II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 126

To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend

certain programs relating to the education of individuals as health professionals, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21, 1997

Mr. INOUYE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to

revise and extend certain programs relating to the education of individuals as health professionals, 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 ‘‘Physical Therapy and

5 Occupational Therapy Education Act of 1997’’.
2

•S 126 IS

1 SEC. 2. PHYSICAL THERAPY AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY.

2 Subpart II of part D of title VII of the Public Health

3 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294d et seq.) is amended by adding

4 at the end the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 768. PHYSICAL THERAPY AND OCCUPATIONAL THER6 APY.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants

8 to, and enter into contracts with, programs of physical

9 therapy and occupational therapy for the purpose of plan10 ning and implementing projects to recruit and retain fac11 ulty and students, develop curriculum, support the dis12 tribution of physical therapy and occupational therapy

13 practitioners in underserved areas, or support the continu14 ing development of these professions.

15 ‘‘(b) PREFERENCE IN MAKING GRANTS.—In making

16 grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give pref17 erence to qualified applicants that seek to educate physical

18 therapists or occupational therapists in rural or urban

19 medically underserved communities, or to expand post20 professional programs for the advanced education of phys21 ical therapy or occupational therapy practitioners.

22 ‘‘(c) PEER REVIEW.—Each peer review group under

23 section 798(a) that is reviewing proposals for grants or

24 contracts under subsection (a) shall include not fewer than

25 2 physical therapists or occupational therapists.

26 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—
3

•S 126 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pre2 pare a report that—

3 ‘‘(A) summarizes the applications submit4 ted to the Secretary for grants or contracts

5 under subsection (a);

6 ‘‘(B) specifies the identity of entities re7 ceiving the grants or contracts; and

8 ‘‘(C) evaluates the effectiveness of the pro9 gram based upon the objectives established by

10 the entities receiving the grants or contracts.

11 ‘‘(2) DATE CERTAIN FOR SUBMISSION.—Not

12 later than February 1, 2001, the Secretary shall

13 submit the report prepared under paragraph (1) to

14 the Committee on Commerce and the Committee on

15 Appropriations of the House of Representatives, the

16 Committee on Labor and Human Resources and the

17 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

18 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

19 purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized

20 to be appropriated $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

21 1997 through 2000.’’.

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