Pandemic School Nurse Training to Protect Students and Communities Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6272 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible entities to train elemen- tary and secondary school nurses on how to respond to a biological or chemical attack or an outbreak of pandemic influenza in a school building or on school grounds. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 13, 2020 Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible entities to train elementary and secondary school nurses on how to respond to a biological or chem- ical attack or an outbreak of pandemic influenza in a school building or on school grounds. 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 TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pandemic School 4 Nurse Training to Protect Students and Communities Act 5 of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6272.IH H6272 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6272 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROGRAM. 1 Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 2 U.S.C. 296 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘PART J—TRAINING NURSES FOR RESPONDING 5 TO BIOTERRORISM AND PANDEMIC INFLUENZA 6 ‘‘SEC. 875. GRANTS FOR RESPONDING TO BIOTERRORISM 7 AND PANDEMIC INFLUENZA. 8 ‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary may award 9 grants to and enter into contracts with eligible entities to 10 train school nurses to serve as first responders and crisis 11 managers in the event of— 12 ‘‘(1) a biological or chemical attack, including a 13 terrorist attack, affecting individuals in a school 14 building or on school grounds; or 15 ‘‘(2) an outbreak of pandemic influenza among 16 students, faculty, or other individuals under their 17 care. 18 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF TRAINING.—Any 19 training which is funded, in whole or in part, under this 20 section shall prepare school nurses— 21 ‘‘(1) to take such measures as may be nec- 22 essary, particularly in the critical early stages of an 23 attack or outbreak described in subsection (a), to 24 protect and preserve life; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6272.IH H6272 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6272 IH ‘‘(2) as part of crisis management, to notify 1 such public health authorities as may be appropriate 2 to help contain or mitigate the effects of an attack 3 or outbreak described in subsection (a); and 4 ‘‘(3) to take such other actions as may be ap- 5 propriate and feasible, such as, in the case of a bio- 6 logical or chemical attack, the preservation of evi- 7 dence. 8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The term ‘eligible 10 entities’ shall have the same meaning as is given 11 such term in section 801, and includes— 12 ‘‘(A) a State educational agency (as de- 13 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 14 Secondary Education Act of 1965); and 15 ‘‘(B) a local educational agency (as defined 16 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 17 ondary Education Act of 1965). 18 ‘‘(2) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means— 19 ‘‘(A) an elementary school (as defined in 20 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 21 Education Act of 1965); and 22 ‘‘(B) a secondary school (as defined in sec- 23 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 24 Education Act of 1965). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6272.IH H6272 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6272 IH ‘‘(3) SCHOOL GROUNDS.—The term ‘school 1 grounds’ means the area outside of a school building 2 that is controlled, managed, or owned by the school 3 or school district. 4 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 5 purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized 6 to be appropriated $20,000,000 for each fiscal year after 7 fiscal year 2020.’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6272.IH H6272 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS