[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5021-H5023]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION GUIDELINES ACT OF 2020

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3539) to amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop best practices for 
the establishment and use of behavioral intervention teams at schools, 
and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3539

       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 ``Behavioral Intervention 
     Guidelines Act of 2020''.

     SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION TEAMS.

       The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 520G of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-38) the following 
     new section:

     ``SEC. 520H. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 
                   TEAMS.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the 
     Assistant Secretary, shall develop and periodically update--
       ``(1) best practices to assist elementary schools, 
     secondary schools, and institutions of higher education in 
     establishing and using behavioral intervention teams; and
       ``(2) a list of evidence-based threat assessment training 
     providers to assist personnel in elementary schools, 
     secondary schools, and institutions of higher education in 
     implementing such best practices, including with respect to 
     training behavioral intervention teams.
       ``(b) Elements.--The best practices under subsection (a)(1) 
     shall include guidance on the following:
       ``(1) How behavioral intervention teams can operate 
     effectively from an evidence-based, objective perspective 
     while protecting the constitutional and civil rights of 
     individuals, including any individual of concern.
       ``(2) The use of behavioral intervention teams to identify 
     individuals of concern, implement interventions, and manage 
     risk through the framework of the school's or institution's 
     rules or code of conduct, as applicable.
       ``(3) How behavioral intervention teams can, when assessing 
     an individual of concern--
       ``(A) seek training on evidence-based, threat-assessment 
     rubrics;
       ``(B) ensure that such teams--
       ``(i) have adequately trained, diverse stakeholders with 
     varied expertise; and
       ``(ii) use cross validation by a wide-range of individual 
     perspectives on the team; and
       ``(C) use violence risk assessment.
       ``(4) How behavioral intervention teams can avoid--
       ``(A) attempting to predict future behavior by the concept 
     of pre-crime;
       ``(B) inappropriately using a mental health assessment;
       ``(C) inappropriately limiting or restricting law 
     enforcement's jurisdiction over criminal matters;
       ``(D) attempting to substitute the behavioral intervention 
     process in place of a criminal process, or impede a criminal 
     process, when an individual of concern's behavior has 
     potential criminal implications;
       ``(E) endangering an individual's privacy by failing to 
     ensure that all applicable Federal and State privacy laws are 
     fully complied with; or
       ``(F) creating school-to-prison pipelines.
       ``(c) Consultation.--In carrying out subsection (a)(1), the 
     Secretary shall consult with--
       ``(1) the Secretary of Education;
       ``(2) the Director of the National Threat Assessment Center 
     of the Department of Homeland Security;
       ``(3) the Attorney General of the United States; and
       ``(4) as appropriate, relevant stakeholders including--
       ``(A) teachers and other educators, principals, school 
     administrators, school board members, school psychologists, 
     mental health professionals, and parents of elementary school 
     and secondary school students;
       ``(B) local law enforcement agencies and campus law 
     enforcement administrators;
       ``(C) mental health mobile crisis providers;
       ``(D) child and adolescent psychiatrists; and
       ``(E) other education and mental health professionals.
       ``(d) Publication.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
     of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall publish the 
     best practices under subsection (a)(1) and the list under 
     subsection (a)(2) on a publicly accessible website of the 
     Department of Health and Human Services.
       ``(e) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary shall provide 
     technical assistance to institutions of higher education, 
     elementary schools, and secondary schools to assist such 
     institutions and schools in implementing the best practices 
     under subsection (a).
       ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) The term `behavioral intervention team' means a team 
     of qualified individuals who--
       ``(A) are responsible for identifying and assessing 
     individuals of concern; and
       ``(B) develop and facilitate implementation of evidence-
     based interventions to mitigate the threat of harm to self or 
     others posed by individuals of concern and address the mental 
     and behavioral health needs of individuals of concern to 
     reduce such threat.
       ``(2) The terms `elementary school', `parent', and 
     `secondary school' have the meanings given to such terms in 
     section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
     1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
       ``(3) The term `individual of concern' means an individual 
     whose behavior indicates a potential threat to self or 
     others.
       ``(4) The term `institution of higher education' has the 
     meaning given to such term in section 102 of the Higher 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).
       ``(5) The term `mental health assessment' means an 
     evaluation, primarily focused on diagnosis, determining the 
     need for involuntary commitment, medication management, and 
     on-going treatment recommendations.
       ``(6) The term `pre-crime' means law-enforcement efforts 
     and strategies to deter crime by predicting when and where 
     criminal activity will occur.
       ``(7) The term `violence risk assessment' refers to a broad 
     determination of the potential risk of violence based on 
     evidence-based literature.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 3539.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?

[[Page H5022]]

  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 3539, the Behavioral Intervention 
Guidelines Act of 2020. The champions of this legislation, 
Representatives Drew Ferguson,   Michael Burgess,  Joe Kennedy, and   
Jimmy Panetta, worked together to help provide improved behavioral 
health prevention tools to schools and colleges across the country, and 
I applaud them for their bipartisan efforts.
  Behavioral intervention teams are multidisciplinary teams that 
support students' mental health and emotional well-being by detecting 
patterns, trends, and disturbances in behavior, and by conducting 
outreach to students who are unable to manage distress in healthy and 
constructive ways.
  These teams are already active in some educational settings, such as 
the University of California, Los Angeles; Texas A&M University; and 
Virginia Tech.
  H.R. 3539 requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration to develop best practices for schools that have or want 
to have behavioral intervention teams. These best practices would cover 
the proper use of these teams and how to intervene and avoid 
inappropriate use of mental health assessments and law enforcement.
  These best practices would then be required to be posted publicly on 
the Department of Health and Human Services website, and HHS would help 
to provide technical assistance to entities implementing these best 
practices.
  As we have heard, Mr. Speaker, three in four children aged 3-17 with 
depression also have anxiety. Anxiety and depression are two top mental 
health concerns among college students as well. Unfortunately, recent 
data found that over 80 percent of young people with mental health 
needs did not receive the care they needed.
  Young people in crisis should be able to access the care they need or 
be able to find support from peers who can direct them toward 
appropriate services, and this bill helps bridge that gap.
  Again, I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans on my committee, 
including Ranking Member Walden, for working together to put this 
legislation in shape, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3539, the 
Behavioral Intervention Guidelines Act, introduced by Representatives 
Ferguson, Burgess, Kennedy, and Panetta.
  This important bill authorizes the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration to develop best practices for establishing and 
using behavioral intervention teams in elementary schools, secondary 
schools, and institutions of higher education.
  Behavioral intervention teams are multidisciplinary teams that 
support students' mental health and wellness by identifying students 
experiencing stress, anxiety, or other behavioral disturbances, and 
conducting intervention and outreach to these students to help manage 
risk. These teams are already active in some educational institutions 
such as Texas Tech University and the University of California, Los 
Angeles.
  By acting in a proactive manner to assist students and to connect 
them with needed resources, behavioral intervention teams help schools 
create a safe environment for their students and improve mental health 
outcomes in young people.
  I urge support of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Georgia (Mr. Ferguson), the deputy whip of the House on the 
Republican side of the aisle, one of the authors of this important 
legislation.
  Mr. FERGUSON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman and the 
ranking member for this opportunity, and I rise to support H.R. 3539.
  Every American wants to live in a safe community, and children 
deserve to be able to go to safe schools. But all too often, that 
safety has been ruined by violence to self or others.
  The Behavioral Intervention Guidelines, or BIG, Act combats this 
mental health epidemic head-on by providing local communities and 
school systems with the tools they need to help identify those most in 
need.
  All across the country, schools like Columbus State University in my 
home State of Georgia and Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, have 
implemented behavioral intervention programs following the 2008 tragedy 
at Virginia Tech.
  Dr. Chip Reese at Columbus State University and other university 
leaders, like Dr. Billy Phillips at Texas Tech, report that, as a 
result of these programs, they have seen universities' culture change 
and are helping to get at-risk students back on the right track.
  This important legislation would foster this approach by providing 
Federal guidance in the form of best practices. Once established, these 
best practices will be disseminated on the HHS website, and HHS would 
provide technical assistance for elementary, secondary, and higher 
education institutions that are looking to create their own behavioral 
health intervention teams.
  Now more than ever, our students should have the proper resources and 
a supportive community around them to benefit their mental health. I 
strongly urge my colleagues to support this important piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

  I thank my colleague for his work on this important legislation.
  I want to turn now and use the remainder of the time to recognize the 
fact that we all work hard on our legislation, but it doesn't get all 
the way here and all the way through without terrific staff. We are 
blessed on the Energy and Commerce Committee by having really terrific 
staff, from top to bottom.
  But today, I especially want to recognize and thank Mike Bloomquist, 
my staff director at the Energy and Commerce Committee. He has served 
as staff director of the Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans both 
during the 115th Congress and the 116th Congress.
  He previously served as committee deputy staff director, general 
counsel, deputy general counsel, and then as general counsel to the 
2011 Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. He has spent time in 
private law practice, at the Committee on Science, and in the Office of 
the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
  He has been an invaluable leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee 
staff. He is a trusted counselor. He is a sought-after mentor and a go-
to resource for staff and Members alike, both on and off the committee.
  He will be leaving us at the end of this month to pursue private-
sector endeavors. But I just want to say, he has been a real friend to 
me, a real counselor to me, and an incredibly solid leader for our 
team. He has helped us shepherd major legislation through the House, 
which has undoubtedly improved the lives of Americans, through his time 
as a public servant.
  I think we all wish him the very best in his new endeavor and are 
thankful to his wife, Christie, and their three daughters for lending 
us their dad so often on nights and weekends and for phone calls, text 
messages, and more phone calls from me, day and night.
  He has just been terrific to work with. We wish him Godspeed in his 
next endeavor.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I don't have any additional speakers, but I do want also to praise 
Mike Bloomquist.
  He is now the Republican staff director, but he has had several tours 
with the committee. He worked on some major legislation in the 
committee. I think of 21st Century Cures, robocalls, and, even today, 
getting the cyber bills passed, which was not an easy task, as you 
know, Mike.
  I know that our Ranking Member Walden mentioned your family. I don't 
know how your family puts up with any of the things we do because I 
know the many hours that you have to spend. So, again, thank your 
family for sharing you.
  I wish you well in your future endeavors as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H5023]]

  

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I would just conclude my remarks by, again, speaking in favor of the 
underlying legislation, but also thanking Mike and his team for doing 
such a great job throughout this Congress and the preceding one to help 
all of us come together and solve the Nation's problems to the best of 
our ability. They really are a talented team, and we have been 
fortunate to have Mike at the helm.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the legislation, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3539, 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.

                          ____________________