[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 133 (Friday, August 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5233-S5234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3450. Mrs. FISCHER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2026 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle C of title VII, insert the 
     following:

     SEC. 724. MILITARY-CIVILIAN MEDICAL SURGE PROGRAM.

       Section 1096 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by adding at the end the 
     following ``; medical surge program''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(e) Medical Surge Program.--(1) The Secretary of Defense 
     shall carry out a program of record known as the Military-
     Civilian Medical Surge Program to--
       ``(A) support locations that the Secretary selects under 
     paragraph (3)(B); and
       ``(B) enhance the interoperability and medical surge 
     capability and capacity of the National Disaster Medical 
     System in response to a declaration or other action described 
     in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (4).
       ``(2)(A) The Secretary, acting through the National Center 
     for Disaster Medicine and Public Health at the Uniformed 
     Services University of the Health Sciences (or such successor 
     center), shall oversee the operation, staffing, and 
     deployment of the Program.
       ``(B) In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall 
     maintain requirements for staffing, specialized training, 
     research, and education regarding patient regulation, 
     movement, definitive care, and other matters the Secretary 
     determines critical to sustaining the health of members of 
     the armed forces.
       ``(3)(A) In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall 
     establish partnerships at locations selected under 
     subparagraph (B) with public, private, and nonprofit health 
     care organizations, health care institutions, health

[[Page S5234]]

     care entities, academic medical centers of institutions of 
     higher education, and hospitals that the Secretary 
     determines--
       ``(i) are critical in mobilizing a civilian medical 
     response in support of a wartime contingency or other 
     catastrophic event in the United States; and
       ``(ii) have demonstrated technical proficiency in critical 
     national security domains, including high-consequence 
     infectious disease and special pathogen preparedness, and 
     matters relating to defense, containment, management, care, 
     and transportation.
       ``(B)(i) The Secretary shall select not fewer than eight 
     locations that are operationally relevant to the missions of 
     the Department of Defense under the National Disaster Medical 
     System and are aeromedical or other transport hubs or 
     logistics centers in the United States for partnerships under 
     subparagraph (A).
       ``(ii) The Secretary may select more than eight locations 
     under clause (i), including locations outside of the 
     continental United States, if the Secretary determines such 
     additional locations cover areas of strategic and operational 
     relevance to the Department of Defense.
       ``(4) The Secretary shall ensure that the partnerships 
     under paragraph (3)(A) allow for civilian medical personnel 
     to quickly and effectively mobilize direct support to 
     military medical treatment facilities and provide support to 
     other requirements of the military health system pursuant to 
     the following:
       ``(A) A declaration of a national emergency under the 
     National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.).
       ``(B) A public health emergency declared under section 319 
     of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).
       ``(C) A declaration of war by Congress.
       ``(D) The exercise for the President of executive powers 
     under the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.).
       ``(E) Any other emergency or major disaster as declared by 
     the President.
       ``(5)(A) Not later than July 1, 2026, and annually 
     thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
     Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives 
     a report on the status, readiness, and operational 
     capabilities of the Program.
       ``(B) Each report required under subparagraph (A) shall 
     include an assessment of personnel readiness, resource 
     availability, interagency coordination efforts, and 
     recommendations for continued improvements to the Program.
       ``(6) In this subsection:
       ``(A) The term `institution of higher education' means a 
     four-year institution of higher education (as defined in 
     section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
     1001(a))).
       ``(B) The term `National Disaster Medical System' means the 
     system established under section 2812 of the Public Health 
     Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300hh-11).
       ``(C) The term `Program' means the Military-Civilian 
     Medical Surge Program established under paragraph (1).''.
                                 ______