II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1317 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for public health research 

and investment into understanding and eliminating structural racism 

and police violence. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2023 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. SMITH, Ms. 

HIRONO, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

public health research and investment into understanding 

and eliminating structural racism and police violence. 

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 ‘‘Anti-Racism in Public 

5 Health Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ANTIRACISM.—The term ‘‘antiracism’’ is a 

2 collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial eq3 uity, and are substantiated by antiracist ideas. 

4 (2) ANTIRACIST.—The term ‘‘antiracist’’ is any 

5 measure that produces or sustains racial equity be6 tween racial groups. 

7 SEC. 3. PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH AND INVESTMENT IN 

8 DISMANTLING STRUCTURAL RACISM. 

9 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

10 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 320C. NATIONAL CENTER ON ANTIRACISM AND 

13 HEALTH. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL CENTER.—There is established 

16 within the Centers for Disease Control and Preven17 tion a center to be known as the ‘National Center 

18 on Antiracism and Health’ (referred to in this sec19 tion as the ‘Center’). The Director of the Centers for 

20 Disease Control and Prevention shall appoint a di21 rector to head the Center who has experience living 

22 in and working with racial and ethnic minority com23 munities. The Center shall promote public health 

24 by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) declaring racism a public health crisis 

2 and naming racism as an historical and present 

3 threat to the physical and mental health and 

4 well-being of the United States and world; 

5 ‘‘(B) aiming to develop new knowledge in 

6 the science and practice of antiracism, including 

7 by identifying the mechanisms by which racism 

8 operates in the provision of health care and in 

9 systems that impact health and well-being; 

10 ‘‘(C) transferring that knowledge into 

11 practice, including by developing interventions 

12 that dismantle the mechanisms of racism and 

13 replace such mechanisms with equitable struc14 tures, policies, practices, norms, and values so 

15 that a healthy society can be realized; and 

16 ‘‘(D) contributing to a national and global 

17 conversation regarding the impacts of racism on 

18 the health and well-being of the United States 

19 and world. 

20 ‘‘(2) GENERAL DUTIES.—The Secretary, acting 

21 through the Center, shall undertake activities to 

22 carry out the mission of the Center as described in 

23 paragraph (1), such as the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) Conduct research into, collect, ana25 lyze and make publicly available data on, and 


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1 provide leadership and coordination for the 

2 science and practice of antiracism, the public 

3 health impacts of structural racism, and the ef4 fectiveness of intervention strategies to address 

5 these impacts. Topics of research and data col6 lection under this subparagraph may include 

7 identifying and understanding— 

8 ‘‘(i) policies and practices that have a 

9 disparate impact on the health and well10 being of communities of color; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the public health impacts of im12 plicit racial bias, White supremacy, weath13 ering, xenophobia, discrimination, and 

14 prejudice; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the social determinants of health 

16 resulting from structural racism, including 

17 poverty, housing, employment, political 

18 participation, and environmental factors; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(iv) the intersection of racism and 

21 other systems of oppression, including as 

22 related to age, sexual orientation, gender 

23 identity, and disability status. 

24 ‘‘(B) Award noncompetitive grants and co25 operative agreements to eligible public and nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1317.IS S1317

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1 profit private entities, including State, local, 

2 territorial, and Tribal health agencies and orga3 nizations, for the research and collection, anal4 ysis, and reporting of data on the topics de5 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

6 ‘‘(C) Establish, through grants or coopera7 tive agreements, at least 3 regional centers of 

8 excellence, located in racial and ethnic minority 

9 communities, in antiracism for the purpose of 

10 developing new knowledge in the science and 

11 practice of antiracism in health by researching, 

12 understanding, and identifying the mechanisms 

13 by which racism operates in the health space, 

14 racial and ethnic inequities in health care ac15 cess and outcomes, the history of successful 

16 antiracist movements in health, and other 

17 antiracist public health work. 

18 ‘‘(D) Establish a clearinghouse within the 

19 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 

20 the collection and storage of data generated 

21 under the programs implemented under this 

22 section for which there is not an otherwise ex23 isting surveillance system at the Centers for 

24 Disease Control and Prevention. Such data 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) be comprehensive and 

2 disaggregated, to the extent practicable, by 

3 including racial, ethnic, primary language, 

4 sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, 

5 age, socioeconomic status, and disability 

6 disparities; 

7 ‘‘(ii) be made publicly available; 

8 ‘‘(iii) protect the privacy of individuals 

9 whose information is included in such data; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(iv) comply with privacy protections 

12 under the regulations promulgated under 

13 section 264(c) of the Health Insurance 

14 Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. 

15 ‘‘(E) Provide information and education to 

16 the public on the public health impacts of struc17 tural racism and on antiracist public health 

18 interventions. 

19 ‘‘(F) Consult with other Centers and Na20 tional Institutes within the Centers for Disease 

21 Control and Prevention, including the Office of 

22 Minority Health and Health Equity and the 

23 Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial 

24 Support, to ensure that scientific and pro25 grammatic activities initiated by the agency 


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1 consider structural racism in their designs, 

2 conceptualizations, and executions, which shall 

3 include— 

4 ‘‘(i) putting measures of racism in 

5 population-based surveys; 

6 ‘‘(ii) establishing a Federal Advisory 

7 Committee on racism and health for the 

8 Centers for Disease Control and Preven9 tion; 

10 ‘‘(iii) developing training programs, 

11 curricula, and seminars for the purposes of 

12 training public health professionals and re13 searchers around issues of race, racism, 

14 and antiracism; 

15 ‘‘(iv) providing standards and best 

16 practices for programming and grant re17 cipient compliance with Federal data col18 lection standards, including section 4302 

19 of the Patient Protection and Affordable 

20 Care Act; and 

21 ‘‘(v) establishing leadership and stake22 holder councils with experts and leaders in 

23 racism and public health disparities. 

24 ‘‘(G) Coordinate with the Indian Health 

25 Service and with the Centers for Disease ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1317.IS S1317

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1 trol and Prevention’s Tribal Advisory Com2 mittee to ensure meaningful Tribal consulta3 tion, the gathering of information from Tribal 

4 authorities, and respect for Tribal data sov5 ereignty. 

6 ‘‘(H) Engage in government to government 

7 consultation with Indian Tribes and Tribal or8 ganizations. 

9 ‘‘(I) At least every 2 years, produce and 

10 publicly post on the Centers for Disease Control 

11 and Prevention’s website a report on antiracist 

12 activities completed by the Center, which may 

13 include newly identified antiracist public health 

14 practices. 

15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec17 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH AND INVESTMENT IN 

19 POLICE VIOLENCE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

21 Human Services shall establish within the National Center 

22 for Injury Prevention and Control of the Centers for Dis23 ease Control and Prevention (referred to in this section 

24 as the ‘‘Center’’) a law enforcement violence prevention 

25 program. 


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1 (b) GENERAL DUTIES.—In implementing the pro2 gram under subsection (a), the Center shall conduct re3 search into, and provide leadership and coordination for— 

4 (1) the understanding and promotion of knowl5 edge about the public health impacts of uses of force 

6 by law enforcement, including police brutality and 

7 violence; 

8 (2) developing public health interventions and 

9 perspectives for eliminating deaths, injury, trauma, 

10 and negative mental health effects from police pres11 ence and interactions, including police brutality and 

12 violence; and 

13 (3) ensuring comprehensive data collection, 

14 analysis, and reporting regarding police violence and 

15 misconduct in consultation with the Department of 

16 Justice and independent researchers. 

17 (c) FUNCTIONS.—Under the program under sub18 section (a), the Center shall— 

19 (1) summarize and enhance the knowledge of 

20 the distribution, status, and characteristics of law 

21 enforcement-related death, trauma, and injury; 

22 (2) conduct research and prepare, with the as23 sistance of State public health departments— 

24 (A) statistics on law enforcement-related 

25 death, injury, and brutality; 


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1 (B) studies of the factors, including legal, 

2 socioeconomic, discrimination, and other factors 

3 that correlate with or influence police brutality; 

4 (C) public information about uses of force 

5 by law enforcement, including police brutality 

6 and violence, for the practical use of the public 

7 health community, including publications that 

8 synthesize information relevant to the national 

9 goal of understanding police violence and meth10 ods for its control; 

11 (D) information to identify socioeconomic 

12 groups, communities, and geographic areas in 

13 need of study, and a strategic plan for research 

14 necessary to comprehend the extent and nature 

15 of police uses of force by law enforcement, in16 cluding police brutality and violence, and deter17 mine what options exist to reduce or eradicate 

18 death and injury that result; and 

19 (E) best practices in police violence preven20 tion in other countries; 

21 (3) award grants, contracts, and cooperative 

22 agreements to provide for the conduct of epidemio23 logic research on uses of force by law enforcement, 

24 including police brutality and violence, by Federal, 


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1 State, local, and private agencies, institutions, orga2 nizations, and individuals; 

3 (4) award grants, contracts, and cooperative 

4 agreements to community groups, independent re5 search organizations, academic institutions, and 

6 other entities to support, execute, or conduct re7 search on interventions to reduce or eliminate uses 

8 of force by law enforcement, including police bru9 tality and violence; 

10 (5) coordinate with the Department of Justice, 

11 and other Federal, State, and local agencies on the 

12 standardization of data collection, storage, and re13 trieval necessary to collect, evaluate, analyze, and 

14 disseminate information about the extent and nature 

15 of uses of force by law enforcement, including police 

16 brutality and violence, as well as options for the 

17 eradication of such practices; 

18 (6) submit an annual report to Congress on re19 search findings with recommendations to improve 

20 data collection and standardization and to disrupt 

21 processes in policing that preserve and reinforce rac22 ism and racial disparities in public health; 

23 (7) conduct primary research and explore uses 

24 of force by law enforcement, including police bru25 tality and violence, and options for its control; and 


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1 (8) study alternatives to law enforcement re2 sponse as a method of reducing police violence. 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be nec5 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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