PUBLIC HEALTH SECURITY AND BIOTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE ACT OF
2002 (Public Law 107-188) - FULL
TEXT PDF FILE FROM Govt. Printing Office, Text of the US
CODE Section 4312 (Uniformed Services)
Announcement of passing of HR3448
Summary
of status and bill details
Section by section analysis of HR3448
On 2/28/2002 the Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on the Judiciary
for consideration of Title II of the House bill and secs. 216 and 401 of the
Senate amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Sensenbrenner,
Smith (TX), and Conyers.
Full text of S1765 which is the ammended version of HR2333/HR3448 as it exists in the senate
Current Status and summary of S1765
To: NDMS Response Team Commanders
From: Lew Stringer, M.D.
Subject: H.R. 2448
04/22/02
House Representatives 2448, the Bioterrorism Bill presently in joint House/Senate
committee, includes the NDMS issues of our old H.R. 2333.
Unfortunately, other issues in this bill have delayed passage. I have learned
of one change in our legislation that concerns me and many of
the original supporters. In the original bill, NDMS and OEP reported to the
Assistant Secretary for Health, closely aligning NDMS and OEP with
the Surgeon General and the Public Health Commissioned Corp.
In the new language, NDMS and OEP would report to the Department of Health
and Human Services, Director of the Office of Public Health
Preparedness (OPHP) which appears to be mainly interested in WMD issues. This
would move NDMS further away from the Surgeon General and the
Public Health Commissioned Corp and could weaken its relationship with them.
NDMS deals with natural disasters and other public health
emergencies, not just WMD issues.
I would urge you to contact your legislators and express your concern about
this change in the language. I have included a file attachment
with the list of the joint committee members who should be contacted.
From the Committee of Energy and Commerce, for consideration of the House bill
and the Senate amendment and modifications are the following:
Messrs: Tauzin of Louisiana, Bilirakis of Florida, Gillmor of Ohio, Burr of
North Carolina , Shimkus of Illinois, Dingle of Michigan,
Waxman of California and Brown of Ohio.
Time is short. Please work fast or we may regret not voicing our opinions.
----------------
Message sent to the following recipients:
President Bush
Vice President Cheney
Message text follows:
James Fenn
615 Centerfield
Maumee, OH 43537
September 30, 2001
[recipient address was inserted here]
[recipient name was inserted here],
Secretary Tommy Thompson was quoted in a September 30 article that in
regard to our ability to provide medical assistance following a terrorist
attack "We have 7,000 doctors and medical assistance teams throughout
America -- 7,000 medical personnel that are ready to go." As a leader of
one of these Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, I can tell you that this
may not be the case. While there may be 7,000 medical personnel ready to
respond, the employers of these people really have control over that
number. When the NDMS is activated, team members must gain the blessing
of their employer and that employer can deny individuals the ability to
respond. This could significantly reduce the number of trained disaster
response personnel that are available for any given incident. Further,
the employment of individuals who have responded to disasters in the past
have not only been threatened but in some cases, individuals have
reportedly been fired.
HR 2333, which is currently in subcommittee, would resolve these critical
issues. I urge support of this bill and hope to see it come to a vote
sooner than later as it addresses issues made even more critical by the
events of September 11.
Sincerely,
James W. Fenn
08/20/01 Jake Jacoby Just wanted to share with you the letter I received over the weekend: From: Bob Filner, Member of Congress, 50th District (Chula Vista, CA) Dear Dr. Jacoby Thank you for writing to me about the National Disaster Medical System Act, HR 2333. I wholeheartedly agree-- disaster preparedness is an essential activity for our community. I salute all who are involved in it locally. For that reason, I am happy to co-sponsor H.R. 2333, as you requested. Best wishes, Bob Filner
08/13/01: Paul M. Maniscalco
Subject: Re: HR 2333 message
Guys, I believe that I am pretty close to getting Curt Weldon on board with 2333. As you make your calls and letters please send some to his office, If he embraces this then history has shown the Fire / EMS Caucus members will usually follow. Other members to get on board would be Hoyer (MD), Biden (DE), Rob Andrews and Bill Pascrell of NJ. More to follow I am sure! The above is quoted from Chief Maniscalco FYI, Andrews is my Congressman and that letter is already in his in box and Pascrell is the initiator of the F. I. R. E. Grant Act. Hoyer is Big on the CFSI and Biden is pretty darn important too. They all run as a pack of sorts for any of you disconnected from the Washington side of thing. As Chief Maniscalco indicates get them on your side and your much better off then them not in your corner.
08/09/01: Jane Stringer, NC-1
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." My father taught me to type. I used the typewriter from the farm, an old black Remington typewriter, that belonged to my grandfather. The circular keys with black letters seemed so large for my fingers and I had to pound the keys really hard to get the typewriter to print the letters. I sat on an old Webster's Dictionary with an inscription to my grandmother dated January 1st, 1894 to reach to table. The sentence I typed was, "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." It seemed such a daunting task. I thought about the meaning of that sentence as I learned to type and I think of it now as I sit before my Dell laptop asking each of you, DMAT, DMORT, VMAT, NMRT and all special teams to help me "come to the aid of the country" by supporting HR 2333. We need this legislation so that in time of disaster or other medical emergency, each of us can provide the aid that the country so desperately needs. But, how does one come to the aid of his/her country regarding HR 2333? By encouraging your Congressman and Senator to support HR 2333, you can demonstrate national support for the bill. During the month of August while these representative are in the home district, you have an opportunity to personally talk with them, relaying your support and requesting their participation in the passage of the bill. You can write letters and ask your friends and profession associates to support our National Disaster Medical System effort. We have no formal lobby and no professional "spin doctor" to get the word out for us. Just as WE are not intimidated by the magnitude of a disaster or medical emergency, WE must not be intimidated by the magnitude of getting a bill passed by the House of Representative and the Senate and signed by the President. Picture in your mind that old Remington and look now at your state of the art computer keyboard. "Now is the time for all good men/women to come to the aid of their country" by supporting HR 2333. Jane Stringer, BSN Administrative Officer Special Operations Response Team, Inc. NC-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team National Medical Response Team-Weapons of Mass Destruction-East 121 Polo Road Winston-Salem, NC 27015 jstringer@ols.net
08/06/01: Fran Griffin NJ-1
I placed phone calls and e-mails to two Congressmen from NJ, one of whom sits on the Health Subcommittee listed below. One of the staff members I spoke to recommended also placing a call directly to the Committee's office as the committee is dealing with a lot of energy crisis issues right now which are taking precedence. There is also a link to send an e-mail to the committee:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/feedback.htm
07/28/01: Lew Stringer, MD, Unit Commander, NC-1 DMAT
SUBJECT: HR Bill 2333
1) Congressional staff reports that they are beginning to get responses from other congressional offices. This activity is due to the letters and conversations from NDMS team member. 2)Your Congressman and Senators will be in the district for the month of August. This will be a good time to speak with your district staff or have a face-to-face meeting or phone conversation with your representative. The time for action is now to keep this legislation in the forefront. It will take time and a lot of effort from ALL of the NDMS family to get this much-needed bill passed. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. Lew
07/03/01: Lloyd Parker Chairman Government Affairs Committee NADMAT
SUBJECT: HR2333
Title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a National
Disaster Medical System, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Burr, Richard
(introduced 6/27/2001)
H.R. 2333 has been filed with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
chaired by Bily Tauzin, LA. If it is filed to the Health Sub-Committee it
is chaired by Michael Biliirakis, FL.
1) Please write a letter supporting the legislation to:
Billy Tauzin Member of Congress Chairman Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Copy this letter to your Member of Congress.
2) Please review the list of committee members. If you are a constituent of
any member, please call the member's office and voice your support of the
legislation. Ask to speak to the Member of Congress. If they are not
available ask for the Legislative Aid who is handling H.R. 2333 for the
MOC. Be prepared to tell them why this legislation is important, what a
DMAT is, and what you do After you call, write a letter (letters are better
than emails, both won't hurt) to the Member of Congress asking for their
support of the legislation and thanking them or their Legislative Aid for
taking time to speak to you on the phone. It is important to ask for their
support and to get a committment. If you do get a committment or an
objection, please communicate that to me. If you have a relationship with
any Member of Congress, now is a good time to make a first contact in support
of this legislation. There will be more action required as additional
is learned regarding committee assignment.
If you are not sure of your representative, CLICK HERE and you can find your representative by entering your zip code.
07/02/01: Dr Lew Stringer, NC-1 DMAT and NMRT-WMD East Commander
Re: H.R. Bill 2333. Legislation to assist NDMS response members
North Carolina, 5th District, Congressman Richard Burr presented H.R. Bill 2333. The bill has been referred to the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The committee's website is http://www.house.gov/commerce/. Mr. Burr's staff informed me that they are under the impression the bill will be further referred to the Health Subcommittee. Membership lists for the committee and the subcommittee are available on the website. Summary of the Bill as it went to committee.
The bill will give official congressional recognition to the Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) and the National Disaster Medical System.
The bill will give OEP protection so that it's budget cannot be held up during the Department of Health and Human Services, DHHS, budget reviews.
The bill will provide recognition for NDMS response members as official temporary employees of the federal government.
The bill will provide coverage by the Federal Worker's Compensation for training time as well as deployment time.
The bill will provide employment protection for NDMS response members for training time and deployment time. This protection will be similar to the job protection afforded to the military reservists and the national guards.
I believe that this bill will address many of the issues we, as a group, have discussed for years. This bill will be a good for NDMS. You folks can track its status, and will be able to read the bill, at http://thomas.loc.gov or at http://www.house.gov/commerce/.
Please pass this information to other members of your team and to your team leaders. This bill will affect DMAT, DMORT, VMAT, NMRT and all special teams. Please ask NDMS team members to make a contact with their representative and let the representative know how important this matter is to each of us and to every citizen of the our county.