I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2370

To improve homeland security by providing for national resilience in 

preparation for, and in the event of, a terrorist attack, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2003

Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 

the Committees on the Judiciary, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL

To improve homeland security by providing for national resilience in preparation for, and in the event of, a terrorist 

attack, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Resilience 

5 Development Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) According to the New England Journal of 

2 Medicine, after September 11, 2001, Americans 

3 across the country, including children, had substan4 tial symptoms of stress. Even clinicians who practice 

5 in regions that are far from the sites of the attacks 

6 should be prepared to assist people with trauma-re7 lated symptoms of stress. 

8 (2) According to Military Medicine, experiences 

9 from the 1995 chemical weapons attack by terrorists 

10 in the Tokyo subway system suggest that psycho11 logical casualties from a chemical attack will out12 number physical casualties by approximately 4 to 1. 

13 (3) According to Military Medicine, victims 

14 from the 1995 Tokyo attack continued to suffer 

15 from psychological symptoms 5 years later. 

16 (4) According to the Journal of the American 

17 Medical Association, the lessons learned from the 

18 2001 anthrax attacks should motivate local health 

19 departments, health care organizations, and clini20 cians to engage in collaborative programs to enhance 

21 their communications and local preparedness and re22 sponse capabilities. 

23 (5) According to the Institute of Medicine of 

24 the National Academy of Sciences, the Department 

25 of Health and Human Services and the Department 
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1 of Homeland Security should analyze terrorism pre2 paredness to ensure that the public health infra3 structure is prepared to respond to the psychological 

4 consequences of terrorism, and Federal, State, and 

5 local disaster planers should address these psycho6 logical consequences in their planning and prepared7 ness for terrorist attacks. 

8 (6) According to a national study by leading 

9 health care foundations, in this time of growing 

10 threats of terrorism, many doctors and other pri11 mary care providers are increasingly being con12 fronted with patients who complain of aches and 

13 pains, or more serious symptoms, which mask seri14 ous anxiety or depression. 

15 (7) Substantial effort and funding are still 

16 needed to adequately understand and prepare for the 

17 psychological consequences associated with bioter18 rorism. 

19 (8) The integration of mental health into public 

20 health efforts, including integration and cooperation 

21 across Federal agencies and State public health and 

22 mental health authorities, is critical in addressing 

23 the psychological needs of the Nation with regard to 

24 terrorism. 
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1 SEC. 3. GOALS. 

2 The goals of this Act are as follows: 

3 (1) To coordinate the efforts of different gov4 ernment agencies in researching, developing, and im5 plementing programs and protocols designed to in6 crease the psychological resilience and mitigate dis7 tress reactions and maladaptive behaviors of the 

8 American public as they relate to terrorism. 

9 (2) To facilitate the work of the Department of 

10 Homeland Security by incorporating programs and 

11 protocols designed to increase the psychological resil12 ience, and mitigate distress reactions and 

13 maladaptive behaviors, of the American public into 

14 the Department’s efforts in reducing the vulner15 ability of the United States to terrorism. 

16 (3) To identify effective interventions to the 

17 harmful psychosocial consequences of disasters and 

18 to integrate these interventions into the United 

19 States’ plans to mitigate, plan for, respond to, and 

20 recover from potential and actual terrorist attacks. 

21 (4) To enable the States and localities to effec22 tively respond to the psychosocial consequences of 

23 terrorism. 

24 (5) To integrate mental health and public 

25 health emergency preparedness and response efforts 

26 in the United States.
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1 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON NATIONAL RESIL2 IENCE. 

3 Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 241 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 319K 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 319L. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON NATIONAL RE7 SILIENCE. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall convene 

9 and lead an interagency task force for the purpose of in10 creasing the psychological resilience and mitigating dis11 tress reactions and maladaptive behaviors of the American 

12 public in preparation for, and in response to, a conven13 tional, biological, chemical, or radiological attack on the 

14 United States. 

15 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—The task force convened under this 

16 section shall include the Director of the Centers for Dis17 ease Control and Prevention, the Director of the National 

18 Institute of Mental Health, the Administrator of the Sub19 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 

20 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

21 Administration, the Director of the Office of Public 

22 Health Emergency Preparedness, the Surgeon General of 

23 the Public Health Service, and such other members as the 

24 Secretary deems appropriate. 

25 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The duties of the task force convened 

26 under this section shall include the following: 
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1 ‘‘(1) Coordinating and facilitating the efforts of 

2 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

3 National Institute of Mental Health, the Substance 

4 Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 

5 the Health Resources and Services Administration, 

6 the Office of Public Health Emergency Prepared7 ness, and the Office of the Surgeon General of the 

8 Public Health Service in their endeavors to develop 

9 programs and protocols designed to increase the psy10 chological resilience and mitigate distress reactions 

11 and maladaptive behaviors of the American public in 

12 preparation for, and in response to, a conventional, 

13 biological, chemical, or radiological attack on the 

14 United States. 

15 ‘‘(2) Consulting with, and providing guidance 

16 to, the Department of Homeland Security in its ef17 forts to integrate into its efforts in reducing the vul18 nerability of the United States to terrorism, pro19 grams and protocols designed to increase the psycho20 logical resilience and mitigate distress reactions and 

21 maladaptive behaviors of the American public in 

22 preparation for, and in response to, a conventional, 

23 biological, chemical, or radiological attack on the 

24 United States. 
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1 ‘‘(3) Consulting with the Department of De2 fense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 

3 American Red Cross, national organizations of 

4 health care and health care providers, and such 

5 other organizations and agencies as the task force 

6 deems appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(4) Consulting with and providing guidance to 

8 the States for the purpose of enabling them to effec9 tively respond to the psychosocial consequences of 

10 terrorism. 

11 ‘‘(5) Developing strategies for encouraging 

12 State public health and mental health agencies to 

13 closely collaborate in the development of integrated, 

14 science-based programs and protocols designed to in15 crease the psychological resilience and mitigate dis16 tress reactions and maladaptive behaviors of the 

17 public in preparation for, and in response to, a con18 ventional, biological, chemical, or radiological attack 

19 on the United States. 

20 ‘‘(6) Preparing and presenting to the Secretary 

21 of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security specific recommendations on how 

23 their respective departments, agencies, and offices 

24 can strengthen existing and planned terrorism pre25 paredness, response, recovery, and mitigation initia-
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1 tives by integrating programs and protocols designed 

2 to increase the psychological resilience and mitigate 

3 distress reactions and maladaptive behaviors of the 

4 American public. 

5 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—The task force convened under this 

6 section shall meet not less than 4 times each year. 

7 ‘‘(e) STAFF.—The Secretary shall staff the task force 

8 as necessary to ensure it meets the goals set forth in sec9 tion 3 of the National Resilience Development Act of 

10 2003.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. MENTAL HEALTH ACTIVITIES OF STATES, DISTRICT 

12 OF COLUMBIA, AND TERRITORIES REGARD13 ING NATIONAL RESILIENCE. 

14 (a) PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.—

15 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Subsection (d) of section 

16 319C–1 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 247d–3a) is amended by inserting after paragraph 

18 (18) the following: 

19 ‘‘(19) To enable State mental health authori20 ties, in close collaboration with the respective State 

21 public health authorities and the interagency task 

22 force convened under section 319L, to better under23 stand and manage human emotional, behavioral, and 

24 cognitive responses to disasters, including by in25 creasing the psychological resilience of the public
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1 and mitigating distress reactions and maladaptive 

2 behaviors that could occur in response to a conven3 tional, biological, chemical, or radiological attack on 

4 the United States.’’. 

5 (2) FUNDING.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

6 319C–1(j)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 247d–3a(j)(1)) is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following: ‘‘Not less than 1 percent of the 

9 amounts appropriated pursuant to this subpara10 graph shall be used for the purpose of carrying out 

11 subsection (d)(19).’’. 

12 (b) USA PATRIOT ACT.—

13 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Subsection (b) of section 

14 1014 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by 

15 Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept 

16 and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act 

17 of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 3714) is amended—

18 (A) by striking ‘‘may be used to purchase’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘may be used for the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) To purchase’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘In addition, grants under 

22 this section may be used to construct’’ and in23 serting the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) To construct’’; and 

25 (C) by inserting at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(3) To enable State mental health authorities, 

2 in close collaboration with the respective State public 

3 health authorities and the interagency task force 

4 convened under section 319L of the Public Health 

5 Service Act, to better understand and manage 

6 human emotional, behavioral, and cognitive re7 sponses to disasters, including by increasing the psy8 chological resilience of the public and mitigating dis9 tress reactions and maladaptive behaviors that could 

10 occur in response to a conventional, biological, chem11 ical, or radiological attack on the United States.’’. 

12 (2) FUNDING.—Subsection (c) of section 1014 

13 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Pro14 viding Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and 

15 Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 

16 2001 (42 U.S.C. 3714) is amended by adding at the 

17 end the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) MENTAL HEALTH PREPAREDNESS.—Not 

19 less than 1 percent of the amounts appropriated 

20 pursuant to this subsection shall be used for the 

21 purpose of carrying out subsection (b)(3).’’. 

22 SEC. 6. EFFORTS BY FEMA REGARDING NATIONAL RESIL23 IENCE. 

24 Paragraph (2) of section 507(a) of the Homeland Se25 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 317(a)) is amended—
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1 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at 

2 the end and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(F) of integrating into each of the Fed7 eral Emergency Management Agency’s func8 tions of mitigation, planning, response, and re9 covery, efforts to increase communities’ psycho10 logical resilience and decrease distress reactions 

11 and maladaptive behaviors in individuals, and 

12 of coordinating such efforts with efforts by the 

13 interagency task force convened under section 

14 319L of the Public Health Service Act and 

15 other efforts by the Department of Homeland 

16 Security.’’. 

17 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARIES OF HHS AND 

18 HOMELAND SECURITY. 

19 Not less than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

20 of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 

21 Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Home22 land Security, acting jointly, shall submit a report to the 

23 Congress that includes the following: 

24 (1) The recommendations of the interagency 

25 task force convened under section 319L of the Pub-
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1 lic Health Service Act (as amended by section 4 of 

2 this Act) that are relevant to the Department of 

3 Health and Human Services or the Department of 

4 Homeland Security. 

5 (2) A description of the steps that have or have 

6 not been taken by each Federal department to im7 plement the recommendations described in para8 graph (1). 

9 (3) Thorough explanations for rejection of any 

10 recommendations made by the interagency task force 

11 convened under section 319L. 

12 (4) Other steps undertaken to meet the goals of 

13 this Act.

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