II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1225

To authorize and encourage the President to conclude an agreement with

Mexico to establish a United States-Mexico Border Health Commission.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 14 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, and Mr. SIMON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To authorize and encourage the President to conclude an

agreement with Mexico to establish a United StatesMexico Border Health Commission.

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 ‘‘United States-Mexico

5 Border Health Commission Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. AGREEMENT TO ESTABLISH BINATIONAL COMMIS7 SION.

8 The President is authorized and encouraged to con9 clude an agreement with Mexico to establish a binational
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1 commission to be known as the United States-Mexico Bor2 der Health Commission.

3 SEC. 3. DUTIES.

4 It should be the duty of the Commission—

5 (1) to conduct a comprehensive needs assess6 ment in the United States-Mexico border area for

7 the purposes of identifying, evaluating, preventing,

8 and resolving health problems and potential health

9 problems that affect the general population of the

10 area;

11 (2) to develop and implement a comprehensive

12 plan for carrying out the actions recommended by

13 the needs assessment through—

14 (A) assisting in the coordination of public

15 and private efforts to prevent potential health

16 problems and resolve existing health problems,

17 (B) assisting in the coordination of public

18 and private efforts to educate the population, in

19 a culturally competent manner, concerning such

20 potential and existing health problems, and

21 (C) developing and implementing culturally

22 competent programs to prevent and resolve

23 such health problems and to educate the popu24 lation, in a culturally competent manner, con25 cerning such health problems where a new pro-
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1 gram is necessary to meet a need that is not

2 being met through other public or private ef3 forts; and

4 (3) to formulate recommendations to the Gov5 ernments of the United States and Mexico concern6 ing a fair and reasonable method by which the gov7 ernment of one country would reimburse a public or

8 private person in the other country for the cost of

9 a health care service that such person furnishes to

10 a citizen or resident alien of the first country who

11 is unable, through insurance or otherwise, to pay for

12 the service.

13 SEC. 4. OTHER AUTHORIZED FUNCTIONS.

14 In addition to the duties described in section 3, the

15 Commission should be authorized to perform the following

16 functions as the Commission determines to be appro17 priate—

18 (1) to conduct or support investigations, re19 search, or studies designed to identify, study, and

20 monitor, on an on-going basis, health problems that

21 affect the general population in the United States22 Mexico border area;

23 (2) to conduct or support a binational, public24 private effort to establish a comprehensive and co25 ordinated system, which uses advanced technologies
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1 to the maximum extent possible, for gathering

2 health-related data and monitoring health problems

3 in the United States-Mexico border area; and

4 (3) to provide financial, technical, or adminis5 trative assistance to public or private persons who

6 act to prevent or resolve such problems or who edu7 cate the population concerning such health problems.

8 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP.

9 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT OF UNITED STATES

10 SECTION.—The United States section of the Commission

11 should be composed of 13 members. The section should

12 consist of the following members:

13 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv14 ices or the Secretary’s delegate.

15 (2) The commissioners of health or chief health

16 officer from the States of Texas, New Mexico, Ari17 zona, and California or such commissioners’ dele18 gates.

19 (3) 2 individuals from each of the States of

20 Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California who are

21 nominated by the chief executive officer of the re22 spective States and appointed by the President from

23 among individuals—
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1 (A) who have a demonstrated interest or

2 expertise in health issues of the United States3 Mexico border area; and

4 (B) whose name appears on a list of 6

5 nominees submitted to the President by the

6 chief executive officer of the State where the

7 nominees resides.

8 (b) COMMISSIONER.—The Commissioner of the

9 United States section of the Commission should be the

10 Secretary of Health and Human Services or such individ11 ual’s delegate to the Commission. The Commissioner

12 should be the leader of the section.

13 (c) COMPENSATION.—Members of the United States

14 section of the Commission who are not employees of the

15 United States—

16 (1) shall each receive compensation at a rate of

17 not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate

18 of basic pay payable for positions at GS–15 of the

19 General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5,

20 United States Code, for each day such member is

21 engaged in the actual performance of the duties of

22 the Commission; and

23 (2) shall be allowed travel expenses, including

24 per diem in lieu of subsistence at rates authorized

25 for employees of agencies under subchapter I of
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1 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while

2 away from their homes or regular places of business

3 in the performance of services of the Commission.

4 SEC. 6. REGIONAL OFFICES.

5 The Commission should establish no fewer than 3 re6 gional border offices in locations selected by the Commis7 sion.

8 SEC. 7. REPORTS.

9 Not later than February 1 of each year that occurs

10 more than 1 year after the date of the establishment of

11 the Commission, the Commission should submit an annual

12 report to both the United States Government and the Gov13 ernment of Mexico regarding all activities of the Commis14 sion during the preceding calendar year.

15 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec17 retary of State for payment of the United States share

18 of the expenses of the Commission such sums as may be

19 necessary.

20 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

21 For purposes of this Act:

22 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

23 means the United States-Mexico Border Health

24 Commission authorized in section 2.
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1 (2) HEALTH PROBLEM.—The term ‘‘health

2 problem’’ means a disease or medical ailment or an

3 environmental condition that poses the risk of dis4 ease or medical ailment. The term includes diseases,

5 ailments, or risks of disease or ailment caused by or

6 related to environmental factors, control of animals

7 and rabies, control of insect and rodent vectors, dis8 posal of solid and hazardous waste, and control and

9 monitoring of air and water quality.

10 (3) RESIDENT ALIEN.—The term ‘‘resident

11 alien’’, when used in reference to a country, means

12 an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence

13 to the country or otherwise permanently residing in

14 the country under color of law (including residence

15 as an asylee, refugee, or parolee).

16 (4) UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER AREA.—

17 The term ‘‘United States-Mexico border area’’

18 means the area located in the United States and

19 Mexico within 100 kilometers of the border between

20 the United States and Mexico.

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