[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 61 (Monday, April 16, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3320-H3321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  AUTHORIZING SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ESTABLISH FEES FOR MEDICAL 
         SERVICES PROVIDED IN UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3607) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
establish fees for medical services provided in units of the National 
Park System, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3607

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

     SECTION 1. FEES FOR MEDICAL SERVICES.

       (a) Fees Authorized.--The Secretary may establish and 
     collect fees for medical services provided to persons in 
     units of the National Park System or for medical services 
     provided by National Park Service personnel outside units of 
     the National Park System.
       (b) National Park Medical Services Fund.--There is hereby 
     established in the Treasury a fund to be known as the 
     ``National Park Medical Services Fund''. The Fund shall 
     consist of--
       (1) donations to the Fund; and
       (2) fees collected under subsection (a).
       (c) Availability of Amounts.--All amounts deposited into 
     the Fund shall be available to the Secretary, to the extent 
     provided in advance by Acts of appropriation, for the 
     following in units of the National Park System:
       (1) Services listed in subsection (a).
       (2) Preparing needs assessments or other programmatic 
     analyses for medical facilities, equipment, vehicles, and 
     other needs and costs of providing services listed in 
     subsection (a).
       (3) Developing management plans for medical facilities, 
     equipment, vehicles, and other needs and costs of services 
     listed in subsection (a).
       (4) Training related to providing services listed in 
     subsection (a).
       (5) Obtaining or improving medical facilities, equipment, 
     vehicles, and other needs and costs of providing services 
     listed in subsection (a).
       (d) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
       (1) Fund.--The term ``Fund'' means the National Park 
     Medical Services Fund established by subsection (b).
       (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) and the

[[Page H3321]]

gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hanabusa) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the National Park Service currently manages 11 units 
that provide medical services to park visitors, employees, and nearby 
residents, including Yosemite in my district, Yellowstone, Zion, the 
Grand Canyon, and Death Valley. These include a wide range of services, 
including emergency medical services, ambulance transport, and clinical 
services. They treat colds; they set broken bones; they stabilize heart 
attacks and strokes; they evacuate the severely injured and treat 
thousands of patients annually.
  These national park units are typically located in remote areas, 
which means that they are often the only option patients have to 
receive timely medical care, especially in emergency situations.
  In the case of Yosemite, the medical clinic has operated in the 
valley since 1929. Like other medical clinics in our national parks, it 
serves the park and concessionaire employees, their families, and tens 
of thousands of daily park visitors.
  The Yosemite medical clinic is a million-dollar-a-year operation, 
maintaining a full-time staff and sophisticated medical treatment to 
treat and stabilize any number of serious injuries and sudden illnesses 
that confront a population of a moderately sized town.
  But here is the problem: Any other medical clinic would be able to 
use the fees it collects to finance its operations, to plan for 
amortizing equipment purchases and expansions, and to match its 
expenses to the revenues it generates, but not so our national park 
medical clinics.
  Under current law, the fees collected by our national park clinics 
must go directly to the national Treasury, and the parks must then rely 
on annual appropriations to replace those funds, with no certainty they 
will return and no ability to plan long-term improvements.
  This bill changes all of that. It would establish a separate trust 
fund in the Treasury, still under the control of Congress but dedicated 
to be returned to the clinics that generate these funds in the first 
place. H.R. 3607 will allow the National Park Service to retain 
revenues to help offset the costs of providing medical services.
  It establishes a national park medical services fund at the Treasury. 
The fund will consist of fees collected for medical services provided 
to persons in units of the National Park System and through other 
donations.
  My bill will help the National Park Service to provide higher quality 
patient care with industry standard equipment and technology; assist 
with training relating to providing the necessary medical services; 
develop management plans for medical facilities; and obtain or improve 
medical facilities, equipment, vehicles, and other needs and costs of 
providing medical services to visitors and staff of our national parks.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this measure, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, each year, the National Park Service collects 
approximately $2 million in fees for medical services provided to park 
visitors. Current law requires the Park Service to send the money it 
collects for these services to the Treasury rather than keeping them in 
the site where the services are performed. This requires the Park 
Service to use money out of individual park budgets to mitigate the 
costs associated with medical services.
  H.R. 3607 authorizes the Park Service to collect and retain fees for 
medical services, which would relieve some of the financial pressure 
faced by our parks and ensure that these services will be available to 
visitors.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that H.R. 3607 is a good bill, and I urge my 
colleagues to vote for its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Hawaii for 
her kind words and support, and I urge adoption of the measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3607, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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