 
        their service in the September 11th recovery effort.
            (7) Residents of the City of New York need to be included 
        in any health monitoring program to best protect their long-
        term health.
            (8) Federal aid allocated for the monitoring of rescue 
        workers' health may need to be increased to ensure the long-
        term study of health impacts of 9/11.
            (9) Research on the health impacts of the devastation 
        caused by the September 11th terrorist attacks has started, 
        with initial findings of relationships between the air quality 
        from Ground Zero and a host of health impacts including, lower 
        pregnancy rates, lower birth weights in babies born nine months 
        after the disaster, and higher rates of respiratory and lung 
        disorders in workers and residents near Ground Zero.
            (10) Further research is needed to evaluate more 
        comprehensively the health impacts of September 11 and research 
        is needed regarding possible treatment for the illnesses and 
        injuries of September 11.
            (11) The Federal response to medical issues arising from 
        September 11th response efforts need improvement to meet the 
        needs of rescue workers and local residents still suffering 
        health problems from the disaster.
            (12) A Federal agency or official needs to be designated to 
        coordinate and monitor the overall Federal response to the 
        health impacts of September 11.

SEC. 3. HEALTH CARE INSURANCE.

    Subtitle B of title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 630. PROTECTIONS FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.

    ``(a) Work Injuries.--For the purposes of subchapter I of chapter 
81 of title 5, United States Code, relating to compensation to Federal 
employees for work injuries, eligible recipients as defined in 
subsection (d) under this Act shall be deemed civil employees of the 
United States within the meaning of the term `employee' as defined in 
section 8101 of title 5, United States Code, and the provisions of that 
subchapter shall apply.
    ``(b) Personal Property.--For the purpose of claims relating to 
damage to, or loss of, personal property of an eligible recipient 
incident to service, an eligible recipient under this Act shall be 
considered in the same manner as if such eligible recipient was a civil 
employee of the Government of the United States, except that an 
eligible recipient shall not be responsible for the payment of any 
health care expenses, including mental health coverage, prescription 
drugs, or copayments for all health and mental health care expenses 
that result from exposure to the adverse conditions after the terrorist 
attack on September 11, 2001.
    ``(c) General Rule.--Except as otherwise provided in this section, 
an eligible recipient shall not be deemed a Federal employee and shall 
not be subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal employment, 
including those relating to hours of work, rates of compensation, 
leave, unemployment compensation, and Federal employee benefits.
    ``(d) Eligible Recipient Defined.--
            ``(1) Eligible recipient.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (2), for purposes of this section, the term `eligible 
        recipient' means--
                    ``(A) emergency service personnel and rescue and 
                recovery personnel who responded to the terrorist 
                attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, in New 
                York City, in the State of New York, any time during 
                the period of September 11, 2001, through August 31, 
                2002;
                    ``(B) any other worker or volunteer who responded 
                to such attacks, including--
                            ``(i) a police officer;
                            ``(ii) a firefighter;
                            ``(iii) an emergency medical technician;
                            ``(iv) a transit worker;
                            ``(v) any participating member of an urban 
                        search and rescue team;
                            ``(vi) a Federal or State employee;
                            ``(vii) any other relief or rescue worker 
                        or volunteer whom the Secretary determines to 
                        be appropriate;
                            ``(viii) a person who assisted in the 
                        recovery of human remains; and
                            ``(ix) a person who assisted in the 
                        criminal investigation;
                    ``(C) a worker who responded to such attacks by 
                assisting in the cleanup or restoration of critical 
                infrastructure in and around New York City;
                    ``(D) a person whose place of residence is in the 
                declared disaster area;
                    ``(E) a person who was employed in or attended 
                school, child care, or adult day care in a building 
                located in the declared disaster area any time during 
                the period of September 11, 2001, through August 31, 
                2002; and
                    ``(F) any other person whom the Secretary 
                determines to be appropriate.
            ``(2) Notwithstanding the determination requirements of 
        paragraph (1), the immediate family members of an individual 
        who is an eligible recipient under paragraph (1) may receive 
        benefits under this section if the eligible recipient--
                    ``(A) is or was on the date of the September 11th 
                attacks the policy holder for such family; and
                    ``(B) received family health insurance as of 
                September 11, 2001.''.

SEC. 4. HEALTH SCREENINGS, EXAMINATIONS, AND MONITORING SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Part B of title III of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317R 
the following section:

``SEC. 317T. CERTAIN HEALTH SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS ASSISTING WITH 
              RESPONSE TO SEPTEMBER 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK 
              CITY.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall make awards of 
grants or cooperative agreements for the purpose of carrying out 
baseline and follow-up screening and clinical examinations, and long-
term health monitoring and analysis, for covered individuals who meet 
the eligibility criteria under subsection (d).
    ``(b) Covered Individuals.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`covered individuals' means--
            ``(1) emergency service personnel and rescue and recovery 
        personnel who responded to the terrorist attacks that occurred 
        on September 11, 2001, in New York City, in the State of New 
        York, any time during the period of September 11, 2001, through 
        August 31, 2002;
            ``(2) any other worker or volunteer who responded to such 
        attacks, including--
                    ``(A) a police officer;
                    ``(B) a firefighter;
                    ``(C) an emergency medical technician;
                    ``(D) a transit worker;
                    ``(E) any participating member of an urban search 
                and rescue team;
                    ``(F) Federal and State employees;
                    ``(G) a person who worked to recover human remains;
                    ``(H) a person who worked on the criminal 
                investigation; and
                    ``(I) any other relief or rescue worker or 
                volunteer whom the Secretary determines to be 
                appropriate;
            ``(3) a worker who responded to such attacks by assisting 
        in the cleanup or restoration of critical infrastructure in and 
        around the designated disaster area;
            ``(4) a person whose place of residence is in the declared 
        disaster area;
            ``(5) a person who is employed in or attends school, child 
        care, or adult day care in a building located in the declared 
        disaster area; and
            ``(6) any other person whom the Secretary determines to be 
        appropriate.
    ``(c) Award Recipient.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to the submission of an 
        application satisfactory to the Secretary, awards under 
        subsection (a) shall be made only to--
                    ``(A) the consortium of medical entities that, 
                pursuant to the program referred to in subsection (g), 
                provided health services described in subsection (a) 
                during fiscal year 2003 for the personnel described in 
                subsection (b)(1), subject to the consortium meeting 
                the criteria established in paragraph (2); and
                    ``(B) the separate program carried out by the New 
                York City Fire Department.
            ``(2) Criteria.--For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the 
        criteria described in this paragraph for the consortium 
        referred to in such paragraph are that the consortium has 
        appropriate experience in the areas of environmental or 
        occupational health, toxicology, and safety, including 
        experience in--
                    ``(A) developing clinical protocols and conducting 
                clinical health examinations, including mental health 
                assessments;
                    ``(B) conducting long-term health monitoring and 
                epidemiological studies;
                    ``(C) conducting long-term mental health studies; 
                and
                    ``(D) establishing and maintaining medical 
                surveillance programs and environmental exposure or 
                disease registries.
    ``(d) Eligibility of Covered Individuals.--The Secretary shall 
determine eligibility criteria for covered individuals to receive 
health services under subsection (a). Such criteria shall include the 
requirement that a covered individual may not receive services through 
the program under such section unless the individual enrolls in the 
program.
    ``(e) Certain Program Requirements.--With respect to the program 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide for the following:
            ``(1) Awards under subsection (a) shall designate an amount 
        to be available only for covered individuals who--
                    ``(A) are active or retired firefighters of New 
                York City; and
                    ``(B) in responding to the terrorist attacks of 
                September 11, 2001, provided services in the immediate 
                vicinity of the World Trade Center.
            ``(2) A covered individual enrolled in the program may not 
        receive services under the program for a period exceeding 20 
        years after the date on which the individual first receive 
        services under the program, except that the Secretary may 
        designate a longer period if the Secretary determines that a 
        longer period is appropriate with respect to the health of 
        covered individuals.
            ``(3) The program may not establish a maximum enrollment 
        number of fewer than 40,000 covered individuals.
    ``(f) Authority Regarding Treatment.--The Secretary may, to the 
extent determined appropriate by the Secretary, authorize the program 
under subsection (a) to provide treatment services to covered 
individuals who have no other means of obtaining treatment.
    ``(g) Relation to Certain Program.--Effective on and after the date 
of the enactment of the Remember 9/11 Health Act, the two programs 
carried out pursuant to the appropriation of $90,000,000 made in Public 
Law 107-206 under the heading `Public Health and Social Services 
Emergency Fund', which programs provide health services described in 
subsection (a) for the personnel described in subsection (b)(1), shall 
be considered to be carried out under authority of this section and 
shall be subject to the requirements of this section, except for any 
period of transition determined appropriate by the Secretary, not to 
exceed one year after such date of enactment.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of awards 
under subsection (a), there are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2024, in 
addition to any other authorizations of appropriations that are 
available for such purpose.''.
    (b) Programs Regarding Attack at Pentagon.--The Secretary of Health 
and Human Services may, to the extent determined appropriate by the 
Secretary, establish with respect to the terrorist attack at the 
Pentagon on September 11, 2001, programs similar to the programs that 
are established in sections 317T and 409J of the Public Health Service 
Act with respect to the terrorist attacks on such date in New York 
City, in the State of New York.

SEC. 5. RESEARCH REGARDING CERTAIN HEALTH CONDITIONS.

    Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 409I the following 
section:

``SEC. 409J. RESEARCH REGARDING CERTAIN HEALTH CONDITIONS OF 
              INDIVIDUALS ASSISTING WITH RESPONSE TO SEPTEMBER 11 
              TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK CITY.

    ``(a) In General.--With respect to covered individuals as defined 
in section 317T, the Director of NIH shall conduct or support--
            ``(1) diagnostic research on qualifying health conditions 
        of such individuals, in the case of conditions for which there 
        has been diagnostic uncertainty; and
            ``(2) research on treating qualifying health conditions of 
        such individuals, in the case of conditions for which there has 
        been treatment uncertainty.
    ``(b) Qualifying Health Conditions.--For purposes of this section, 
the term `qualifying health conditions' means adverse health conditions 
that are considered by the Secretary to be associated with exposure to 
one or more of the sites of the terrorist attacks that occurred on 
September 11, 2001, in New York City, in the State of New York.
    ``(c) Consultation With Certain Medical Consortium.--The Secretary 
shall carry out this section in consultation with--
            ``(1) the consortium of medicine entities referred to in 
        section 317T(c)(1); and
            ``(2) the firefighters department of New York City, and the 
        union for the firefighters of such department.
    ``(d) Annual Report.--The Director of NIH shall annually submit to 
the Congress a report describing the findings of research under 
subsection (a).
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2009, in 
addition to any other authorizations of appropriations that are 
available for such purpose.''.

SEC. 6. 9/11 HEALTH EMERGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall convene a council, to be known as ``9/11 Health Emergency 
Coordinating Council'' (in this section referred to as the 
``Council''), for the following purposes:
            (1) Discussing, examining, and formulating recommendations 
        with respect to the adequacy and coordination of the following:
                    (A) Response by the Federal Government, State 
                governments, local governments, and the private sector 
                to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
                    (B) Care and compensation for the victims of such 
                attacks.
                    (C) Federal tracking of the monitoring of, and 
                possible treatment for, individuals who are directly 
                suffering from, or may have long-term health effects 
                from, such attacks.
                    (D) Coordination among the members of the Council 
                in responding to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 
                2001.
            (2) In accordance with subsection (c), rendering advisory 
        opinions on the scope of any obligation of the Federal 
        Government resulting from the terrorist attacks of September 
        11, 2001, relative to any obligation of an insurance company 
        resulting from such attacks.
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Chairperson.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services (or the Secretary's designee) shall serve as the 
        chairperson of the Council.
            (2) Required members.--The members of the Council shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) The Secretary of Defense (or the Secretary's 
                designee).
                    (B) The Secretary of Labor (or the Secretary's 
                designee).
                    (C) The Director of the Federal Emergency 
                Management Agency (or the Director's designee).
                    (D) The Director of the National Institutes of 
                Health (or the Director's designee).
                    (E) The Director of the National Institute for 
                Occupational Safety and Health (or the Director's 
                designee).
                    (F) A representative of the Crime Victims Fund 
                established under section 1402 of the Victims of Crime 
                Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601).
            (3) Invitees.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        shall invite the following individuals to serve as members of 
        the Council:
                    (A) The Governor of the State of New York (or the 
                Governor's designee).
                    (B) The Mayor of New York City (or the Mayor's 
                designee).
                    (C) 1 representative of the New York City Fire 
                Department.
                    (D) 2 representatives of the unions of New York 
                City Fire Department employees.
                    (E) 1 representative of the New York City Police 
                Department.
                    (F) 2 representatives of the unions of New York 
                City Police Department employees.
                    (G) 1 representative of the police department of 
                the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
                    (H) 2 representatives of the union of the police 
                department of the Port Authority of New York and New 
                Jersey.
                    (I) 1 representative of the New York State 
                Department of Health.
                    (J) 1 representative of the New York State Workers' 
                Compensation Board.
                    (K) 1 representative of the New York City 
                Department of Health.
                    (L) 1 representative of the New York City Office of 
                Emergency Management.
                    (M) 1 representative of the Association of 
                Occupational and Environmental Clinics.
                    (N) 1 representative of the New York Committee for 
                Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH).
                    (O) 1 representative of charitable organizations 
                that had volunteers at Ground Zero.
                    (P) 10 representatives of labor unions in New York 
                City that--
                            (i) are not otherwise listed in this 
                        paragraph; and
                            (ii) reflect a cross section of labor 
                        unions (including construction, municipal, and 
                        other labor unions) whose members responded to, 
                        or assisted with the cleanup resulting from, 
                        the attacks of September 11, 2001.
                    (Q) 5 representatives of nonprofit volunteer 
                entities that assisted in recovery efforts following 
                the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
                    (R) 5 representatives of a regional occupational 
                provider that--
                            (i) works with the World Trade Center 
                        Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program; 
                        and
                            (ii) is under the direction of the Mount 
                        Sinai Center for Occupational and Environmental 
                        Medicine.
    (c) Advisory Opinions.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Council may 
        render an advisory opinion on the scope of any obligation of 
        the Federal Government resulting from the terrorist attacks of 
        September 11, 2001, relative to any obligation of an insurance 
        company resulting from such attacks.
            (2) Limitation.--The Council may issue an advisory opinion 
        described in this subsection only at the request of a party to 
        one of the obligations involved.
    (d) Meetings.--The Council shall meet not less than 4 times each 
calendar year.
    (e) Reports.--Not less than once each calendar year, the Council 
shall submit to the Congress a report on the recommendations of the 
Council.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary 
for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2015.
                                 <all>