REMOTE Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1515 To provide a pay incentive for border patrol agents to complete emergency medical technician and paramedic training, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To provide a pay incentive for border patrol agents to com- plete emergency medical technician and paramedic train- ing, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Remote, Emergency, 4 Medical, Online Training, Telehealth, and EMT Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘REMOTE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1515 IS SEC. 2. MEDICAL TRAINING FOR U.S. BORDER PATROL 1 AGENTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 411 of the Homeland Se- 3 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 211) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (l)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘The Commissioner’’ and 6 inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(1) CONTINUING EDUCATION.—The Commis- 8 sioner’’; and 9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(2) MEDICAL TRAINING FOR U.S. BORDER PA- 11 TROL AGENTS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 13 ‘‘(i) AVAILABILITY.—Beginning not 14 later than 6 months after the date of the 15 enactment of the REMOTE Act, the Com- 16 missioner shall make available, in each 17 U.S. Border Patrol sector, at no cost to 18 U.S. Border Patrol agents selected for 19 such training, emergency medical techni- 20 cian (referred to in this paragraph as 21 ‘EMT’) and paramedic training, including 22 pediatric medical training, which shall uti- 23 lize nationally recognized pediatric training 24 curricula that includes emergency pediatric 25 care. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1515 IS ‘‘(ii) USE OF OFFICIAL DUTY TIME.— 1 A U.S. Border Patrol agent shall be cred- 2 ited with work time for any EMT or para- 3 medic training provided to such agent 4 under clause (i) in order to achieve or 5 maintain an EMT or paramedic certifi- 6 cation. 7 ‘‘(iii) OBLIGATED OVERTIME.—A U.S. 8 Border Patrol agent shall not accrue any 9 debt of obligated overtime hours that the 10 agent may have incurred, pursuant to sec- 11 tion 5550(b) of title 5, United States 12 Code, in order to achieve or maintain a 13 paramedic certification. 14 ‘‘(iv) LODGING AND PER DIEM.— 15 Lodging and per diem shall be made avail- 16 able to U.S. Border Patrol agents attend- 17 ing training described in clause (i) if such 18 training is not available at a location with- 19 in commuting distance of the agent’s resi- 20 dence or worksite. 21 ‘‘(v) SERVICE COMMITMENT.—Any 22 U.S. Border Patrol agent who completes a 23 certification preparation program pursuant 24 to clause (i) shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1515 IS ‘‘(I) complete 1 year of service as 1 a U.S. Border Patrol agent following 2 the completion of EMT training; 3 ‘‘(II) complete 3 years of service 4 as a U.S. Border Patrol agent fol- 5 lowing the completion of paramedic 6 training; or 7 ‘‘(III) reimburse U.S. Customs 8 and Border Protection in an amount 9 equal to the product of— 10 ‘‘(aa) the cost of providing 11 such training to such agent; mul- 12 tiplied by 13 ‘‘(bb) the percentage of the 14 service required under subclauses 15 (I) and (II) that the agent failed 16 to complete. 17 ‘‘(B) INCREASE IN RATE OF PAY FOR BOR- 18 DER PATROL MEDICAL CERTIFICATION.— 19 ‘‘(i) EMT CERTIFICATION.—A U.S. 20 Border Patrol agent who has completed 21 EMT training pursuant to subparagraph 22 (A)(i) and has a current, State-issued or 23 State-recognized certification as an EMT 24 shall receive, in addition to the pay to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1515 IS which the agent is otherwise entitled under 1 this section, an amount equal to 5 percent 2 of such pay. 3 ‘‘(ii) PARAMEDIC CERTIFICATION.—A 4 U.S. Border Patrol agent who has com- 5 pleted paramedic training pursuant to sub- 6 paragraph (A)(i) and has a current, State- 7 issued or State-recognized certification as 8 a paramedic shall receive, in addition to 9 the pay to which the agent is otherwise en- 10 titled under this section (except for sub- 11 paragraph (A)), an amount equal to 10 12 percent of such pay. 13 ‘‘(iii) EXISTING CERTIFICATIONS.—A 14 U.S. Border Patrol agent who did not par- 15 ticipate in the training made available pur- 16 suant to subparagraph (A)(i), but, as of 17 the date of the enactment of the REMOTE 18 Act, has a current State-issued or State- 19 recognized EMT or paramedic certifi- 20 cation, shall receive, in addition to the pay 21 to which the agent is otherwise entitled 22 under this section (excluding the applica- 23 tion of clause (i) and (ii)), an amount 24 equal to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1515 IS ‘‘(I) 5 percent of such pay for an 1 EMT certification; and 2 ‘‘(II) 10 percent of such pay for 3 a paramedic certification. 4 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY OF MEDICALLY 5 TRAINED BORDER PATROL AGENTS.—Not later 6 than 6 months after the date of the enactment 7 of the REMOTE Act, the Commissioner of U.S. 8 Customs and Border Protection shall— 9 ‘‘(i) ensure that— 10 ‘‘(I) U.S. Border Patrol agents 11 with current EMT or paramedic cer- 12 tifications are stationed at each U.S. 13 Border Patrol sector and remote sta- 14 tion along the southern border to the 15 greatest extent possible; 16 ‘‘(II) not fewer than 10 percent 17 of all U.S. Border Patrol agents as- 18 signed to each U.S. Border Patrol 19 sector have EMT certifications; and 20 ‘‘(III) not fewer than 1 percent 21 of all U.S. Border Patrol agents as- 22 signed to each U.S. Border Patrol 23 sector have paramedic certifications; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1515 IS ‘‘(ii) in determining the assigned posts 1 of U.S. Border Patrol agents who have re- 2 ceived training under subparagraph (A)(i), 3 give priority to remote stations and for- 4 ward operating bases. 5 ‘‘(D) MEDICAL SUPPLIES.— 6 ‘‘(i) MINIMUM LIST.—The Commis- 7 sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec- 8 tion shall provide minimum medical sup- 9 plies to each U.S. Border Patrol agent 10 with an EMT or paramedic certification 11 and to each U.S. Border Patrol sector, in- 12 cluding all remote stations and forward op- 13 erating bases, for use while on patrol, in- 14 cluding— 15 ‘‘(I) supplies designed for chil- 16 dren; 17 ‘‘(II) first aid kits; and 18 ‘‘(III) oral hydration, such as 19 water. 20 ‘‘(ii) CONSULTATION.—In developing 21 the minimum list of medical supplies re- 22 quired under clause (i), the Commissioner 23 shall consult national organizations with 24 expertise in emergency medical care, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1515 IS cluding emergency medical care of chil- 1 dren. 2 ‘‘(E) MOTOR VEHICLES.—The Commis- 3 sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 4 shall make available appropriate motor vehicles 5 to U.S. Border Patrol agents with current EMT 6 or paramedic certifications to enable them to 7 provide necessary emergency medical assistance. 8 ‘‘(F) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 3 9 years after the date of the enactment of the 10 REMOTE Act, the Comptroller General of the 11 United States shall— 12 ‘‘(i) review the progress of the U.S. 13 Customs and Border Protection’s pro- 14 motion in reaching the goal of up to 10 15 percent of all U.S. Border Patrol agents 16 having EMT or paramedic certifications; 17 and 18 ‘‘(ii) provide a recommendation to 19 Congress as to whether— 20 ‘‘(I) the Commissioner of U.S. 21 Customs and Border Protection has 22 effectively and vigorously undertaken 23 an agency-wide effort to encourage 24 and promote the mandate for medical 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1515 IS training for U.S. Border Patrol 1 agents under this paragraph; 2 ‘‘(II) additional incentive modi- 3 fications are needed to achieve or 4 maintain the goal, including pay dif- 5 ferentials; and 6 ‘‘(III) the 10 percent goal is 7 properly scoped to materially con- 8 tribute to the preservation of life and 9 the effectiveness and efficiency of U.S. 10 Border Patrol operations, including 11 whether the number is too high or too 12 low.’’; and 13 (2) in subsection (r), by striking ‘‘section, the 14 terms’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘section— 15 ‘‘(1) the term ‘child’ means any individual who 16 has not reached 18 years of age; and 17 ‘‘(2) the terms’’. 18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 20 necessary to carry out section 411(l)(2) of the Homeland 21 Security Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a). 22 SEC. 3. IDENTIFYING AND TREATING INDIVIDUALS EXPERI- 23 ENCING MEDICAL DISTRESS. 24 (a) ONLINE TRAINING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1515 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 1 is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 2 Act, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 3 Protection shall require all U.S. Border Patrol 4 agents, including agents with EMT or paramedic 5 certification, to complete an online training program 6 that meets nationally recognized standards for the 7 medical care of children to enable U.S. Border Pa- 8 trol agents— 9 (A) to identify common signs of medical 10 distress in children; and 11 (B) to ensure the timely transport of sick 12 or injured children to an appropriate medical 13 provider. 14 (2) CONTRACT.—In developing or selecting an 15 online training program under paragraph (1), the 16 Commissioner may enter into a contract with a na- 17 tional professional medical association of pediatric 18 medical providers. 19 (b) VOICE ACCESS TO MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of U.S. 21 Customs and Border Protection shall ensure that all 22 remote U.S. Border Patrol stations, forward oper- 23 ating bases, and remote ports of entry along the 24 southern border of the United States have 24-hour 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1515 IS voice access to a medical command physician whose 1 board certification includes the ability to perform 2 this role or a mid-level health care provider with pe- 3 diatric training for consultations regarding the med- 4 ical needs of individuals, including children, taken 5 into custody near the United States border. 6 (2) ACCEPTABLE MEANS OF ACCESS.—Access 7 under paragraph (1) may be accomplished through 8 mobile phones, satellite mobile radios, or other 9 means prescribed by the Commissioner. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1515.IS S1515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS