II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1725

To terminate the Office of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 6, 1998

Mr. BURNS (for himself, Mr. HELMS, Mr. THOMAS, and Mr. KYL) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To terminate the Office of the Surgeon General of the Public

Health Service.

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 ‘‘Office of Surgeon Gen5 eral Sunset Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act:

8 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist9 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary for
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1 Health of the Department of Health and Human

2 Services.

3 (2) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal

4 agency’’ has the meaning given to the term ‘‘agen5 cy’’ by section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code.

6 (3) FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘function’’ means

7 any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility,

8 right, privilege, activity, or program.

9 (4) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘office’’ includes any

10 office, administration, agency, institute, unit, organi11 zational entity, or component thereof.

12 (5) OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—

13 The term ‘‘Office of the Assistant Secretary’’ means

14 the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health of

15 the Department of Health and Human Services.

16 SEC. 3. TERMINATION AND TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.

17 (a) TERMINATION.—The Office of the Surgeon Gen18 eral of the Public Health Service and the position of such

19 Surgeon General are terminated.

20 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are trans21 ferred to Office of the Assistance Secretary for Health all

22 functions which the Surgeon General exercised before the

23 date of the enactment of this Act (including all related

24 functions of any officer or employee of the Office of the

25 Surgeon General).
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1 SEC. 4. DETERMINATIONS OF CERTAIN FUNCTIONS BY THE

2 OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.

3 If necessary, the Office of Management and Budget

4 shall make any determination of the functions that are

5 transferred under section 3.

6 SEC. 5. DELEGATION AND ASSIGNMENT.

7 Except where otherwise expressly prohibited by law

8 or otherwise provided by this Act, the Assistant Secretary

9 may delegate any of the functions transferred to the As10 sistant Secretary by this Act and any function transferred

11 or granted to such Assistant Secretary after the effective

12 date of this Act to such officers and employees of the Of13 fice of the Assistant Secretary as the Assistant Secretary

14 may designate, and may authorize successive redelegations

15 of such functions as may be necessary or appropriate. No

16 delegation of functions by the Assistant Secretary under

17 this section or under any other provision of this Act shall

18 relieve such Assistant Secretary of responsibility for the

19 administration of such functions.

20 SEC. 6. REORGANIZATION.

21 The Assistant Secretary is authorized to allocate or

22 reallocate any function transferred under section 3 among

23 the officers of the Office of the Assistant Secretary, and

24 to establish, consolidate, alter, or discontinue such organi25 zational entities in the Office of the Assistant Secretary

26 as may be necessary or appropriate.
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1 SEC. 7. RULES.

2 The Assistant Secretary is authorized to prescribe, in

3 accordance with the provisions of chapters 5 and 6 of title

4 5, United States Code, such rules and regulations as the

5 Assistant Secretary determines necessary or appropriate

6 to administer and manage the functions of the Office of

7 the Assistant Secretary.

8 SEC. 8. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATIONS OF APPROPRIA9 TIONS AND PERSONNEL.

10 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the person11 nel employed in connection with, and the assets, liabilities,

12 contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of

13 appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other

14 funds employed, used, held, arising from, available to, or

15 to be made available in connection with the functions

16 transferred by this Act, subject to section 1531 of title

17 31, United States Code, shall be transferred to Office of

18 the Assistant Secretary. Unexpended funds transferred

19 pursuant to this section shall be used only for the purposes

20 for which the funds were originally authorized and appro21 priated.

22 SEC. 9. INCIDENTAL TRANSFERS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of

24 Management and Budget, at such time or times as the

25 Director shall provide, is authorized to make such deter26 minations as may be necessary with regard to the func-
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1 tions transferred by this Act, and to make such additional

2 incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities,

3 grants, contracts, property, records, and unexpended bal4 ances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and

5 other funds held, used, arising from, available to, or to

6 be made available in connection with such functions, as

7 may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

8 (b) TERMINATION OF AFFAIRS.—The Director of the

9 Office of Management and Budget shall provide for the

10 termination of the affairs of all entities terminated by this

11 Act and for such further measures and dispositions as may

12 be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act.

13 SEC. 10. EFFECT ON PERSONNEL.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided by

15 this Act, the transfer pursuant to this Act of full-time per16 sonnel (except special Government employees) and part17 time personnel holding permanent positions shall not

18 cause any such employee to be separated or reduced in

19 grade or compensation for one year after the date of trans20 fer of such employee under this Act.

21 (b) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE POSITIONS.—Except as

22 otherwise provided in this Act, any person who, on the

23 day preceding the effective date of this Act, held a position

24 compensated in accordance with the Executive Schedule

25 prescribed in chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code,
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1 and who, without a break in service, is appointed in the

2 Office of the Assistant Secretary to a position having du3 ties comparable to the duties performed immediately pre4 ceding such appointment shall continue to be compensated

5 in such new position at not less than the rate provided

6 for such previous position, for the duration of the service

7 of such person in such new position.

8 (c) TERMINATION OF CERTAIN POSITIONS.—Posi9 tions whose incumbents are appointed by the President,

10 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the

11 functions of which are transferred by this Act, shall termi12 nate on the effective date of this Act.

13 SEC. 11. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

14 (a) CONTINUING EFFECT OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS.—

15 All orders, determinations, rules, regulations, permits,

16 agreements, grants, contracts, certificates, licenses, reg17 istrations, privileges, and other administrative actions—

18 (1) which have been issued, made, granted, or

19 allowed to become effective by the President, any

20 Federal agency or official thereof, or by a court of

21 competent jurisdiction, in the performance of func22 tions which are transferred under this Act, and

23 (2) which are in effect at the time this Act

24 takes effect, or were final before the effective date
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1 of this Act and are to become effective on or after

2 the effective date of this Act,

3 shall continue in effect according to their terms until

4 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in

5 accordance with law by the President, the Assistant Sec6 retary or other authorized official, a court of competent

7 jurisdiction, or by operation of law.

8 (b) PROCEEDINGS NOT AFFECTED.—The provisions

9 of this Act shall not affect any proceedings, including no10 tices of proposed rulemaking, or any application for any

11 license, permit, certificate, or financial assistance pending

12 before the Office of the Surgeon General at the time this

13 Act takes effect, with respect to functions transferred by

14 this Act but such proceedings and applications shall be

15 continued. Orders shall be issued in such proceedings, ap16 peals shall be taken therefrom, and payments shall be

17 made pursuant to such orders, as if this Act had not been

18 enacted, and orders issued in any such proceedings shall

19 continue in effect until modified, terminated, superseded,

20 or revoked by a duly authorized official, by a court of com21 petent jurisdiction, or by operation of law. Nothing in this

22 subsection shall be deemed to prohibit the discontinuance

23 or modification of any such proceeding under the same

24 terms and conditions and to the same extent that such
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1 proceeding could have been discontinued or modified if

2 this Act had not been enacted.

3 (c) SUITS NOT AFFECTED.—The provisions of this

4 Act shall not affect suits commenced before the effective

5 date of this Act, and in all such suits, proceedings shall

6 be had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered in the

7 same manner and with the same effect as if this Act had

8 not been enacted.

9 (d) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, action,

10 or other proceeding commenced by or against the Office

11 of the Surgeon General, or by or against any individual

12 in the official capacity of such individual as an officer of

13 the Office of the Surgeon General, shall abate by reason

14 of the enactment of this Act.

15 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS RELATING TO PRO16 MULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Any administrative ac17 tion relating to the preparation or promulgation of a regu18 lation by the Office of the Surgeon General relating to

19 a function transferred under this Act may be continued

20 by the Office of the Assistant Secretary with the same ef21 fect as if this Act had not been enacted.

22 SEC. 12. SEPARABILITY.

23 If a provision of this Act or its application to any

24 person or circumstance is held invalid, neither the remain-
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1 der of this Act nor the application of the provision to other

2 persons or circumstances shall be affected.

3 SEC. 13. TRANSITION.

4 The Assistant Secretary is authorized to utilize—

5 (1) the services of such officers, employees, and

6 other personnel of the Office of the Surgeon General

7 with respect to functions transferred to the Office of

8 the Assistant Secretary by this Act; and

9 (2) funds appropriated to such functions for

10 such period of time as may reasonably be needed to

11 facilitate the orderly implementation of this Act.

12 SEC. 14. REFERENCES.

13 Reference in any other Federal law, Executive order,

14 rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any docu15 ment of or relating to—

16 (1) the Surgeon General with regard to func17 tions transferred under section 3, shall be deemed to

18 refer to the Assistant Secretary for Health of the

19 Department of Health and Human Services; and

20 (2) the Office of the Surgeon General with re21 gard to functions transferred under section 3, shall

22 be deemed to refer to the Office of the Assistant

23 Secretary for Health of the Department of Health

24 and Human Services.
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1 SEC. 15. SAVINGS.

2 Any amounts appropriated for the Office of the Sur3 geon General for fiscal year 1998 and remaining available

4 on the date of enactment of this Act shall be transferred

5 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and uti6 lized to carry out child immunization programs.

7 SEC. 16. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

8 (a) RECOMMENDED LEGISLATION.—After consulta9 tion with the appropriate committees of the Congress and

10 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the

11 Assistant Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Con12 gress a legislative proposal in the form of an implementing

13 bill containing technical and conforming amendments to

14 reflect the changes made by this Act.

15 (b) SUBMISSION TO THE CONGRESS.—Not later than

16 6 months after the effective date of this Act, the Assistant

17 Secretary shall submit the implementing bill referred to

18 under subsection (a).

19 (c) REPEALS.—Sections 204 and 205 of the Public

20 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 205 and 206) are repealed.

21 (d) ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

22 (1) Section 202 of the Public Health Service

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 203) is amended—

24 (A) by striking paragraph (1); and
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1 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3),

2 and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respec3 tively.

4 (2) Section 206(a) of the Public Health Service

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 207(a)) is amended—

6 (A) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘The

7 Surgeon General’’ and all that follows through

8 ‘‘the Chief Medical Officer’’ and inserting ‘‘The

9 Chief Medical Officer’’; and

10 (B) by striking the second sentence.

11 SEC. 17. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 This Act shall be become effective on the date on

13 which the individual who is serving as the Surgeon Gen14 eral on the date of enactment of this Act resigns or is

15 terminated or the date on which the term of service of

16 such individual as Surgeon General expires, whichever oc17 curs first.

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