[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6785 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6785

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to ensure appointment of a Tribal response coordinator 
    whenever a multi-State major disaster or emergency is declared.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 8, 2020

   Mr. Ruiz introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to ensure appointment of a Tribal response coordinator 
    whenever a multi-State major disaster or emergency is declared.

    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 ``FEMA Tribal Coordinator Act''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RESPONSE COORDINATOR FOR FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES.

    Title III of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5141 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 328. EMERGENCY RESPONSE COORDINATOR FOR FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED 
              TRIBES.

    ``(a) In General.--Immediately following the declaration of a 
multi-State major disaster or emergency, including a public health 
emergency, the President shall appoint a Tribal response coordinating 
officer.
    ``(b) Duties of the Tribal Emergency Response Coordinator.--The 
duties of the Tribal response coordinating officer shall include the 
following:
            ``(1) Assessment.--Conduct an assessment of relief most 
        urgently needed in consultation with all affected Indian tribal 
        governments and in the case of a public health emergency, work 
        with the Indian Health Service to conduct outreach to tribally 
        operated health programs to assess needs.
            ``(2) Liaison.--Establish a liaison within each Bureau of 
        Indian Affairs Regional Office and each Indian Health Service 
        Area Office.
            ``(3) Administration.--Coordinate administration of relief 
        to Indian tribal governments and tribal healthcare providers 
        (including Urban Indian Health Programs, tribally operated 
        health programs, and Indian Health Service-operated 
        facilities), including--
                    ``(A) in the event of a public health emergency, 
                distributions from the Strategic National Stockpile; 
                and
                    ``(B) establish a single point of contact for 
                tribal requests for assistance, including emergency 
                response personnel, equipment, and medical supplies.
            ``(4) Reimbursement.--Coordinate assistance with submission 
        of reimbursement requests and grant applications, including 
        outstanding reimbursement requests or applications related to a 
        major disaster or emergency after such disaster or emergency is 
        closed. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Act, the 
        Tribal response coordinator shall work with the Administrator 
        of the Federal Emergency Agency to continue to provide 
        assistance with such applications until funds are disbursed.
    ``(c) Tribal Requests.--The Administrator shall consider a request 
from an Indian tribal government in the same manner as a request from a 
State.''.
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