[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3482 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3482

  To provide for the establishment of a volunteer corps to aid in the 
 dissemination and distribution of vaccines and other countermeasures 
                   during a public health emergency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 8, 2006

  Mr. Harkin (for himself and Mrs. Clinton) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the establishment of a volunteer corps to aid in the 
 dissemination and distribution of vaccines and other countermeasures 
                   during a public health emergency.

    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 ``Volunteer Vaccine and Countermeasure 
Corps Development Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. VOLUNTEER VACCINE AND COUNTERMEASURE CORPS.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a 
Volunteer Vaccine and Countermeasures Corps (referred to in this 
section as the ``Corps'') to facilitate the distribution and provision 
of vaccines, or other biological, chemical, or nuclear countermeasures, 
to individuals under any influenza vaccination program, or other 
countermeasure distribution program established by the Secretary or a 
State or local entity.
    (b) Activation and Assignment of Members.--
            (1) Activation.--
                    (A) Manner of activation.--The members of the Corps 
                shall be activated in one of the following manners:
                            (i) By the Secretary upon a declaration by 
                        the Secretary of a public health emergency 
                        under section 319 of the Public Health Service 
                        Act (42 U.S.C. 247d)related to an influenza 
                        outbreak (including a seasonal outbreak) or 
                        other public health emergency.
                            (ii) By the declaration of a State.
                            (iii) By the declaration of a qualified 
                        entity, as defined in subsection (g).
                    (B) Non-emergency functions.--Activation of the 
                Corps is not required for the Corps to carry out non-
                emergency functions, including training, recruitment 
                and retention of volunteers, participation in State and 
                local planning, or other activities determined 
                appropriate by the Secretary.
                    (C) Notification.--In order to facilitate 
                cooperation between all levels of government in 
                response to an emergency, when activated under this 
                section in response to a Federal or State declaration, 
                or by the qualifying entity, the qualifying entity 
                shall notify--
                            (i) the Secretary;
                            (ii) the governor or governors of the State 
                        or States in which the Corps shall be activated 
                        or deployed; and
                            (iii) the local governments of the county 
                        or counties in which the Corps will reside or 
                        be deployed.
            (2) Membership through qualified entities.--
                    (A) In general.--A volunteer may apply for 
                membership in the Corps through a qualified entity.
                    (B) Requirements.--A qualified entity shall carry 
                out education and training activities and maintain 
                pertinent information as required under subsection 
                (c)(2).
                    (C) Use.--Upon completion of any training, 
                certification, or other qualifying processes determined 
                appropriate by the Secretary, members of the Corps may 
                be used by qualified entities to carry out activities 
                under a National, State, or local influenza vaccination 
                program, or other countermeasure distribution program 
                as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
            (3) Requests.--The Secretary or governor of a State may 
        request assignment of members of the Corps from a State or 
        territory to participate in a vaccination program or 
        countermeasure distribution program of another State or 
        territory. The Secretary shall enter into agreements with such 
        States to accept licensure and certification from such other 
        States for the purpose of carrying out activities under an 
        influenza vaccination program.
    (c) Participation.--
            (1) Eligibility.--An appropriately credentialed (licensed 
        or certified) health professional, including a retired health 
        professional, or other individual serving in an auxiliary or 
        support capacity, including retired military personnel, police, 
        emergency medical service personnel, or other volunteers as 
        determined appropriate by the Secretary, shall be eligible to 
        participate in the Corps under procedures established by the 
        Secretary and after successfully completing an approved 
        training course developed by the Secretary. Nothing in this 
        paragraph shall be construed to preclude an entity from 
        receiving financial, legal, and other technical assistance from 
        a volunteer that is not certified as a Corps member.
            (2) Database.--The Secretary, in cooperation and 
        consultation with States and qualifying entities, shall 
        establish guidelines for the collection and maintenance of data 
        relating to Corps members by qualifying entities. Such database 
        shall--
                    (A) with respect to each Corps member, include 
                contact information, appropriate licensure or 
                certification information, and other information the 
                Secretary determines necessary to perform the 
                activities of the Corps;
                    (B) be accessible to qualifying entities, States, 
                the Secretary, or other entities determined appropriate 
                by the Secretary, for use in the performance of duties 
                of the Corps; and
                    (C) be interoperable with the Emergency System for 
                the Advance Registration of Volunteer Health 
                Professionals, the National Disaster Medical System, 
                the Medical Reserve Corps, and other databases 
                determined appropriate by the Secretary.
            (3) National identification.--The Secretary, in cooperation 
        and consultation with the States, shall develop a National 
        Identification Card that describes the health-related licensure 
        and certification information of Corps members, as well as 
        other identifying information determined by the Secretary to 
        facilitate the use of Corps members in States other than the 
        State in which such members reside. Such identification and 
        certification information shall be cross-referenced with the 
        database established under paragraph (2), and shall be updated 
        on a regular basis to ensure that the information in the 
        database is as current as is practicable.
    (d) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall award grants to 
        qualified entities for the following purposes:
                    (A) To provide training through State and local 
                health care facilities and networks to facilitate, 
                execute, and maintain mechanisms for the distribution 
                of vaccines and other biological countermeasures, 
                including mass vaccination exercises designed to 
                increase access to seasonal influenza vaccine by 
                priority populations and encourage late-season 
                vaccination with seasonal influenza vaccine.
                    (B) To provide for the recruitment and retention of 
                volunteers, including individuals to maintain and 
                coordinate databases.
                    (C) To carry out capacity building activities of 
                the Corps, including the development of partnerships 
                among the Corps, qualifying entities, and emergency 
                response organizations, State and local governments, 
                police departments, fire departments, emergency 
                responders, nonprofit organizations, and private sector 
                entities.
                    (D) To carry out other training activities as 
                determined appropriate by the Secretary.
    (e) Liability.--A member of the Corps, when performing his or her 
duties under an activation and assignment by the Secretary under 
subsection (b) upon a declaration by the Secretary of a public health 
emergency under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
247d) shall be deemed a Federal employee for liability purposes. In all 
other cases, Members of the Corps are subject to the laws of the State 
in which the activities of the Corps are undertaken.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 
2006, and such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year 
thereafter.
    (g) Definition.--The term ``qualified entity'' includes State and 
local public health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers, 
public and private hospitals, units of the Medical Reserve Corps, and 
other entities determined appropriate by the Secretary.
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