II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4465 

To establish a Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office and an Office 

of Health Security in the Department of Homeland Security, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2022 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction 

Office and an Office of Health Security in the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Offices of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction and 

6 Health Security Act of 2022’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title, table of contents. 


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TITLE I—COUNTERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION 

OFFICE 

Sec. 101. Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. 

Sec. 102. Rule of construction. 

TITLE II—OFFICE OF HEALTH SECURITY 

Sec. 201. Office of Health Security. 

Sec. 202. Medical countermeasures program. 

Sec. 203. Confidentiality of medical quality assurance records. 

Sec. 204. Portability of licensure. 

Sec. 205. Technical and conforming amendments. 

1 TITLE I—COUNTERING WEAP2 ONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION 

3 OFFICE 

4 SEC. 101. COUNTERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION 

5 OFFICE. 

6 (a) HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002.—Title XIX 

7 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 590 et 

8 seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) in section 1901 (6 U.S.C. 591)— 

10 (A) in subsection (c), by amending para11 graphs (1) and (2) to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) matters and strategies pertaining to— 

13 ‘‘(A) weapons of mass destruction; and 

14 ‘‘(B) chemical, biological, radiological, nu15 clear, and other related emerging threats; and 

16 ‘‘(2) coordinating the efforts of the Department 

17 to counter— 

18 ‘‘(A) weapons of mass destruction; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) chemical, biological, radiological, nu2 clear, and other related emerging threats.’’; and 

3 (B) by striking subsection (e); 

4 (2) by amending section 1921 (6 U.S.C. 591g) 

5 to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1921. MISSION OF THE OFFICE. 

7 ‘‘The Office shall be responsible for— 

8 ‘‘(1) coordinating the efforts of the Department 

9 to counter— 

10 ‘‘(A) weapons of mass destruction; and 

11 ‘‘(B) chemical, biological, radiological, nu12 clear, and other related emerging threats; and 

13 ‘‘(2) enhancing the ability of Federal, State, 

14 local, Tribal, and territorial partners to prevent, de15 tect, protect against, and mitigate the impacts of at16 tacks using— 

17 ‘‘(A) weapons of mass destruction against 

18 the United States; and 

19 ‘‘(B) chemical, biological, radiological, nu20 clear, and other related emerging threats 

21 against the United States.’’; 

22 (3) in section 1922 (6 U.S.C. 591h)— 

23 (A) by striking subsection (b); and 

24 (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub25 section (b); 


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1 (4) in section 1923 (6 U.S.C. 592)— 

2 (A) by redesignating subsections (a) and 

3 (b) as subsections (b) and (d), respectively; 

4 (B) by inserting before subsection (b) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(a) OFFICE RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of coordi8 nating the efforts of the Department to counter 

9 weapons of mass destruction and chemical, biologi10 cal, radiological, and nuclear threats, the Office 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) provide expertise and guidance to De13 partment leadership and components on chem14 ical, biological, radiological, and nuclear mat15 ters, subject to the research, development, test16 ing, and evaluation coordination requirement 

17 described in subparagraph (G); 

18 ‘‘(B) in coordination with the Office for 

19 Strategy, Policy, and Plans, lead development 

20 of policies and strategies to counter weapons of 

21 mass destruction and chemical, biological, radi22 ological, and nuclear threats on behalf of the 

23 Department; 

24 ‘‘(C) identify, assess, and prioritize capa25 bility gaps relating to the Department’s chemVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 30, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4465.IS S4465

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1 ical, biological, radiological, and nuclear stra2 tegic and mission objectives; 

3 ‘‘(D) in coordination with the Office of In4 telligence and Analysis, support components of 

5 the Department, and Federal, State, local, 

6 Tribal, and territorial partners, provide intel7 ligence and information analysis and reports on 

8 weapons of mass destruction and chemical, bio9 logical, radiological, nuclear, and other related 

10 emerging threats; 

11 ‘‘(E) in consultation with the Science and 

12 Technology Directorate, assess risk to the 

13 United States from weapons of mass destruc14 tion and chemical, biological, radiological, nu15 clear, and other related emerging threats; 

16 ‘‘(F) lead development and prioritization of 

17 Department requirements to counter weapons 

18 of mass destruction and chemical, biological, ra19 diological, and nuclear threats, subject to the 

20 research, development, testing, and evaluation 

21 coordination requirement described in subpara22 graph (G), which requirements shall be— 

23 ‘‘(i) developed in coordination with 

24 end users; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) reviewed by the Joint Require2 ments Council, as directed by the Sec3 retary; 

4 ‘‘(G) in coordination with the Science and 

5 Technology Directorate, direct, fund, and co6 ordinate capability development activities to 

7 counter weapons of mass destruction and all 

8 chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear 

9 research, development, test, and evaluation 

10 matters, including research, development, test11 ing, and evaluation expertise, threat character12 ization, technology maturation, prototyping, and 

13 technology transition; 

14 ‘‘(H) acquire, procure, and deploy counter 

15 weapons of mass destruction capabilities, and 

16 serve as the lead advisor of the Department on 

17 component acquisition, procurement, and de18 ployment of counter-weapons of mass destruc19 tion capabilities; 

20 ‘‘(I) in coordination with the Office of 

21 Health Security, support components of the De22 partment, and Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 

23 territorial partners on chemical, biological, radi24 ological, and nuclear health matters; 


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1 ‘‘(J) provide chemical, biological, radio2 logical, and nuclear expertise to Department 

3 and Federal partners to support engagements 

4 and efforts with international partners subject 

5 to the research, development, testing, and eval6 uation coordination requirement under subpara7 graph (G); and 

8 ‘‘(K) carry out any other duties assigned 

9 to the Office by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(2) DETECTION AND REPORTING.—For pur11 poses of the chemical, biological, radiological, and 

12 nuclear detection and reporting responsibilities of 

13 the Office, the Office shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) in coordination with end users, in15 cluding State, local, Tribal, and territorial part16 ners, as appropriate— 

17 ‘‘(i) carry out a program to test and 

18 evaluate technology, in consultation with 

19 the Science and Technology Directorate, to 

20 detect and report on chemical, biological, 

21 radiological, and nuclear weapons or unau22 thorized material, in coordination with 

23 other Federal agencies, as appropriate, and 

24 establish performance metrics to evaluate 

25 the effectiveness of individual detectors 


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1 and detection systems in detecting those 

2 weapons or material— 

3 ‘‘(I) under realistic operational 

4 and environmental conditions; and 

5 ‘‘(II) against realistic adversary 

6 tactics and countermeasures; 

7 ‘‘(B) in coordination with end users, con8 duct, support, coordinate, and encourage a 

9 transformational program of research and de10 velopment to generate and improve technologies 

11 to detect, protect against, and report on the il12 licit entry, transport, assembly, or potential use 

13 within the United States of chemical, biological, 

14 radiological, and nuclear weapons or unauthor15 ized material, and coordinate with the Under 

16 Secretary for Science and Technology on re17 search and development efforts relevant to the 

18 mission of the Office and the Under Secretary 

19 for Science and Technology; 

20 ‘‘(C) before carrying out operational test21 ing under subparagraph (A), develop a testing 

22 and evaluation plan that articulates the require23 ments for the user and describes how these ca24 pability needs will be tested in developmental 


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1 test and evaluation and operational test and 

2 evaluation; 

3 ‘‘(D) develop, acquire, and deploy equip4 ment to detect and report on chemical, biologi5 cal, radiological, and nuclear weapons or unau6 thorized material in support of Federal, State, 

7 local, Tribal, and territorial governments; 

8 ‘‘(E) support and enhance the effective 

9 sharing and use of appropriate information on 

10 chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear 

11 threats and related emerging issues generated 

12 by elements of the intelligence community (as 

13 defined in section 3 of the National Security 

14 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)), law enforce15 ment agencies, other Federal agencies, State, 

16 local, Tribal, and territorial governments, and 

17 foreign governments, as well as provide appro18 priate information to those entities; 

19 ‘‘(F) consult, as appropriate, with the Fed20 eral Emergency Management Agency and other 

21 departmental components, on chemical, biologi22 cal, radiological, and nuclear threats and efforts 

23 to mitigate, prepare, and respond to all threats 

24 in support of the State, local, and Tribal com25 munities; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) perform other duties as assigned by 

2 the Secretary.’’; 

3 (C) in subsection (b), as so redesignated— 

4 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik5 ing ‘‘MISSION’’ and inserting ‘‘RADIO6 LOGICAL AND NUCLEAR RESPONSIBIL7 ITIES’’; 

8 (ii) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (I) by inserting ‘‘deploy,’’ after 

10 ‘‘acquire,’’; and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘deployment’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘operations’’; 

13 (iii) by striking paragraphs (6) 

14 through (10); 

15 (iv) redesignating paragraphs (11) 

16 and (12) as paragraphs (6) and (7), re17 spectively; 

18 (v) in paragraph (6)(B), as so redesig19 nated, by striking ‘‘national strategic five20 year plan referred to in paragraph (10)’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘United States national tech22 nical nuclear forensics strategic planning’’; 

23 (vi) in paragraph (7)(C)(v), as so re24 designated— 


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1 (I) in the matter preceding sub2 clause (I), by inserting ‘‘except as oth3 erwise provided,’’ before ‘‘require’’; 

4 and 

5 (II) in subclause (II)— 

6 (aa) in the matter preceding 

7 item (aa), by striking ‘‘death or 

8 disability’’ and inserting ‘‘death, 

9 disability, or a finding of good 

10 cause as determined by the As11 sistant Secretary (including ex12 treme hardship, extreme need, or 

13 the needs of the Office) and for 

14 which the Assistant Secretary 

15 may grant a waiver of the repay16 ment obligation’’; and 

17 (bb) in item (bb), by adding 

18 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (vii) by striking paragraph (13); and 

20 (viii) by redesignating paragraph (14) 

21 as paragraph (8); and 

22 (D) by inserting after subsection (b), as so 

23 redesignated, the following: 

24 ‘‘(c) CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL RESPONSIBIL25 ITIES.—The Office— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall be responsible for coordinating with 

2 other Federal efforts to enhance the ability of Fed3 eral, State, local, and Tribal governments to prevent, 

4 detect, protect against, and mitigate the impacts of 

5 chemical and biological threats against the United 

6 States; and 

7 ‘‘(2) shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) serve as a primary entity of the Fed9 eral Government to further develop, acquire, de10 ploy, and support the operations of a national 

11 biosurveillance system in support of Federal, 

12 State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, 

13 and improve that system over time; 

14 ‘‘(B) enhance the chemical and biological 

15 detection efforts of Federal, State, local, Tribal, 

16 and territorial governments and provide guid17 ance, tools, and training to help ensure a man18 aged, coordinated response; and 

19 ‘‘(C) collaborate with the Biomedical Ad20 vanced Research and Development Authority, 

21 the Office of Health Security, the Defense Ad22 vanced Research Projects Agency, and the Na23 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

24 and other relevant Federal stakeholders, and 

25 receive input from industry, academia, and the 


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1 national laboratories on chemical and biological 

2 surveillance efforts.’’; 

3 (5) in section 1924 (6 U.S.C. 593), by striking 

4 ‘‘section 11011 of the Strom Thurmond National 

5 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (5 

6 U.S.C. 3104 note).’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4092 of 

7 title 10, United States Code, except that the author8 ity shall be limited to facilitate the recruitment of 

9 experts in the chemical, biological, radiological, or 

10 nuclear specialties.’’; 

11 (6) in section 1927(a)(1)(C) (6 U.S.C. 

12 596a(a)(1)(C))— 

13 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘required 

14 under section 1036 of the National Defense Au15 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010’’; 

16 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

17 end; 

18 (C) in clause (iii), by striking the period at 

19 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(iv) includes any other information 

22 regarding national technical nuclear 

23 forensics activities carried out under sec24 tion 1923.’’; 

25 (7) in section 1928 (6 U.S.C. 596b)— 


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1 (A) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘from 

2 among high-risk urban areas under section 

3 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘based on the capability 

4 and capacity of the jurisdiction, as well as the 

5 relative threat, vulnerability, and consequences 

6 from terrorist attacks and other high-con7 sequence events utilizing nuclear or other radio8 logical materials’’; and 

9 (B) by striking subsection (d) and insert10 ing the following: 

11 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

12 of enactment of the Offices of Countering Weapons of 

13 Mass Destruction and Health Security Act of 2022, the 

14 Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

15 committees an update on the STC program.’’; and 

16 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1929. ACCOUNTABILITY. 

18 ‘‘(a) DEPARTMENTWIDE STRATEGY.—Not later than 

19 180 days after the date of enactment of Offices of Coun20 tering Weapons of Mass Destruction and Health Security 

21 Act of 2022, and every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary, 

22 in coordination with the Deputy Secretary, shall create a 

23 Departmentwide strategy and implementation plan to 

24 counter weapons of mass destruction and chemical, bio25 logical, radiological, and nuclear threats, which should— 


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1 ‘‘(1) have clearly identified authorities, specified 

2 roles, objectives, benchmarks, accountability, and 

3 timelines; 

4 ‘‘(2) incorporate the perspectives of non-Federal 

5 and private sector partners; and 

6 ‘‘(3) articulate how the Department will con7 tribute to relevant national-level strategies and work 

8 with other Federal agencies. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary shall appro10 priately consider chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, 

11 and emerging threats when creating the strategy and im12 plementation plan required under subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—The Office shall submit to the appro14 priate congressional committees a report on the updated 

15 Departmentwide strategy and implementation plan re16 quired under subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(d) EMPLOYEE MORALE.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of enactment of the Offices of Countering 

19 Weapons of Mass Destruction and Health Security Act of 

20 2022, the Office shall submit to and brief the appropriate 

21 congressional committees on a strategy and plan to con22 tinuously improve morale within the Office. 

23 ‘‘(e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

24 year after the date of enactment of the Offices of Coun25 tering Weapons of Mass Destruction and Health Security 


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1 Act of 2022, the Comptroller General of the United States 

2 shall conduct a review of and brief the appropriate con3 gressional committees on— 

4 ‘‘(1) the efforts of the Office to prioritize the 

5 programs and activities that carry out the mission of 

6 the Office, including research and development; 

7 ‘‘(2) the consistency and effectiveness of stake8 holder coordination across the countering weapons of 

9 mass destruction mission, including operational and 

10 support components of the Department and State 

11 and local entities; and 

12 ‘‘(3) the efforts of the Office to manage and co13 ordinate the lifecycle of research and development 

14 within the Office and with other components of the 

15 Department, including the Science and Technology 

16 Directorate. 

17 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGI18 NEERING, AND MEDICINE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall enter into an 

20 agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, 

21 Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a consensus 

22 study and report to the Secretary and the appro23 priate congressional committees on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the role of the Department in pre2 paring, detecting, and responding to biological 

3 and health security threats to the homeland; 

4 ‘‘(B) recommendations to improve depart5 mental biosurveillance efforts against biological 

6 threats, including any relevant biological detec7 tion methods and technologies; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the feasibility of different techno9 logical advances for biodetection compared to 

10 the cost, risk reduction, and timeliness of those 

11 advances. 

12 ‘‘(2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date on which the Secretary receives the report 

14 required under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

15 brief the appropriate congressional committees on— 

16 ‘‘(A) the implementation of the rec17 ommendations included in the report; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the status of biological detection at 

19 the Department, and, if applicable, timelines for 

20 the transition from Biowatch to updated tech21 nology. 

22 ‘‘(g) ADVISORY COUNCIL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

24 days after the date of enactment of the Offices of 

25 Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction and 


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1 Health Security Act of 2022, the Secretary shall es2 tablish an advisory body to ensure effective and on3 going coordination of the efforts of the Department 

4 to counter weapons of mass destruction, to be known 

5 as the Advisory Council for Countering Weapons of 

6 Mass Destruction (in this subsection referred to as 

7 the ‘Advisory Council’). 

8 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the Advi9 sory Council shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the Assistant Sec11 retary; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, represent a 

13 geographic (including urban and rural) and 

14 substantive cross section of officials, from 

15 State, local, and Tribal governments, academia, 

16 the private sector, national laboratories, and 

17 nongovernmental organizations, including, as 

18 appropriate— 

19 ‘‘(i) members selected from the emer20 gency management field and emergency re21 sponse providers; 

22 ‘‘(ii) State, local, and Tribal govern23 ment officials; 

24 ‘‘(iii) experts in the public and private 

25 sectors with expertise in chemical, biologiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 30, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4465.IS S4465

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1 cal, radiological, and nuclear agents and 

2 weapons; 

3 ‘‘(iv) representatives from the national 

4 laboratories; and 

5 ‘‘(v) such other individuals as the As6 sistant Secretary determines to be appro7 priate. 

8 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES.— The Advisory Coun9 cil shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) advise the Assistant Secretary on all 

11 aspects of countering weapons of mass destruc12 tion; 

13 ‘‘(B) incorporate State, local, and Tribal 

14 government, national laboratories, and private 

15 sector input in the development of the strategy 

16 and implementation plan of the Department for 

17 countering weapons of mass destruction; and 

18 ‘‘(C) establish performance criteria for a 

19 national biological detection system and review 

20 the testing protocol for biological detection pro21 totypes. 

22 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—To ensure input from 

23 and coordination with State, local, and Tribal gov24 ernments, the Assistant Secretary shall regularly 

25 consult and work with the Advisory Council on the 


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1 administration of Federal assistance provided by the 

2 Department, including with respect to the develop3 ment of requirements for countering weapons of 

4 mass destruction programs, as appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(5) VOLUNTARY SERVICE.—The members of 

6 the Advisory Council shall serve on the Advisory 

7 Council on a voluntary basis. 

8 ‘‘(6) FACA.—The Federal Advisory Committee 

9 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory 

10 Council.’’. 

11 (b) COUNTERING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

12 ACT OF 2018.—Section 2 of the Countering Weapons of 

13 Mass Destruction Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–387; 132 

14 Stat. 5162) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b)(2) (6 U.S.C. 591 note), by 

16 striking ‘‘1927’’ and inserting ‘‘1926’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (g) (6 U.S.C. 591 note)— 

18 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

19 by striking ‘‘one year after the date of the en20 actment of this Act, and annually thereafter,’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘June 30 of each year,’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Secu23 rity, including research and development activi24 ties’’ and inserting ‘‘Security’’. 


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1 (c) SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EVERY

2 PORT ACT OF 2006.—The Security and Accountability for 

3 Every Port Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in section 1(b) (Public Law 109–347; 120 

6 Stat 1884), by striking the item relating to section 

7 502; and 

8 (2) by striking section 502 (6 U.S.C. 592a). 

9 SEC. 102. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

10 Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this 

11 title shall be construed to affect or diminish the authori12 ties or responsibilities of the Under Secretary for Science 

13 and Technology. 

14 TITLE II—OFFICE OF HEALTH 

15 SECURITY 

16 SEC. 201. OFFICE OF HEALTH SECURITY. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Homeland Security Act 

18 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended— 

19 (1) in section 103 (6 U.S.C. 113)— 

20 (A) in subsection (a)(2)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘the Assistant Sec22 retary for Health Affairs,’’; and 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘Affairs, or’’ and in24 serting ‘‘Affairs or’’; and 


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1 (B) in subsection (d), by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(6) A Chief Medical Officer.’’; 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘TITLE XXIII—OFFICE OF 

6 HEALTH SECURITY’’; 

7 (3) by redesignating section 1931 (6 U.S.C. 

8 597) as section 2301 and transferring such section 

9 to appear after the heading for title XXIII, as added 

10 by paragraph (2); and 

11 (4) in section 2301, as so redesignated— 

12 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

13 ‘‘CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘OFFICE OF HEALTH SECURITY’’; 

15 (B) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and 

16 inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De18 partment an Office of Health Security. 

19 ‘‘(b) HEAD OF OFFICE OF HEALTH SECURITY.—The 

20 Office of Health Security shall be headed by a chief med21 ical officer, who shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) be the Assistant Secretary for Health Se23 curity and the Chief Medical Officer of the Depart24 ment; 


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1 ‘‘(2) be a licensed physician possessing a dem2 onstrated ability in and knowledge of medicine and 

3 public health; 

4 ‘‘(3) be appointed by the President; and 

5 ‘‘(4) report directly to the Secretary.’’; 

6 (C) in subsection (c)— 

7 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 

8 (1), by striking ‘‘medical issues related to 

9 natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and 

10 other man-made disasters’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘oversight of all medical, public health, 

12 and workforce safety matters of the De13 partment’’; 

14 (ii) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, 

15 the Administrator of the Federal Emer16 gency Management Agency, the Assistant 

17 Secretary, and other Department officials’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘and all other Department 

19 officials’’; 

20 (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

22 (iv) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

23 paragraph (12); and 

24 (v) by inserting after paragraph (4) 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) overseeing all medical and public health 

2 activities of the Department, including the delivery, 

3 advisement, and oversight of direct patient care and 

4 the organization, management, and staffing of com5 ponent operations that deliver direct patient care; 

6 ‘‘(6) advising the head of each component of 

7 the Department that delivers direct patient care re8 garding the recruitment and appointment of a com9 ponent chief medical officer and deputy chief med10 ical officer or the employee who functions in the ca11 pacity of chief medical officer and deputy chief med12 ical officer; 

13 ‘‘(7) advising the Secretary and the head of 

14 each component of the Department that delivers di15 rect patient care regarding knowledge and skill 

16 standards for medical personnel and the assessment 

17 of that knowledge and skill; 

18 ‘‘(8) advising the Secretary and the head of 

19 each component of the Department that delivers pa20 tient care regarding the collection, storage, and over21 sight of medical records; 

22 ‘‘(9) in consultation with the Chief Information 

23 Officer of the Department— 


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1 ‘‘(A) identifying methods and technologies 

2 for managing, updating, and overseeing patient 

3 records; and 

4 ‘‘(B) setting standards for technology used 

5 by the components of the Department regarding 

6 the collection, storage, and oversight of medical 

7 records; 

8 ‘‘(10) advising the Secretary and the head of 

9 each component of the Department that delivers di10 rect patient care regarding contracts for the delivery 

11 of direct patient care, other medical services, and 

12 medical supplies; 

13 ‘‘(11) coordinating with the Countering Weap14 ons of Mass Destruction Office and other compo15 nents of the Department as directed by the Sec16 retary to enhance the ability of Federal, State, local, 

17 Tribal, and territorial governments to prevent, de18 tect, protect against, and mitigate the health effects 

19 of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear 

20 issues; and’’; and 

21 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE AND AGREEMENTS.—The Sec23 retary, acting through the Chief Medical Officer, in sup24 port of the medical and public health activities of the De25 partment, may— 


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1 ‘‘(1) provide technical assistance, training, and 

2 information and distribute funds through grants and 

3 cooperative agreements to State, local, Tribal, and 

4 territorial governments and nongovernmental organi5 zations; 

6 ‘‘(2) enter into other transactions; 

7 ‘‘(3) enter into agreements with other Federal 

8 agencies; and 

9 ‘‘(4) accept services from personnel of compo10 nents of the Department and other Federal agencies 

11 on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis. 

12 ‘‘(e) OFFICE OF HEALTH SECURITY PRIVACY OFFI13 CER.—There shall be a Privacy Officer in the Office of 

14 Health Security with primary responsibility for privacy 

15 policy and compliance within the Office, who shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) report directly to the Chief Medical Offi17 cer; and 

18 ‘‘(2) ensure privacy protections are integrated 

19 into all Office of Health Security activities, subject 

20 to the review and approval of the Privacy Officer of 

21 the Department to the extent consistent with the au22 thority of the Privacy Officer of the Department 

23 under section 222.’’; 


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1 (5) by redesignating section 710 (6 U.S.C. 350) 

2 as section 2302 and transferring such section to ap3 pear after section 2301, as so redesignated; 

4 (6) in section 2302, as so redesignated— 

5 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Under 

6 Secretary for Management’’ each place that 

7 term appears and inserting ‘‘Chief Medical Offi8 cer’’; and 

9 (B) in subsection (b)— 

10 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 

11 (1), by striking ‘‘Under Secretary for Man12 agement, in coordination with the Chief 

13 Medical Officer,’’ and inserting ‘‘Chief 

14 Medical Officer’’; and 

15 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘as 

16 deemed appropriate by the Under Sec17 retary,’’; 

18 (7) by redesignating section 528 (6 U.S.C. 

19 321q) as section 2303 and transferring such section 

20 to appear after section 2302, as so redesignated; and 

21 (8) in section 2303(a), as so redesignated, by 

22 striking ‘‘Assistant Secretary for the Countering 

23 Weapons of Mass Destruction Office’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘Chief Medical Officer’’. 

25 (b) TRANSITION AND TRANSFERS.— 


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1 (1) TRANSITION.—The individual appointed 

2 pursuant to section 1931 of the Homeland Security 

3 Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 597) of the Department of 

4 Homeland Security, as in effect on the day before 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, and serving as the 

6 Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Home7 land Security on the day before the date of enact8 ment of this Act, shall continue to serve as the Chief 

9 Medical Officer of the Department on and after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act without the need for 

11 reappointment. 

12 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The rule of con13 struction described in section 2(hh) of the Presi14 dential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining 

15 Act of 2011 (5 U.S.C. 3132 note) shall not apply to 

16 the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of 

17 Homeland Security, including the incumbent who 

18 holds the position on the day before the date of en19 actment of this Act, and such officer shall be paid 

20 pursuant to section 3132(a)(2) or 5315 of title 5, 

21 United States Code. 

22 (3) TRANSFER.—The Secretary of Homeland 

23 Security shall transfer to the Chief Medical Officer 

24 of the Department of Homeland Security— 


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1 (A) all functions, personnel, budget author2 ity, and assets of the Under Secretary for Man3 agement relating to workforce health and med4 ical support, as in existence on the day before 

5 the date of enactment of this Act; 

6 (B) all functions, personnel, budget au7 thority, and assets of the Assistant Secretary 

8 for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruc9 tion Office relating to the Chief Medical Officer, 

10 including the Medical Operations Directorate of 

11 the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction 

12 Office, as in existence on the day before the 

13 date of enactment of this Act; and 

14 (C) all functions, personnel, budget author15 ity, and assets of the Assistant Secretary for 

16 the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction 

17 Office associated with the efforts pertaining to 

18 the program coordination activities relating to 

19 defending the food, agriculture, and veterinary 

20 defenses of the Office, as in existence on the 

21 day before the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 202. MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES PROGRAM. 

23 The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 

24 et seq.) is amended by redesignating section 1932 (6 

25 U.S.C. 597a) as section 2304 and transferring such secVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 30, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4465.IS S4465

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1 tion to appear after section 2303, as so redesignated by 

2 section 201 of this Act. 

3 SEC. 203. CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL QUALITY ASSUR4 ANCE RECORDS. 

5 Title XXIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, 

6 as added by this Act, is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 2305. CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL QUALITY AS9 SURANCE RECORDS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.—The term 

12 ‘health care provider’ means an individual who— 

13 ‘‘(A) is— 

14 ‘‘(i) an employee of the Department; 

15 ‘‘(ii) a detailee to the Department 

16 from another Federal agency; 

17 ‘‘(iii) a personal services contractor of 

18 the Department; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) hired under a contract for serv20 ices; 

21 ‘‘(B) performs health care services as part 

22 of duties of the individual in that capacity; and 

23 ‘‘(C) has a current, valid, and unrestricted 

24 license or certification— 


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1 ‘‘(i) that is issued by a State, the Dis2 trict of Columbia, or a commonwealth, ter3 ritory, or possession of the United States; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) that is for the practice of medi6 cine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, nurs7 ing, emergency medical services, or another 

8 health profession. 

9 ‘‘(2) MEDICAL QUALITY ASSURANCE PRO10 GRAM.—The term ‘medical quality assurance pro11 gram’ means any activity carried out by the Depart12 ment to assess the quality of medical care, including 

13 activities conducted by individuals, committees, or 

14 other review bodies responsible for quality assurance, 

15 credentials, infection control, incident reporting, the 

16 delivery, advisement, and oversight of direct patient 

17 care and assessment (including treatment proce18 dures, blood, drugs, and therapeutics), medical 

19 records, health resources management review, and 

20 identification and prevention of medical, mental 

21 health, or dental incidents and risks. 

22 ‘‘(3) MEDICAL QUALITY ASSURANCE RECORD

23 OF THE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘medical quality 

24 assurance record of the Department’ means all in25 formation, including the proceedings, records (inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:47 Jun 30, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4465.IS S4465

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1 cluding patient records that the Department creates 

2 and maintains as part of a system of records), min3 utes, and reports that— 

4 ‘‘(A) emanate from quality assurance pro5 gram activities described in paragraph (2); and 

6 ‘‘(B) are produced or compiled by the De7 partment as part of a medical quality assurance 

8 program. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS.—A medical 

10 quality assurance record of the Department that is created 

11 as part of a medical quality assurance program— 

12 ‘‘(1) is confidential and privileged; and 

13 ‘‘(2) except as provided in subsection (d), may 

14 not be disclosed to any person or entity. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE AND TESTI16 MONY.—Except as otherwise provided in this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) no part of any medical quality assurance 

18 record of the Department may be subject to dis19 covery or admitted into evidence in any judicial or 

20 administrative proceeding; and 

21 ‘‘(2) an individual who reviews or creates a 

22 medical quality assurance record of the Department 

23 or who participates in any proceeding that reviews 

24 or creates a medical quality assurance record of the 

25 Department may not be permitted or required to 


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•S 4465 IS

1 testify in any judicial or administrative proceeding 

2 with respect to the record or with respect to any 

3 finding, recommendation, evaluation, opinion, or ac4 tion taken by that individual in connection with the 

5 record. 

6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE AND TESTIMONY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

8 medical quality assurance record of the Department 

9 may be disclosed, and a person described in sub10 section (c)(2) may give testimony in connection with 

11 the record, only as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) To a Federal agency or private orga13 nization, if the medical quality assurance record 

14 of the Department or testimony is needed by 

15 the Federal agency or private organization to— 

16 ‘‘(i) perform licensing or accreditation 

17 functions related to Department health 

18 care facilities, a facility affiliated with the 

19 Department, or any other location author20 ized by the Secretary for the performance 

21 of health care services; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) perform monitoring, required by 

23 law, of Department health care facilities, a 

24 facility affiliated with the Department, or 

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•S 4465 IS

1 retary for the performance of health care 

2 services. 

3 ‘‘(B) To an administrative or judicial pro4 ceeding concerning an adverse action related to 

5 the credentialing of or health care provided by 

6 a present or former health care provider by the 

7 Department. 

8 ‘‘(C) To a governmental board or agency 

9 or to a professional health care society or orga10 nization, if the medical quality assurance record 

11 of the Department or testimony is needed by 

12 the board, agency, society, or organization to 

13 perform licensing, credentialing, or the moni14 toring of professional standards with respect to 

15 any health care provider who is or was a health 

16 care provider for the Department. 

17 ‘‘(D) To a hospital, medical center, or 

18 other institution that provides health care serv19 ices, if the medical quality assurance record of 

20 the Department or testimony is needed by the 

21 institution to assess the professional qualifica22 tions of any health care provider who is or was 

23 a health care provider for the Department and 

24 who has applied for or been granted authority 


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•S 4465 IS

1 or employment to provide health care services 

2 in or on behalf of the institution. 

3 ‘‘(E) To an employee, a detailee, or a con4 tractor of the Department who has a need for 

5 the medical quality assurance record of the De6 partment or testimony to perform official duties 

7 or duties within the scope of their contract. 

8 ‘‘(F) To a criminal or civil law enforce9 ment agency or instrumentality charged under 

10 applicable law with the protection of the public 

11 health or safety, if a qualified representative of 

12 the agency or instrumentality makes a written 

13 request that the medical quality assurance 

14 record of the Department or testimony be pro15 vided for a purpose authorized by law. 

16 ‘‘(G) In an administrative or judicial pro17 ceeding commenced by a criminal or civil law 

18 enforcement agency or instrumentality de19 scribed in subparagraph (F), but only with re20 spect to the subject of the proceeding. 

21 ‘‘(2) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA22 TION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With the exception of 

24 the subject of a quality assurance action, per25 sonally identifiable information of any person 


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•S 4465 IS

1 receiving health care services from the Depart2 ment or of any other person associated with the 

3 Department for purposes of a medical quality 

4 assurance program that is disclosed in a med5 ical quality assurance record of the Department 

6 shall be deleted from that record before any dis7 closure of the record is made outside the De8 partment. 

9 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—The requirement 

10 under subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the 

11 release of information that is permissible under 

12 section 552a of title 5, United States Code 

13 (commonly known as the ‘Privacy Act of 

14 1974’). 

15 ‘‘(e) DISCLOSURE FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—Noth16 ing in this section shall be construed— 

17 ‘‘(1) to authorize or require the withholding 

18 from any person or entity aggregate statistical infor19 mation regarding the results of medical quality as20 surance programs; or 

21 ‘‘(2) to authorize the withholding of any med22 ical quality assurance record of the Department 

23 from a committee of either House of Congress, any 

24 joint committee of Congress, or the Comptroller 


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•S 4465 IS

1 General of the United States if the record pertains 

2 to any matter within their respective jurisdictions. 

3 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE OF INFORMA4 TION, RECORD, OR TESTIMONY.—A person or entity hav5 ing possession of or access to a medical quality assurance 

6 record of the Department or testimony described in this 

7 section may not disclose the contents of the record or testi8 mony in any manner or for any purpose except as provided 

9 in this section. 

10 ‘‘(g) EXEMPTION FROM FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

11 ACT.—A medical quality assurance record of the Depart12 ment shall be exempt from disclosure under section 

13 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code (commonly known 

14 as the ‘Freedom of Information Act’). 

15 ‘‘(h) LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY.—A person 

16 who participates in the review or creation of, or provides 

17 information to a person or body that reviews or creates, 

18 a medical quality assurance record of the Department 

19 shall not be civilly liable for that participation or for pro20 viding that information if the participation or provision 

21 of information was provided in good faith based on pre22 vailing professional standards at the time the medical 

23 quality assurance program activity took place. 

24 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION TO INFORMATION IN CERTAIN

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1 strued as limiting access to the information in a record 

2 created and maintained outside a medical quality assur3 ance program, including the medical record of a patient, 

4 on the grounds that the information was presented during 

5 meetings of a review body that are part of a medical qual6 ity assurance program. 

7 ‘‘(j) PENALTY.—Any person who willfully discloses a 

8 medical quality assurance record of the Department other 

9 than as provided in this section, knowing that the record 

10 is a medical quality assurance record of the Department 

11 shall be fined not more than $3,000 in the case of a first 

12 offense and not more than $20,000 in the case of a subse13 quent offense. 

14 ‘‘(k) RELATIONSHIP TO COAST GUARD.—The re15 quirements of this section shall not apply to any medical 

16 quality assurance record of the Department that is created 

17 by or for the Coast Guard as part of a medical quality 

18 assurance program.’’. 

19 SEC. 204. PORTABILITY OF LICENSURE. 

20 (a) TRANSFER.—Section 16005 of the CARES Act 

21 (6 U.S.C. 320 note) is redesignated as section 2306 of 

22 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and transferred so 

23 as to appear after section 2305, as added by section 203 

24 of this Act. 


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1 (b) REPEAL.—Section 2306 of the Homeland Secu2 rity Act of 2002, as so redesignated by subsection (a), is 

3 amended by striking subsection (c). 

4 SEC. 205. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

5 The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 

6 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) in the table of contents in section 1(b) 

8 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135)— 

9 (A) by striking the items relating to sec10 tions 528 and 529 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 528. Transfer of equipment during a public health emergency.’’; 

11 (B) by striking the items relating to sec12 tions 710, 711, 712, and 713 and inserting the 

13 following: 

‘‘Sec. 710. Employee engagement. 

‘‘Sec. 711. Annual employee award program. 

‘‘Sec. 712. Acquisition professional career program.’’; 

14 (C) by inserting after the item relating to 

15 section 1928 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1929. Accountability.’’; 

16 (D) by striking the items relating to sub17 title C of title XIX and sections 1931 and 

18 1932; and 

19 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘TITLE XXIII—OFFICE OF HEALTH SECURITY 

‘‘Sec. 2301. Office of Health Security. 

‘‘Sec. 2302. Workforce health and medical support. 

‘‘Sec. 2303. Coordination of Department of Homeland Security efforts related 

to food, agriculture, and veterinary defense against terrorism. 

‘‘Sec. 2304. Medical countermeasures program. 


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‘‘Sec. 2305. Confidentiality of medical quality assurance records. 

‘‘Sec. 2306. Portability of licensure.’’; 

1 (2) by redesignating section 529 (6 U.S.C. 

2 321r) as section 528; 

3 (3) in section 704(e)(4) (6 U.S.C. 344(e)(4)), 

4 by striking ‘‘section 711(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

5 710(a))’’; 

6 (4) by redesignating sections 711, 712, and 713 

7 as sections 710, 711, and 712, respectively; 

8 (5) in section 1923(b)(3) (6 U.S.C. 

9 592(b)(3))— 

10 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

11 ‘‘HAWAIIAN NATIVE-SERVING’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘NATIVE HAWAIIAN-SERVING’’; and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘Hawaiian native-serving’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘ ‘Native Hawaiian-serving’’; 

15 (6) by striking the subtitle heading for subtitle 

16 C of title XIX; 

17 (7) by striking section 1932 (6 U.S.C. 597a); 

18 and 

19 (8) in section 2306, as so redesignated by sec20 tion 204 of this Act— 

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘PORTABILITY OF LI22 CENSURE.’’ after ‘‘2306.’’; and 

23 (B) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) Not24 withstanding’’ and inserting the following: 


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•S 4465 IS

1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’. 

Æ 


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