S86 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 6, 2009 

estimates show that the provision with 

its general application will help a number of teaching hospitals. 

The U.S. Senate several times has 

acted favorably on this proposal. The 

Senate adopted a similar provision in 

H.R. 1836, the Economic Growth and 

Tax Relief Act of 2001. The House conferees on that bill, however, objected 

that the provision was unrelated to the 

bill’s focus on individual tax relief and 

the conference deleted the provision 

from the final legislation. Subsequently, the Finance Committee included the provision in H.R. 7, the 

CARE Act of 2002, and in S. 476, the 

CARE Act of 2003 which the Senate 

passed. In a previous Congress’ S. 6, the 

Marriage, Opportunity, Relief, and Empowerment Act of 2005, which the Senate leadership introduced, also included the proposal. 

As the Senate Finance Committee’s 

recent hearings show, substantial 

health needs would go unmet if not for 

our charitable hospitals. It is time for 

the Congress to assist the Nation’s 

teaching hospitals in their charitable, 

educational service. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill by printed 

in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the text of 

the bill was ordered to be printed in 

the RECORD, as follows: 

S. 112 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN HOSPITAL 

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS AS 

QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS FOR 

PURPOSES OF DETERMINING ACQUISITION INDEBTEDNESS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (C) of section 514(c)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986 (relating to real property acquired by a 

qualified organization) is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iii), by striking 

the period at the end of clause (iv) and inserting ‘‘; or’’, and by adding at the end the 

following new clause: 

‘‘(v) a qualified hospital support organization (as defined in subparagraph (I)).’’. 

(b) QUALIFIED HOSPITAL SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS.—Paragraph (9) of section 514(c) of 

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

‘‘(I) QUALIFIED HOSPITAL SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS.—For purposes of subparagraph 

(C)(iv), the term ‘qualified hospital support 

organization’ means, with respect to any eligible indebtedness (including any qualified 

refinancing of such eligible indebtedness), a 

support organization (as defined in section 

509(a)(3)) which supports a hospital described 

in section 119(d)(4)(B) and with respect to 

which— 

‘‘(i) more than half of its assets (by value) 

at any time since its organization— 

‘‘(I) were acquired, directly or indirectly, 

by testamentary gift or devise, and 

‘‘(II) consisted of real property, and 

‘‘(ii) the fair market value of the organization’s real estate acquired, directly or indirectly, by gift or devise, exceeded 25 percent 

of the fair market value of all investment assets held by the organization immediately 

prior to the time that the eligible indebtedness was incurred. 

For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 

‘eligible indebtedness’ means indebtedness 

secured by real property acquired by the organization, directly or indirectly, by gift or 

devise, the proceeds of which are used exclusively to acquire any leasehold interest in 

such real property or for improvements on, 

or repairs to, such real property. A determination under clauses (i) and (ii) of this 

subparagraph shall be made each time such 

an eligible indebtedness (or the qualified refinancing of such an eligible indebtedness) is 

incurred. For purposes of this subparagraph, 

a refinancing of such an eligible indebtedness shall be considered qualified if such refinancing does not exceed the amount of the 

refinanced eligible indebtedness immediately 

before the refinancing.’’. 

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 

made by this section shall apply to indebtedness incurred on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

By Mr. INOUYE: 

S. 113. A bill to amend the Public 

Health Service Act to provide health 

care practitioners in rural areas with 

training in preventive health care, including both physical and mental care, 

and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions. 

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise 

today, again, to introduce the Rural 

Preventive Health Care Training Act, a 

bill that responds to the dire need of 

our rural communities for quality 

health care and disease prevention programs. Almost one fourth of Americans 

live in rural areas and frequently lack 

access to adequate physical and mental 

health care. As many as 21 million of 

the 3 million people living in underserved rural areas are without access 

to a primary care provider. Even in 

areas where providers do exist, there 

are numerous limits to access, such as 

geography, distance, lack of transportation, and lack of knowledge about 

available resources. Due to the diversity of rural populations, language and 

cultural obstacles are often a factor in 

the access to medical care. 

Compound these problems with limited financial resources, and the result 

is that many Americans living in rural 

communities go without vital health 

care, especially preventive care. Children fail to receive immunizations and 

routine checkups. Preventable illnesses 

and injuries occur needlessly, and lead 

to expensive hospitalizations. Early 

symptoms of emotional problems and 

substance abuse go undetected, and 

often develop into full-blown disorders. 

An Institute of Medicine, IOM, report 

entitled, ‘‘Reducing Risks for Mental 

Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive 

Intervention Research,’’ highlights the 

benefits of preventive care for all 

health problems. The training of health 

care providers in prevention is crucial 

in order to meet the demand for care in 

underserved areas. Currently, rural 

health care providers lack preventive 

care training opportunities. 

Interdisciplinary preventive training 

of rural health care providers must be 

encouraged. Through such training, 

rural health care providers can build a 

strong educational foundation from the 

behavioral, biological, and psychological sciences. Interdisciplinary team 

prevention training will also facilitate 

operations at sites with both health 

and mental health clinics by facilitating routine consultation between 

groups. Emphasizing the mental health 

disciplines and their services as part of 

the health care team will contribute to 

the overall health of rural communities. 

The Rural Preventive Health Care 

Training Act would implement the 

risk-reduction model described in the 

IOM study. This model is based on the 

identification of risk factors and targets specific interventions for those 

risk factors. The human suffering 

caused by poor health is immeasurable, 

and places a huge financial burden on 

communities, families, and individuals. 

By implementing preventive measures 

to reduce this suffering, the potential 

psychological and financial savings are 

enormous. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed 

in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the text of 

the bill was ordered to be printed in 

the RECORD, as follows: 

S. 113 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Preventive Health Care Training Act of 2009’’. 

SEC. 2. PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE TRAINING. 

Part D of title VII of the Public Health 

Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294 et seq.) is amended 

by inserting after section 754 the following: 

‘‘SEC. 754A. PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE TRAINING. 

‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

make grants to, and enter into contracts 

with, eligible applicants to enable such applicants to provide preventive health care 

training, in accordance with subsection (c), 

to health care practitioners practicing in 

rural areas. Such training shall, to the extent practicable, include training in health 

care to prevent both physical and mental 

disorders before the initial occurrence of 

such disorders. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall encourage, but 

may not require, the use of interdisciplinary 

training project applications. 

‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—To be eligible to receive 

training using assistance provided under subsection (a), a health care practitioner shall 

be determined by the eligible applicant involved to be practicing, or desiring to practice, in a rural area. 

‘‘(c) USE OF ASSISTANCE.—Amounts received under a grant made or contract entered into under this section shall be used— 

‘‘(1) to provide student stipends to individuals attending rural community colleges or 

other institutions that service predominantly rural communities, for the purpose of 

enabling the individuals to receive preventive health care training; 

‘‘(2) to increase staff support at rural community colleges or other institutions that 

service predominantly rural communities to 

facilitate the provision of preventive health 

care training; 

‘‘(3) to provide training in appropriate research and program evaluation skills in 

rural communities; 

‘‘(4) to create and implement innovative 

programs and curricula with a specific prevention component; and 


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January 6, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S87 

‘‘(5) for other purposes as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

There are authorized to be appropriated to 

carry out this section, $5,000,000 for each of 

fiscal years 2010 through 2013.’’. 

By Mr. INOUYE: 

S. 114. A bill to amend the Public 

Health Service Act to provide for the 

establishment of a National Center for 

Social Work Research; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions. 

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise, 

again, today to reintroduce legislation 

to amend the Public Health Service 

Act for the establishment of a National 

Center for Social Work Research. Social workers provide a multitude of 

health care delivery services throughout America to our children, families, 

the elderly, and persons suffering from 

various forms of abuse and neglect. The 

purpose of this center is to support and 

disseminate information about the 

basic and clinical social work research 

and training, with emphasis on service 

to underserved and rural populations. 

While the Federal Government provides funding for various social work 

research activities through the National Institutes of Health and other 

Federal agencies, there presently is no 

coordination or direction of these critical activities and no overall assessment of needs and opportunities for 

empirical knowledge development. The 

establishment of a Center for Social 

Work Research would result in improved behavioral and mental health 

care outcomes for our Nation’s children, families, the elderly, and others. 

In order to meet the increasing challenges of bringing cost-effective, research-based quality health care to all 

Americans, we must recognize the important contributions of social work 

researchers to health care delivery and 

central role that the Center for Social 

Work can provide in facilitating their 

work. 

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed 

in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the text of 

the bill was ordered to be printed in 

the RECORD, as follows: 

S. 114 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National 

Center for Social Work Research Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds that— 

(1) social workers focus on the improvement of individual and family functioning 

and the creation of effective health and mental health prevention and treatment interventions in order for individuals to become 

more productive members of society; 

(2) social workers provide front line prevention and treatment services in the areas 

of school violence, aging, teen pregnancy, 

child abuse, domestic violence, juvenile 

crime, and substance abuse, particularly in 

rural and underserved communities; and 

(3) social workers are in a unique position 

to provide valuable research information on 

these complex social concerns, taking into 

account a wide range of social, medical, economic and community influences from an 

interdisciplinary, family-centered and community-based approach. 

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER 

FOR SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(a)) is 

amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(26) The National Center for Social Work 

Research.’’. 

(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Part E of title IV of 

the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 287 

et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

following: 

‘‘Subpart 7—National Center for Social Work 

Research 

‘‘SEC. 485I. PURPOSE OF CENTER. 

‘‘The general purpose of the National Center for Social Work Research (referred to in 

this subpart as the ‘Center’) is the conduct 

and support of, and dissemination of targeted research concerning social work methods and outcomes related to problems of significant social concern. The Center shall— 

‘‘(1) promote research and training that is 

designed to inform social work practices, 

thus increasing the knowledge base which 

promotes a healthier America; and 

‘‘(2) provide policymakers with empirically-based research information to enable 

such policymakers to better understand 

complex social issues and make informed 

funding decisions about service effectiveness 

and cost efficiency. 

‘‘SEC. 485J. SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES. 

‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purpose described in section 485I, the Director of 

the Center may provide research training 

and instruction and establish, in the Center 

and in other nonprofit institutions, research 

traineeships and fellowships in the study and 

investigation of the prevention of disease, 

health promotion, the association of socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, age and 

geographical location and health, the social 

work care of individuals with, and families 

of individuals with, acute and chronic illnesses, child abuse, neglect, and youth violence, and child and family care to address 

problems of significant social concern especially in underserved populations and underserved geographical areas. 

‘‘(b) STIPENDS AND ALLOWANCES.—The Director of the Center may provide individuals 

receiving training and instruction or 

traineeships or fellowships under subsection 

(a) with such stipends and allowances (including amounts for travel and subsistence 

and dependency allowances) as the Director 

determines necessary. 

‘‘(c) GRANTS.—The Director of the Center 

may make grants to nonprofit institutions 

to provide training and instruction and 

traineeships and fellowships under subsection (a). 

‘‘SEC. 485K. ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

‘‘(a) DUTIES.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an advisory council for the Center 

that shall advise, assist, consult with, and 

make recommendations to the Secretary and 

the Director of the Center on matters related 

to the activities carried out by and through 

the Center and the policies with respect to 

such activities. 

‘‘(2) GIFTS.—The advisory council for the 

Center may recommend to the Secretary the 

acceptance, in accordance with section 231, 

of conditional gifts for study, investigations, 

and research and for the acquisition of 

grounds or construction, equipment, or 

maintenance of facilities for the Center. 

‘‘(3) OTHER DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.—The advisory council for the Center— 

‘‘(A)(i) may make recommendations to the 

Director of the Center with respect to research to be conducted by the Center; 

‘‘(ii) may review applications for grants 

and cooperative agreements for research or 

training and recommend for approval applications for projects that demonstrate the 

probability of making valuable contributions 

to human knowledge; and 

‘‘(iii) may review any grant, contract, or 

cooperative agreement proposed to be made 

or entered into by the Center; 

‘‘(B) may collect, by correspondence or by 

personal investigation, information relating 

to studies that are being carried out in the 

United States or any other country and, with 

the approval of the Director of the Center, 

make such information available through 

appropriate publications; and 

‘‘(C) may appoint subcommittees and convene workshops and conferences. 

‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The advisory council 

shall be composed of the ex officio members 

described in paragraph (2) and not more than 

18 individuals to be appointed by the Secretary under paragraph (3). 

‘‘(2) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The ex officio 

members of the advisory council shall include— 

‘‘(A) the Secretary of Health and Human 

Services, the Director of NIH, the Director of 

the Center, the Chief Social Work Officer of 

the Veterans’ Administration, the Assistant 

Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the 

Associate Director of Prevention Research at 

the National Institute of Mental Health, the 

Director of the Division of Epidemiology and 

Services Research, the Assistant Secretary 

of Health and Human Services for the Administration for Children and Families, the 

Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the Assistant Secretary of Housing 

and Urban Development for Community 

Planning and Development, and the Assistant Attorney General for Office of Justice 

Programs (or the designees of such officers); 

and 

‘‘(B) such additional officers or employees 

of the United States as the Secretary determines necessary for the advisory council to 

effectively carry out its functions. 

‘‘(3) APPOINTED MEMBERS.—The Secretary 

shall appoint not to exceed 18 individuals to 

the advisory council, of which— 

‘‘(A) not more than two-thirds of such individual shall be appointed from among the 

leading representatives of the health and scientific disciplines (including public health 

and the behavioral or social sciences) relevant to the activities of the Center, and at 

least 7 such individuals shall be professional 

social workers who are recognized experts in 

the area of clinical practice, education, or 

research; and 

‘‘(B) not more than one-third of such individuals shall be appointed from the general 

public and shall include leaders in fields of 

public policy, law, health policy, economics, 

and management. 

The Secretary shall make appointments to 

the advisory council in such a manner as to 

ensure that the terms of the members do not 

all expire in the same year. 

‘‘(4) COMPENSATION.—Members of the advisory council who are officers or employees of 

the United States shall not receive any compensation for service on the advisory council. The remaining members shall receive, 

for each day (including travel time) they are 

engaged in the performance of the functions 

of the advisory council, compensation at 

rates not to exceed the daily equivalent of 

the maximum rate payable for a position at 

grade GS–15 of the General Schedule. 

‘‘(c) TERMS.— 


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