II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4941 

Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending 

September 30, 2020, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2020 

Ms. WARREN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal 

year ending September 30, 2020, 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 That the following sums are hereby appropriated, out 

4 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

5 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for 

6 other purposes, namely: 


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1 TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

2 HUMAN SERVICES 

3 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

4 PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES EMERGENCY

5 FUND

6 (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)

7 For an additional amount for ‘‘Public Health and So8 cial Services Emergency Fund’’, $8,000,000,000, to re9 main available until September 30, 2022, for the imple10 mentation of the comprehensive program to prevent and 

11 respond to COVID–19 in medically underserved commu12 nities, as authorized by section 101: Provided, That of 

13 such amounts, $60,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘‘Gen14 eral Departmental Management’’ and made available to 

15 the ‘‘Office of Minority Health’’ for the implementation 

16 of such program: Provided further, That the amounts 

17 made available (including amounts transferred) under this 

18 heading shall be in addition to amounts otherwise avail19 able for such purposes: Provided further, That such 

20 amounts are designated by the Congress as being for an 

21 emergency requirement pursuant to section 

22 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

23 Deficit Control Act of 1985. 


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1 INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE

2 INDIAN HEALTH SERVICES

3 For an additional amount for ‘‘Indian Health Serv4 ices’’, $400,000,000, to remain available until September 

5 30, 2022, for the implementation of a comprehensive pro6 gram to prevent and respond to COVID–19 through pro7 grams and services administered by the Indian Health 

8 Service and Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and 

9 Urban Indian organizations pursuant to a contract or 

10 compact under the Indian Self-Determination and Edu11 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) or the In12 dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1601 et 

13 seq.), as authorized by section 102 of this Act: Provided, 

14 That such amounts shall be in addition to amounts other15 wise available for such purposes: Provided further, That 

16 such funds shall be allocated at the discretion of the Direc17 tor of the Indian Health Service: Provided further, That 

18 the amount provided under this heading in this Act shall 

19 be distributed through Indian Health Service directly op20 erated programs and to Tribes and Tribal organizations 

21 under the Indian Self-Determination and Education As22 sistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) and through con23 tracts or grants with Urban Indian Organizations under 

24 title V of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 

25 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.): Provided further, That any amounts 


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1 made available under this heading and transferred to 

2 Tribes or Tribal organizations shall be transferred on a 

3 one-time basis, and that these non-recurring funds are not 

4 part of the amount required by section 106 of the Indian 

5 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

6 U.S.C. 5325), and that such amounts may only be used 

7 for the purposes authorized by section 102 of this Act, 

8 notwithstanding any other provision of law: Provided fur9 ther, That such amount is designated by the Congress as 

10 being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 

11 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

12 Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

13 GENERAL PROVISIONS — THIS ACT 

14 SEC. 101. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

15 Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Dep16 uty Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, shall imple17 ment a comprehensive program to— 

18 (1) prevent and respond to COVID–19 in medi19 cally underserved communities; and 

20 (2) ensure that such program is designed to 

21 complement the efforts of State and local public 

22 health agencies. 

23 (b) COMPONENTS.—The comprehensive program 

24 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 


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1 (1) The provision of diagnostic tests for the 

2 virus that causes COVID–19, including rapid re3 sponse tests and testing through the use of mobile 

4 health units. 

5 (2) The provision of serological tests for the 

6 virus that causes COVID–19. 

7 (3) Contact tracing to monitor the contacts of 

8 individuals who are or were infected with the virus 

9 that causes COVID–19. 

10 (4) The provision of personal protective equip11 ment to essential workers. 

12 (5) The facilitation of— 

13 (A) voluntary isolation and quarantine of 

14 individuals presumed or confirmed to be in15 fected with, or exposed to individuals presumed 

16 or confirmed to be infected with, the virus that 

17 causes COVID–19; and 

18 (B) the provision of social services and 

19 support for such individuals. 

20 (6) A culturally diverse and multilingual social 

21 marketing campaign carried out by trusted members 

22 of the community involved to increase public aware23 ness of— 

24 (A) health precautions to prevent exposure 

25 to the virus that causes COVID–19; 


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1 (B) the benefits of monitoring and testing 

2 for COVID–19; 

3 (C) health care assistance programs and 

4 entities that provide treatment for such virus; 

5 and 

6 (D) public assistance and unemployment 

7 programs for individuals affected by the spread 

8 of COVID–19. 

9 (c) GRANTS TO PARTNERS.—To carry out the compo10 nents of the comprehensive program under subsection (b), 

11 the Secretary shall provide grants to— 

12 (1) faith-based, community, and nonprofit orga13 nizations; and 

14 (2) eligible institutions of higher education de15 scribed in section 371(a) of the Higher Education 

16 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)) that have part17 nerships with one or more faith-based, community, 

18 or nonprofit organizations. 

19 (d) CONTACT TRACING.— 

20 (1) LOCATION OF PERSONNEL.—The individ21 uals hired and trained to perform contact tracing 

22 pursuant to the comprehensive program under sub23 section (a) shall have— 

24 (A) experience in medically underserved 

25 communities; and 


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1 (B) relationships with individuals who re2 side in medically underserved communities. 

3 (2) PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMA4 TION.—The Secretary shall ensure that the individ5 ually identifiable information collected to perform 

6 contact tracing pursuant to the comprehensive pro7 gram under subsection (a) is secure from unauthor8 ized access and disclosure. 

9 (e) STRATEGY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

12 shall develop and publish a comprehensive strategy 

13 with respect to the comprehensive program under 

14 subsection (a) for the purpose of addressing health 

15 and health disparities, taking into consideration the 

16 following: 

17 (A) Race and ethnicity. 

18 (B) Sex. 

19 (C) Age. 

20 (D) Limited English proficiency. 

21 (E) Socioeconomic status. 

22 (F) Disability. 

23 (G) Census tract. 

24 (H) Status as a member of the lesbian, 

25 gay, bisexual, and transgender community. 


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1 (I) Occupation. 

2 (J) Other demographic data. 

3 (2) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strat4 egy under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 

5 with health officials who represent the following: 

6 (A) State and territorial governments. 

7 (B) Local governments. 

8 (C) Tribal governments. 

9 SEC. 102. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

10 Health and Human Services, acting through the Director 

11 of the Indian Health Service, shall implement a com12 prehensive program to prevent and respond to COVID– 

13 19 through programs and services administered by— 

14 (1) the Indian Health Service; and 

15 (2) Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and 

16 Urban Indian organizations pursuant to a contract 

17 or compact under— 

18 (A) the Indian Self-Determination and 

19 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et 

20 seq.); or 

21 (B) the Indian Health Care Improvement 

22 Act (25 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

23 (b) COMPONENTS.—The comprehensive program 

24 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 


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1 (1) The provision of diagnostic tests for the 

2 virus that causes COVID–19, including rapid re3 sponse tests and testing through the use of mobile 

4 health units. 

5 (2) The provision of serological tests for the 

6 virus that causes COVID–19. 

7 (3) Contact tracing to monitor the contacts of 

8 individuals who are or were infected with the virus 

9 that causes COVID–19, including hiring and train10 ing culturally and linguistically competent contact 

11 tracers. 

12 (4) The provision of personal protective equip13 ment to essential workers, including— 

14 (A) community health representatives em15 ployed under section 516 of the Indian Health 

16 Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1616f); and 

17 (B) community health aides employed 

18 under section 119 of the Indian Health Care 

19 Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1616l). 

20 (5) The facilitation of— 

21 (A) voluntary isolation and quarantine of 

22 individuals presumed or confirmed to be in23 fected with, or exposed to individuals presumed 

24 or confirmed to be infected with, the virus that 

25 causes COVID–19; and 


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1 (B) the provision of social services and 

2 support for such individuals. 

3 (6) A culturally and linguistically appropriate 

4 social marketing campaign carried out by trusted 

5 members of the community involved to increase pub6 lic awareness of— 

7 (A) health precautions to prevent exposure 

8 to, and the spread of, the virus that causes 

9 COVID–19; 

10 (B) the benefits of monitoring and testing 

11 for such virus; and 

12 (C) other public awareness priorities. 

13 (7) Awarding grants or cooperative agreements 

14 to epidemiology centers established under section 

15 214 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 

16 U.S.C. 1621m). 

17 (c) CONSULTATION.—Before implementing the pro18 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

19 (1) consult with Indian Tribes and Tribal orga20 nizations; and 

21 (2) confer with Urban Indian organizations. 

22 SEC. 103. In this Act: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘essential worker’’ means— 

24 (A) a health sector employee; 

25 (B) an emergency response worker; 


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1 (C) a sanitation worker; 

2 (D) a worker at a business which a State 

3 or local government official has determined 

4 must remain open to serve the public during a 

5 public health emergency (as declared pursuant 

6 to section 319 of the Public Health Service Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 247d)) with respect to COVID–19; 

8 and 

9 (E) any other worker who cannot telework, 

10 and whom the State deems to be essential dur11 ing a public health emergency with respect to 

12 COVID–19. 

13 (2) The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ means an ‘‘Indian 

14 tribe’’ as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-De15 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 

16 U.S.C. 5304). 

17 (3) The term ‘‘medically underserved commu18 nities’’ means communities that each— 

19 (A) have a rate of infection, hospitaliza20 tion, or death with respect to COVID–19 that 

21 is higher than the national average; 

22 (B) have a high percentage of racial and 

23 ethnic minorities; or 

24 (C) are above the 90th percentile according 

25 to the area deprivation index developed by the 


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1 Administrator of the Health Resources and 

2 Services Administration. 

3 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

4 of Health and Human Services. 

5 (5) The term ‘‘Tribal organization’’ means a 

6 ‘‘tribal organization’’ as defined in section 4 of the 

7 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

8 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

9 (6) The term ‘‘Urban Indian organization’’ has 

10 the meaning given such term in section 4 of the In11 dian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 

12 1603). 

13 SEC. 104. Unless otherwise provided for by this Act, 

14 the additional amounts appropriated by this Act to appro15 priations accounts shall be available under the authorities 

16 and conditions applicable to such appropriations accounts 

17 for fiscal year 2020. 

18 SEC. 105. Each amount designated in this Act by the 

19 Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant 

20 to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and 

21 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 shall be available 

22 (or transferred, as applicable) only if the President subse23 quently so designates all such amounts and transmits such 

24 designations to the Congress. 


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1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID Community 

2 Care Act’’. 

Æ 


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