To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to hospital infrastructure.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1846 To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to hospital infrastructure. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. O’HALLERAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to hospital infrastructure. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. HOSPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1610(a) of the Public 4 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300r(a)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 6 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 7 end; and 8 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1846.IH H1846 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1846 IH (C) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(iii) increase capacity and update hospitals 2 and other medical facilities in order to better serve 3 communities in need.’’; and 4 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 5 following paragraphs: 6 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sub- 7 section, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants 8 whose projects will include, by design, public health emer- 9 gency preparedness or cybersecurity against cyber threats. 10 ‘‘(4) AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTS.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt 12 of a grant under this subsection for a project, an en- 13 tity shall ensure that all of the iron and steel prod- 14 ucts used in the project are produced in the United 15 States. 16 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 17 be waived in any case or category of cases in which 18 the Secretary finds that— 19 ‘‘(i) applying subparagraph (A) would be 20 inconsistent with the public interest; 21 ‘‘(ii) iron and steel products are not pro- 22 duced in the United States in sufficient and 23 reasonably available quantities and of a satis- 24 factory quality; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1846.IH H1846 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1846 IH ‘‘(iii) inclusion of iron and steel products 1 produced in the United States will increase the 2 cost of the overall project by more than 25 per- 3 cent. 4 ‘‘(C) WAIVER.—If the Secretary receives a re- 5 quest for a waiver under this paragraph, the Sec- 6 retary shall make available to the public, on an in- 7 formal basis, a copy of the request and information 8 available to the Secretary concerning the request, 9 and shall allow for informal public input on the re- 10 quest for at least 15 days prior to making a finding 11 based on the request. The Secretary shall make the 12 request and accompanying information available by 13 electronic means, including on the official public 14 internet site of the Department of Health and 15 Human Services. 16 ‘‘(D) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—This 17 paragraph shall be applied in a manner consistent 18 with United States obligations under international 19 agreements. 20 ‘‘(E) MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT.—The 21 Secretary may retain up to 0.25 percent of the funds 22 appropriated for this subsection for management 23 and oversight of the requirements of this paragraph. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1846.IH H1846 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1846 IH ‘‘(F) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This paragraph does 1 not apply with respect to a project if a State agency 2 approves the engineering plans and specifications for 3 the project, in that agency’s capacity to approve 4 such plans and specifications prior to a project re- 5 questing bids, prior to the date of enactment of this 6 paragraph. 7 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 8 carry out this subsection, there is authorized to be appro- 9 priated $2,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 10 through 2026.’’. 11 (b) TECHNICAL UPDATE.—Section 1610(b) of the 12 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300r(b)) is amended 13 by striking paragraph (3). 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1846.IH H1846 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS