II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3482 

To provide for the establishment of a volunteer corps to aid in the dissemination and distribution of vaccines and other countermeasures during a 

public health emergency. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 8, 2006 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a volunteer corps to 

aid in the dissemination and distribution of vaccines 

and other countermeasures during a public health emergency. 

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 ‘‘Volunteer Vaccine and 

5 Countermeasure Corps Development Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VOLUNTEER VACCINE AND COUNTERMEASURE 

2 CORPS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec5 retary’’) shall establish a Volunteer Vaccine and Counter6 measures Corps (referred to in this section as the 

7 ‘‘Corps’’) to facilitate the distribution and provision of 

8 vaccines, or other biological, chemical, or nuclear counter9 measures, to individuals under any influenza vaccination 

10 program, or other countermeasure distribution program 

11 established by the Secretary or a State or local entity. 

12 (b) ACTIVATION AND ASSIGNMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

13 (1) ACTIVATION.— 

14 (A) MANNER OF ACTIVATION.—The mem15 bers of the Corps shall be activated in one of 

16 the following manners: 

17 (i) By the Secretary upon a declara18 tion by the Secretary of a public health 

19 emergency under section 319 of the Public 

20 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 247d)related to an influenza outbreak (in22 cluding a seasonal outbreak) or other pub23 lic health emergency. 

24 (ii) By the declaration of a State. 

25 (iii) By the declaration of a qualified 

26 entity, as defined in subsection (g). 


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1 (B) NON-EMERGENCY FUNCTIONS.—Acti2 vation of the Corps is not required for the 

3 Corps to carry out non-emergency functions, in4 cluding training, recruitment and retention of 

5 volunteers, participation in State and local 

6 planning, or other activities determined appro7 priate by the Secretary. 

8 (C) NOTIFICATION.—In order to facilitate 

9 cooperation between all levels of government in 

10 response to an emergency, when activated 

11 under this section in response to a Federal or 

12 State declaration, or by the qualifying entity, 

13 the qualifying entity shall notify— 

14 (i) the Secretary; 

15 (ii) the governor or governors of the 

16 State or States in which the Corps shall be 

17 activated or deployed; and 

18 (iii) the local governments of the 

19 county or counties in which the Corps will 

20 reside or be deployed. 

21 (2) MEMBERSHIP THROUGH QUALIFIED ENTI22 TIES.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—A volunteer may apply 

24 for membership in the Corps through a quali25 fied entity. 


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1 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—A qualified entity 

2 shall carry out education and training activities 

3 and maintain pertinent information as required 

4 under subsection (c)(2). 

5 (C) USE.—Upon completion of any train6 ing, certification, or other qualifying processes 

7 determined appropriate by the Secretary, mem8 bers of the Corps may be used by qualified enti9 ties to carry out activities under a National, 

10 State, or local influenza vaccination program, 

11 or other countermeasure distribution program 

12 as determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

13 (3) REQUESTS.—The Secretary or governor of 

14 a State may request assignment of members of the 

15 Corps from a State or territory to participate in a 

16 vaccination program or countermeasure distribution 

17 program of another State or territory. The Secretary 

18 shall enter into agreements with such States to ac19 cept licensure and certification from such other 

20 States for the purpose of carrying out activities 

21 under an influenza vaccination program. 

22 (c) PARTICIPATION.— 

23 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—An appropriately 

24 credentialed (licensed or certified) health profes25 sional, including a retired health professional, or 


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1 other individual serving in an auxiliary or support 

2 capacity, including retired military personnel, police, 

3 emergency medical service personnel, or other volun4 teers as determined appropriate by the Secretary, 

5 shall be eligible to participate in the Corps under 

6 procedures established by the Secretary and after 

7 successfully completing an approved training course 

8 developed by the Secretary. Nothing in this para9 graph shall be construed to preclude an entity from 

10 receiving financial, legal, and other technical assist11 ance from a volunteer that is not certified as a 

12 Corps member. 

13 (2) DATABASE.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

14 and consultation with States and qualifying entities, 

15 shall establish guidelines for the collection and main16 tenance of data relating to Corps members by quali17 fying entities. Such database shall— 

18 (A) with respect to each Corps member, in19 clude contact information, appropriate licensure 

20 or certification information, and other informa21 tion the Secretary determines necessary to per22 form the activities of the Corps; 

23 (B) be accessible to qualifying entities, 

24 States, the Secretary, or other entities deterVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:28 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3482.IS S3482

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1 mined appropriate by the Secretary, for use in 

2 the performance of duties of the Corps; and 

3 (C) be interoperable with the Emergency 

4 System for the Advance Registration of Volun5 teer Health Professionals, the National Disaster 

6 Medical System, the Medical Reserve Corps, 

7 and other databases determined appropriate by 

8 the Secretary. 

9 (3) NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION.—The Sec10 retary, in cooperation and consultation with the 

11 States, shall develop a National Identification Card 

12 that describes the health-related licensure and cer13 tification information of Corps members, as well as 

14 other identifying information determined by the Sec15 retary to facilitate the use of Corps members in 

16 States other than the State in which such members 

17 reside. Such identification and certification informa18 tion shall be cross-referenced with the database es19 tablished under paragraph (2), and shall be updated 

20 on a regular basis to ensure that the information in 

21 the database is as current as is practicable. 

22 (d) GRANTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

24 grants to qualified entities for the following pur25 poses: 


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1 (A) To provide training through State and 

2 local health care facilities and networks to fa3 cilitate, execute, and maintain mechanisms for 

4 the distribution of vaccines and other biological 

5 countermeasures, including mass vaccination 

6 exercises designed to increase access to seasonal 

7 influenza vaccine by priority populations and 

8 encourage late-season vaccination with seasonal 

9 influenza vaccine. 

10 (B) To provide for the recruitment and re11 tention of volunteers, including individuals to 

12 maintain and coordinate databases. 

13 (C) To carry out capacity building activi14 ties of the Corps, including the development of 

15 partnerships among the Corps, qualifying enti16 ties, and emergency response organizations, 

17 State and local governments, police depart18 ments, fire departments, emergency responders, 

19 nonprofit organizations, and private sector enti20 ties. 

21 (D) To carry out other training activities 

22 as determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

23 (e) LIABILITY.—A member of the Corps, when per24 forming his or her duties under an activation and assign25 ment by the Secretary under subsection (b) upon a decVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:28 Jun 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3482.IS S3482

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1 laration by the Secretary of a public health emergency 

2 under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 247d) shall be deemed a Federal employee for li4 ability purposes. In all other cases, Members of the Corps 

5 are subject to the laws of the State in which the activities 

6 of the Corps are undertaken. 

7 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

9 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as may 

10 be necessary for each fiscal year thereafter. 

11 (g) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘qualified entity’’ in12 cludes State and local public health departments, Feder13 ally Qualified Health Centers, public and private hospitals, 

14 units of the Medical Reserve Corps, and other entities de15 termined appropriate by the Secretary. 

Æ 


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