H. Res. 526

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

September 17, 2002.

Resolved, That, upon the adoption of this resolution, the

House shall be considered to have taken from the Speaker’s

table the bill H.R. 3253, with the Senate amendments thereto, and to have concurred in the Senate amendment to the

title of the bill and to have concurred in the Senate amendment to the text of the bill with the following amendment:

In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the

amendment of the Senate to the text of the bill, insert the

following:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet3 erans Affairs Emergency Preparedness Act of 2002’’.

4 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF MEDICAL EMERGENCY PRE5 PAREDNESS CENTERS AT DEPARTMENT OF

6 VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTERS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subchapter II of chapter 73

8 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at

9 the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 7325. Medical emergency preparedness centers

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS.—(1) The Sec3 retary shall establish four medical emergency prepared4 ness centers in accordance with this section. Each such

5 center shall be established at a Department medical center

6 and shall be staffed by Department employees.

7 ‘‘(2) The Under Secretary for Health shall be respon8 sible for supervising the operation of the centers estab9 lished under this section. The Under Secretary shall pro10 vide for ongoing evaluation of the centers and their com11 pliance with the requirements of this section.

12 ‘‘(3) The Under Secretary shall carry out the Under

13 Secretary’s functions under paragraph (2) in consultation

14 with the Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs with re15 sponsibility for operations, preparedness, security, and law

16 enforcement functions.

17 ‘‘(b) MISSION.—The mission of the centers shall be

18 as follows:

19 ‘‘(1) To carry out research on, and to develop

20 methods of detection, diagnosis, prevention, and

21 treatment of injuries, diseases, and illnesses arising

22 from the use of chemical, biological, radiological, in23 cendiary or other explosive weapons or devices pos24 ing threats to the public health and safety.

25 ‘‘(2) To provide education, training, and advice

26 to health care professionals, including health care
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1 professionals outside the Veterans Health Adminis2 tration, through the National Disaster Medical Sys3 tem established pursuant to section 2811(b) of the

4 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300hh–11(b))

5 or through interagency agreements entered into by

6 the Secretary for that purpose.

7 ‘‘(3) In the event of a disaster or emergency re8 ferred to in section 1785(b) of this title, to provide

9 such laboratory, epidemiological, medical, or other

10 assistance as the Secretary considers appropriate to

11 Federal, State, and local health care agencies and

12 personnel involved in or responding to the disaster

13 or emergency.

14 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF CENTERS.—(1) The Secretary

15 shall select the sites for the centers on the basis of a com16 petitive selection process. The Secretary may not des17 ignate a site as a location for a center under this section

18 unless the Secretary makes a finding under paragraph (2)

19 with respect to the proposal for the designation of such

20 site. To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary

21 shall ensure the geographic dispersal of the sites through22 out the United States. Any such center may be a consor23 tium of efforts of more than one medical center.

24 ‘‘(2) A finding by the Secretary referred to in para25 graph (1) with respect to a proposal for designation of
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1 a site as a location of a center under this section is a find2 ing by the Secretary, upon the recommendations of the

3 Under Secretary for Health and the Assistant Secretary

4 with responsibility for operations, preparedness, security,

5 and law enforcement functions, that the facility or facili6 ties submitting the proposal have developed (or may rea7 sonably be anticipated to develop) each of the following:

8 ‘‘(A) An arrangement with a qualifying medical

9 school and a qualifying school of public health (or a

10 consortium of such schools) under which physicians

11 and other persons in the health field receive edu12 cation and training through the participating De13 partment medical facilities so as to provide those

14 persons with training in the detection, diagnosis,

15 prevention, and treatment of injuries, diseases, and

16 illnesses induced by exposures to chemical and bio17 logical substances, radiation, and incendiary or other

18 explosive weapons or devices.

19 ‘‘(B) An arrangement with a graduate school

20 specializing in epidemiology under which students

21 receive education and training in epidemiology

22 through the participating Department facilities so as

23 to provide such students with training in the epide24 miology of contagious and infectious diseases and
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1 chemical and radiation poisoning in an exposed pop2 ulation.

3 ‘‘(C) An arrangement under which nursing, so4 cial work, counseling, or allied health personnel and

5 students receive training and education in recog6 nizing and caring for conditions associated with ex7 posures to toxins through the participating Depart8 ment facilities.

9 ‘‘(D) The ability to attract scientists who have

10 made significant contributions to the development of

11 innovative approaches to the detection, diagnosis,

12 prevention, or treatment of injuries, diseases, and ill13 nesses arising from the use of chemical, biological,

14 radiological, incendiary or other explosive weapons

15 or devices posing threats to the public health and

16 safety.

17 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)—

18 ‘‘(A) a qualifying medical school is an accred19 ited medical school that provides education and

20 training in toxicology and environmental health haz21 ards and with which one or more of the participating

22 Department medical centers is affiliated; and

23 ‘‘(B) a qualifying school of public health is an

24 accredited school of public health that provides edu25 cation and training in toxicology and environmental
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1 health hazards and with which one or more of the

2 participating Department medical centers is affili3 ated.

4 ‘‘(d) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—Each center shall con5 duct research on improved medical preparedness to protect

6 the Nation from threats in the area of that center’s exper7 tise. Each center may seek research funds from public and

8 private sources for such purpose.

9 ‘‘(e) DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH PRODUCTS.—(1)

10 The Under Secretary for Health and the Assistant Sec11 retary with responsibility for operations, preparedness, se12 curity, and law enforcement functions shall ensure that

13 information produced by the research, education and

14 training, and clinical activities of centers established under

15 this section is made available, as appropriate, to health16 care providers in the United States. Dissemination of such

17 information shall be made through publications, through

18 programs of continuing medical and related education pro19 vided through regional medical education centers under

20 subchapter VI of chapter 74 of this title, and through

21 other means. Such programs of continuing medical edu22 cation shall receive priority in the award of funding.

23 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that the work of the

24 centers is conducted in close coordination with other Fed25 eral departments and agencies and that research products
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1 or other information of the centers shall be coordinated

2 and shared with other Federal departments and agencies.

3 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary

4 shall take appropriate actions to ensure that the work of

5 each center is carried out—

6 ‘‘(1) in close coordination with the Department

7 of Defense, the Department of Health and Human

8 Services, and other departments, agencies, and ele9 ments of the Government charged with coordination

10 of plans for United States homeland security; and

11 ‘‘(2) after taking into consideration applicable

12 recommendations of the working group on the pre13 vention, preparedness, and response to bioterrorism

14 and other public health emergencies established

15 under section 319F(a) of the Public Health Service

16 Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6(a)) or any other joint inter17 agency advisory group or committee designated by

18 the President or the President’s designee to coordi19 nate Federal research on weapons of mass destruc20 tion.

21 ‘‘(g) ASSISTANCE TO OTHER AGENCIES.—The Sec22 retary may provide assistance requested by appropriate

23 Federal, State, and local civil and criminal authorities in

24 investigations, inquiries, and data analyses as necessary
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1 to protect the public safety and prevent or obviate biologi2 cal, chemical, or radiological threats.

3 ‘‘(h) DETAIL OF EMPLOYEES FROM OTHER AGEN4 CIES.—Upon approval by the Secretary, the Director of

5 a center may request the temporary assignment or detail

6 to the center, on a nonreimbursable basis, of employees

7 from other departments and agencies of the United States

8 who have expertise that would further the mission of the

9 center. Any such employee may be so assigned or detailed

10 on a nonreimbursable basis pursuant to such a request.

11 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—(1) Amounts appropriated for the

12 activities of the centers under this section shall be appro13 priated separately from amounts appropriated for the De14 partment for medical care.

15 ‘‘(2) In addition to funds appropriated for a fiscal

16 year specifically for the activities of the centers pursuant

17 to paragraph (1), the Under Secretary for Health shall

18 allocate to such centers from other funds appropriated for

19 that fiscal year generally for the Department medical care

20 account and the Department medical and prosthetics re21 search account such amounts as the Under Secretary de22 termines appropriate to carry out the purposes of this sec23 tion. Any determination by the Under Secretary under the

24 preceding sentence shall be made in consultation with the
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1 Assistant Secretary with responsibility for operations, pre2 paredness, security, and law enforcement functions.

3 ‘‘(3) There are authorized to be appropriated for the

4 centers under this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal

5 years 2003 through 2007.’’.

6 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such

7 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

8 to section 7324 the following new item:

‘‘7325. Medical emergency preparedness centers.’’.

9 (b) PEER REVIEW FOR DESIGNATION OF CEN10 TERS.—(1) In order to assist the Secretary of Veterans

11 Affairs and the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for

12 Health in selecting sites for centers under section 7325

13 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection

14 (a), the Under Secretary shall establish a peer review

15 panel to assess the scientific and clinical merit of pro16 posals that are submitted to the Secretary for the designa17 tion of such centers. The peer review panel shall be estab18 lished in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Vet19 erans Affairs with responsibility for operations, prepared20 ness, security, and law enforcement functions.

21 (2) The peer review panel shall include experts in the

22 fields of toxicological research, infectious diseases, radi23 ology, clinical care of patients exposed to such hazards,

24 and other persons as determined appropriate by the Sec-
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1 retary. Members of the panel shall serve as consultants

2 to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

3 (3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted

4 to the panel by the officials referred to in paragraph (1)

5 and shall submit to the Under Secretary for Health its

6 views on the relative scientific and clinical merit of each

7 such proposal. The panel shall specifically determine with

8 respect to each such proposal whether that proposal is

9 among those proposals which have met the highest com10 petitive standards of scientific and clinical merit.

11 (4) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal Ad12 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

13 SEC. 3. EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS ON MED14 ICAL RESPONSES TO CONSEQUENCES OF

15 TERRORIST ACTIVITIES.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subchapter II of chapter 73

17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding

18 after section 7325, as added by section 2(a)(1), the fol19 lowing new section:

20 ‘‘§ 7326. Education and training programs on medical

21 response to consequences of terrorist ac22 tivities

23 ‘‘(a) EDUCATION PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall

24 carry out a program to develop and disseminate a series
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1 of model education and training programs on the medical

2 responses to the consequences of terrorist activities.

3 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTING OFFICIAL.—The program shall

4 be carried out through the Under Secretary for Health,

5 in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Veterans

6 Affairs with responsibility for operations, preparedness,

7 security, and law enforcement functions.

8 ‘‘(c) CONTENT OF PROGRAMS.—The education and

9 training programs developed under the program shall be

10 modelled after programs established at the F. Edward

11 Hebe ́rt School of Medicine of the Uniformed Services Uni12 versity of the Health Sciences and shall include, at a min13 imum, training for health care professionals in the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(1) Recognition of chemical, biological, radio16 logical, incendiary, or other explosive agents, weap17 ons, or devices that may be used in terrorist activi18 ties.

19 ‘‘(2) Identification of the potential symptoms of

20 exposure to those agents.

21 ‘‘(3) Understanding of the potential long-term

22 health consequences, including psychological effects,

23 resulting from exposure to those agents, weapons, or

24 devices.
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1 ‘‘(4) Emergency treatment for exposure to

2 those agents, weapons, or devices.

3 ‘‘(5) An appropriate course of followup treat4 ment, supportive care, and referral.

5 ‘‘(6) Actions that can be taken while providing

6 care for exposure to those agents, weapons, or de7 vices to protect against contamination, injury, or

8 other hazards from such exposure.

9 ‘‘(7) Information on how to seek consultative

10 support and to report suspected or actual use of

11 those agents.

12 ‘‘(d) POTENTIAL TRAINEES.—In designing the edu13 cation and training programs under this section, the Sec14 retary shall ensure that different programs are designed

15 for health-care professionals in Department medical cen16 ters. The programs shall be designed to be disseminated

17 to health professions students, graduate health and med18 ical education trainees, and health practitioners in a vari19 ety of fields.

20 ‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—In establishing education and

21 training programs under this section, the Secretary shall

22 consult with appropriate representatives of accrediting,

23 certifying, and coordinating organizations in the field of

24 health professions education.’’.
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1 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such

2 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

3 to section 7325, as added by section 2(a)(2), the following

4 new item:

‘‘7326. Education and training programs on medical response to consequences

of terrorist activities.’’.

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Veterans

6 Affairs shall implement section 7326 of title 38, United

7 States Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than

8 the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the

9 enactment of this Act.

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO FURNISH HEALTH CARE DURING

11 MAJOR DISASTERS AND MEDICAL EMER12 GENCIES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subchapter VIII of chapter 17

14 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at

15 the end the following new section:

16 ‘‘§ 1785. Care and services during certain disasters

17 and emergencies

18 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE HOSPITAL CARE AND

19 MEDICAL SERVICES.—During and immediately following

20 a disaster or emergency referred to in subsection (b), the

21 Secretary may furnish hospital care and medical services

22 to individuals responding to, involved in, or otherwise af23 fected by that disaster or emergency.
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1 ‘‘(b) COVERED DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES.—A

2 disaster or emergency referred to in this subsection is any

3 disaster or emergency as follows:

4 ‘‘(1) A major disaster or emergency declared by

5 the President under the Robert B. Stafford Disaster

6 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

7 5121 et seq.).

8 ‘‘(2) A disaster or emergency in which the Na9 tional Disaster Medical System established pursuant

10 to section 2811(b) of the Public Health Service Act

11 (42 U.S.C. 300hh–11(b)) is activated by the Sec12 retary of Health and Human Services under para13 graph (3)(A) of that section or as otherwise author14 ized by law.

15 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY TO ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS WHO

16 ARE VETERANS.—The Secretary may furnish care and

17 services under this section to an individual described in

18 subsection (a) who is a veteran without regard to whether

19 that individual is enrolled in the system of patient enroll20 ment under section 1705 of this title.

21 ‘‘(d) REIMBURSEMENT FROM OTHER FEDERAL DE22 PARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—(1) The cost of any care or

23 services furnished under this section to an officer or em24 ployee of a department or agency of the United States

25 other than the Department or to a member of the Armed
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1 Forces shall be reimbursed at such rates as may be agreed

2 upon by the Secretary and the head of such department

3 or agency or the Secretary concerned, in the case of a

4 member of the Armed Forces, based on the cost of the

5 care or service furnished.

6 ‘‘(2) Amounts received by the Department under this

7 subsection shall be credited to the Medical Care Collec8 tions Fund under section 1729A of this title.

9 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—

10 Within 60 days of the commencement of a disaster or

11 emergency referred to in subsection (b) in which the Sec12 retary furnishes care and services under this section (or

13 as soon thereafter as is practicable), the Secretary shall

14 submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen15 ate and the House of Representatives a report on the Sec16 retary’s allocation of facilities and personnel in order to

17 furnish such care and services.

18 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe

19 regulations governing the exercise of the authority of the

20 Secretary under this section.’’.

21 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of that

22 chapter is amended by adding at the end the following

23 new item:

‘‘1785. Care and services during certain disasters and emergencies.’’.

24 (b) MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ON ACTIVE

25 DUTY.—Section 8111A(a) of such title is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para2 graph (4);

3 (2) by designating the second sentence of para4 graph (1) as paragraph (3); and

5 (3) by inserting between paragraph (1) and

6 paragraph (3), as designated by paragraph (2) of

7 this subsection, the following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(2)(A) During and immediately following a disaster

9 or emergency referred to in subparagraph (B), the Sec10 retary may furnish hospital care and medical services to

11 members of the Armed Forces on active duty responding

12 to or involved in that disaster or emergency.

13 ‘‘(B) A disaster or emergency referred to in this sub14 paragraph is any disaster or emergency as follows:

15 ‘‘(i) A major disaster or emergency declared by

16 the President under the Robert B. Stafford Disaster

17 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

18 5121 et seq.).

19 ‘‘(ii) A disaster or emergency in which the Na20 tional Disaster Medical System established pursuant

21 to section 2811(b) of the Public Health Service Act

22 (42 U.S.C. 300hh–11(b)) is activated by the Sec23 retary of Health and Human Services under para24 graph (3)(A) of that section or as otherwise author25 ized by law.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. 10-YEAR EXTENSION OF EXPIRED AUTHORITY.

2 Effective September 30, 2002, subsection (d) of sec3 tion 1722A of title 38, United States Code, is amended

4 by striking ‘‘September 30, 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘Sep5 tember 30, 2012’’.

6 SEC. 6. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF ASSISTANT SECRETARIES

7 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

8 (a) INCREASE.—Subsection (a) of section 308 of title

9 38, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘six’’ in

10 the first sentence and inserting ‘‘seven’’.

11 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Subsection (b) of such section is

12 amended by adding at the end the following new para13 graph:

14 ‘‘(11) Operations, preparedness, security, and

15 law enforcement functions.’’.

16 (c) NUMBER OF DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRE17 TARIES.—Subsection (d)(1) of such section is amended by

18 striking ‘‘18’’ and inserting ‘‘19’’.

19 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5315 of

20 title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘(6)’’

21 after ‘‘Assistant Secretaries, Department of Veterans Af22 fairs’’ and inserting ‘‘(7)’’.
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1 SEC. 7. CODIFICATION OF DUTIES OF SECRETARY OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS RELATING TO EMERGENCY

3 PREPAREDNESS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subchapter I of chapter 81

5 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at

6 the end the following new section:

7 ‘‘§ 8117. Emergency preparedness

8 ‘‘(a) READINESS OF DEPARTMENT MEDICAL CEN9 TERS.—(1) The Secretary shall take appropriate actions

10 to provide for the readiness of Department medical centers

11 to protect the patients and staff of such centers from

12 chemical or biological attack or otherwise to respond to

13 such an attack so as to enable such centers to fulfill their

14 obligations as part of the Federal response to public health

15 emergencies.

16 ‘‘(2) Actions under paragraph (1) shall include—

17 ‘‘(A) the provision of decontamination equip18 ment and personal protection equipment at Depart19 ment medical centers; and

20 ‘‘(B) the provision of training in the use of such

21 equipment to staff of such centers.

22 ‘‘(b) SECURITY AT DEPARTMENT MEDICAL AND RE23 SEARCH FACILITIES.—(1) The Secretary shall take appro24 priate actions to provide for the security of Department

25 medical centers and research facilities, including staff and

26 patients at such centers and facilities.
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1 ‘‘(2) In taking actions under paragraph (1), the Sec2 retary shall take into account the results of the evaluation

3 of the security needs at Department medical centers and

4 research facilities required by section 154(b)(1) of the

5 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness

6 and Response Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–188; 116

7 Stat. 631), including the results of such evaluation relat8 ing to the following needs:

9 ‘‘(A) Needs for the protection of patients and

10 medical staff during emergencies, including a chem11 ical or biological attack or other terrorist attack.

12 ‘‘(B) Needs, if any, for screening personnel en13 gaged in research relating to biological pathogens or

14 agents, including work associated with such re15 search.

16 ‘‘(C) Needs for securing laboratories or other

17 facilities engaged in research relating to biological

18 pathogens or agents.

19 ‘‘(c) TRACKING OF PHARMACEUTICALS AND MED20 ICAL SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT.—The Secretary shall

21 develop and maintain a centralized system for tracking the

22 current location and availability of pharmaceuticals, med23 ical supplies, and medical equipment throughout the De24 partment health care system in order to permit the ready

25 identification and utilization of such pharmaceuticals, sup-
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1 plies, and equipment for a variety of purposes, including

2 response to a chemical or biological attack or other ter3 rorist attack.

4 ‘‘(d) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall ensure that the

5 Department medical centers, in consultation with the ac6 credited medical school affiliates of such medical centers,

7 develop and implement curricula to train resident physi8 cians and health care personnel in medical matters relat9 ing to biological, chemical, or radiological attacks or at10 tacks from an incendiary or other explosive weapon.

11 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL DISASTER MED12 ICAL SYSTEM.—(1) The Secretary shall establish and

13 maintain a training program to facilitate the participation

14 of the staff of Department medical centers, and of the

15 community partners of such centers, in the National Dis16 aster Medical System established pursuant to section

17 2811(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

18 300hh–11(b)).

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall establish and maintain the

20 training program under paragraph (1) in accordance with

21 the recommendations of the working group on the preven22 tion, preparedness, and response to bioterrorism and other

23 public health emergencies established under section

24 319F(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

25 247d–6(a)).
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1 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall establish and maintain the

2 training program under paragraph (1) in consultation

3 with the following:

4 ‘‘(A) The Secretary of Defense.

5 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Health and Human

6 Services.

7 ‘‘(C) The Director of the Federal Emergency

8 Management Agency.

9 ‘‘(f) MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING.—(1) With re10 spect to activities conducted by personnel serving at De11 partment medical centers, the Secretary shall develop and

12 maintain various strategies for providing mental health

13 counseling and assistance, including counseling and assist14 ance for post-traumatic stress disorder, following a bioter15 rorist attack or other public health emergency to the fol16 lowing persons:

17 ‘‘(A) Veterans.

18 ‘‘(B) Local and community emergency response

19 providers.

20 ‘‘(C) Active duty military personnel.

21 ‘‘(D) Individuals seeking care at Department

22 medical centers.

23 ‘‘(2) The strategies under paragraph (1) shall include

24 the following:
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1 ‘‘(A) Training and certification of providers of

2 mental health counseling and assistance.

3 ‘‘(B) Mechanisms for coordinating the provision

4 of mental health counseling and assistance to emer5 gency response providers referred to in paragraph

6 (1).

7 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall develop and maintain the

8 strategies under paragraph (1) in consultation with the

9 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the American

10 Red Cross, and the working group referred to in sub11 section (e)(2).’’.

12 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such

13 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

14 to section 8116 the following new item:

‘‘8117. Emergency preparedness.’’.

15 (b) REPEAL OF CODIFIED PROVISIONS.—Subsections

16 (a), (b)(2), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of section 154 of the Pub17 lic Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and

18 Response Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–188; 38 U.S.C.

19 note prec. 8101) are repealed.

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (g) of

21 such section is amended—

22 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘of section

23 8117 of title 38, United States Code’’ after ‘‘sub24 section (a)’’; and
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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘subsections

2 (b) through (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(1) of

3 this section and subsections (b) through (f) of sec4 tion 8117 of title 38, United States Code’’.

Attest:

Clerk.