I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3525 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Commissioner 

of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish uniform processes 

for medical screening of individuals interdicted between ports of entry, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Ms. UNDERWOOD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct 

the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish uniform processes for medical screening 

of individuals interdicted between ports of entry, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘U.S. Border Patrol 

5 Medical Screening Standards Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNIFORM PROCESSES FOR MEDICAL SCREENING 

2 OF INDIVIDUALS INTERDICTED BETWEEN 

3 PORTS OF ENTRY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the 

5 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231) is amend6 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 437. MEDICAL SCREENING OF INDIVIDUALS INTER8 DICTED BETWEEN PORTS OF ENTRY. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To improve border security and 

10 the processing of individuals and families interdicted by 

11 the U.S. Border Patrol between ports of entry, the Com12 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in co13 ordination with the Chief Medical Officer of the Depart14 ment, shall establish uniform processes and training to en15 sure consistent and efficient medical screening of all indi16 viduals so interdicted within 12 hours of such interdiction. 

17 ‘‘(b) SCREENING PROCESS COMPONENTS.—At a min18 imum, the uniform processes and training established 

19 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) Requirements for initial screening that in21 cludes documentation of the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) Current medical complaints and con23 cerns. 

24 ‘‘(B) A brief medical history to identify 

25 current medications and any chronic or past ill26 nesses. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Basic vital statistics. 

2 ‘‘(2) Criteria for determining when to make a 

3 referral to higher medical care and a process to exe4 cute such referral. 

5 ‘‘(3) Recordkeeping requirements. 

6 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION AND TRAINING.—The uniform 

7 processes and training shall be made available to appro8 priate personnel of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

9 and other Department components, offices, and contrac10 tors, as appropriate.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

12 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

13 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 436 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 437. Medical screening of individuals interdicted between ports of entry.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. RESEARCH REGARDING PROVISION OF MEDICAL 

16 SCREENING OF INDIVIDUALS INTERDICTED 

17 BY U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION 

18 BETWEEN PORTS OF ENTRY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home21 land Security, acting through the Under Secretary for 

22 Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland 

23 Security, in coordination with the Commissioner of U.S. 

24 Customs and Border Protection and the Chief Medical Of25 ficer of the Department, shall research innovative apVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3525.IH H3525

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1 proaches to address capability gaps regarding the provi2 sion of medical screening of individuals interdicted by U.S. 

3 Customs and Border Protection between ports of entry 

4 and issue to the Secretary recommendations for any nec5 essary corrective actions. 

6 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the research 

7 required under subsection (a), the Under Secretary for 

8 Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland 

9 Security shall consult with appropriate national profes10 sional associations with expertise in emergency, nursing, 

11 and other medical care, including expertise in pediatric 

12 care. 

13 (c) REPORT.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 

14 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of 

15 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

16 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen17 ate a report containing the recommendations referred to 

18 in subsection (a), together with information relating to 

19 what actions, if any, the Secretary plans to take in re20 sponse to such recommendations. 

21 SEC. 4. ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS INTEROPER22 ABILITY ASSESSMENT AND IMPLEMENTA23 TION PLAN. 

24 (a) ASSESSMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 Chief Information Officer of the Department of 

4 Homeland Security shall submit to the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security an assessment of the challenges 

6 to achieving interoperability of electronic health 

7 records, with appropriate privacy and other safe8 guards, within the Department’s information tech9 nology systems of individuals who receive medical 

10 screening after being interdicted by U.S. Customs 

11 and Border protection between ports of entry in ac12 cordance with section 437 of the Homeland Security 

13 Act of 2002 (as added by section 2). 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The assessment required 

15 under paragraph (1) shall include information on 

16 programmatic, policy, and operational options to 

17 overcome challenges described in such assessment 

18 and a cost and benefit analyses for each such option. 

19 (b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 120 

20 days after receipt of the assessment required under sub21 section (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall sub22 mit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

23 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu24 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an implemenVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3525.IH H3525

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1 tation plan, including benchmarks and metrics, for achiev2 ing the interoperability described in such subsection. 

Æ 


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