IB 

Union Calendar No. 419 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1646 

[Report No. 116–519, Part I] 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to improve the 

detection, prevention, and treatment of mental health issues among public 

safety officers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2019 

Mr. BERA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. 

SHERMAN, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. PERLMUTTER, 

Mr. GOLDEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. WELCH, 

Ms. DEAN, Mr. SOTO, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Ms. 

STEFANIK, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. POSEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, 

Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. POCAN, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, 

Mr. MCADAMS, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. 

STEVENS, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. 

CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. KILMER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. VELA, Mr. 

LAMB, Ms. TITUS, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. KIND, 

Mr. HECK, Ms. WILD, Mr. HIMES, Mr. BRINDISI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

TONKO, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. 

WEXTON, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, 

Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN

of Oklahoma, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. CRIST, Mr. TRONE, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. 

STANTON, Ms. FINKENAUER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. OMAR, Mr. KIM, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mrs. WALORSKI, 


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Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. RYAN, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. CASE, Ms. JOHNSON

of Texas, Mr. COHEN, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. BURGESS, and Mr. LEVIN of 

California 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology discharged; committed to the 

Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered 

to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 8, 2019] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of 

mental health issues among public safety officers, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Helping Emergency Re5 sponders Overcome Act’’ or the ‘‘HERO Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 

7 SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 

8 The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting 

9 after section 317U of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–23) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 317V. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 

12 SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

14 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

15 Prevention and other agencies as the Secretary determines 

16 appropriate, shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) develop and maintain a data system, to be 

18 known as the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting 

19 System, for the purposes of— 

20 ‘‘(A) collecting data on the suicide incidence 

21 among public safety officers; and 

22 ‘‘(B) facilitating the study of successful 

23 interventions to reduce suicide among public 

24 safety officers; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) integrate such system into the National Vio2 lent Death Reporting System, so long as the Secretary 

3 determines such integration to be consistent with the 

4 purposes described in paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(b) DATA COLLECTION.—In collecting data for the 

6 Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Sec7 retary shall, at a minimum, collect the following informa8 tion: 

9 ‘‘(1) The total number of suicides in the United 

10 States among all public safety officers in a given cal11 endar year. 

12 ‘‘(2) Suicide rates for public safety officers in a 

13 given calendar year, disaggregated by— 

14 ‘‘(A) age and gender of the public safety of15 ficer; 

16 ‘‘(B) State; 

17 ‘‘(C) occupation; including both the individ18 ual’s role in their public safety agency and their 

19 primary occupation in the case of volunteer pub20 lic safety officers; 

21 ‘‘(D) where available, the status of the pub22 lic safety officer as volunteer, paid-on-call, or ca23 reer; and 

24 ‘‘(E) status of the public safety officer as ac25 tive or retired. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION DURING DEVELOPMENT.—In de2 veloping the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting Sys3 tem, the Secretary shall consult with non-Federal experts 

4 to determine the best means to collect data regarding suicide 

5 incidence in a safe, sensitive, anonymous, and effective 

6 manner. Such non-Federal experts shall include, as appro7 priate, the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) Public health experts with experience in de9 veloping and maintaining suicide registries. 

10 ‘‘(2) Organizations that track suicide among 

11 public safety officers. 

12 ‘‘(3) Mental health experts with experience in 

13 studying suicide and other profession-related trau14 matic stress. 

15 ‘‘(4) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing 

16 and treating mental health issues. 

17 ‘‘(5) Active and retired volunteer, paid-on-call, 

18 and career public safety officers. 

19 ‘‘(6) Relevant national police, and fire and 

20 emergency medical services, organizations. 

21 ‘‘(d) DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY.—In developing 

22 and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report23 ing System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable 

24 Federal privacy and security protections are followed to en25 sure that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the confidentiality and anonymity of sui2 cide victims and their families are protected, includ3 ing so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny 

4 benefits; and 

5 ‘‘(2) data is sufficiently secure to prevent unau6 thorized access. 

7 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

9 after the date of enactment of the Helping Emergency 

10 Responders Overcome Act, and biannually thereafter, 

11 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress on 

12 the suicide incidence among public safety officers. 

13 Each such report shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) include the number and rate of such 

15 suicide incidence, disaggregated by age, gender, 

16 and State of employment; 

17 ‘‘(B) identify characteristics and contrib18 uting circumstances for suicide among public 

19 safety officers; 

20 ‘‘(C) disaggregate rates of suicide by— 

21 ‘‘(i) occupation; 

22 ‘‘(ii) status as volunteer, paid-on-call, 

23 or career; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) status as active or retired; 


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1 ‘‘(D) include recommendations for further 

2 study regarding the suicide incidence among 

3 public safety officers; 

4 ‘‘(E) specify in detail, if found, any obsta5 cles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers and 

6 include recommended improvements to overcome 

7 such obstacles; 

8 ‘‘(F) identify options for interventions to re9 duce suicide among public safety officers; and 

10 ‘‘(G) describe procedures to ensure the con11 fidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims 

12 and their families, as described in subsection 

13 (d)(1). 

14 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Upon the submis15 sion of each report to the Congress under paragraph 

16 (1), the Secretary shall make the full report publicly 

17 available on the website of the Centers for Disease 

18 Control and Prevention. 

19 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘public 

20 safety officer’ means— 

21 ‘‘(1) a public safety officer as defined in section 

22 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

23 Act of 1968; or 

24 ‘‘(2) a public safety telecommunicator as de25 scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the StandVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Sep 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1646.RH H1646

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1 ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 

2 of Management and Budget (2018). 

3 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED USE OF INFORMATION.—Notwith4 standing any other provision of law, if an individual is 

5 identified as deceased based on information contained in 

6 the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such 

7 information may not be used to deny or rescind life insur8 ance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the deceased 

9 individual.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 

11 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART12 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

13 AGENCIES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title III of the Public 

15 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 320B. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 

18 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART19 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

20 AGENCIES. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 

22 to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or enhanc23 ing peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs 

24 within fire departments and emergency medical services 

25 agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.—A peer-support behav2 ioral health and wellness program funded under this section 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) use career and volunteer members of fire de5 partments or emergency medical services agencies to 

6 serve as peer counselors; 

7 ‘‘(2) provide training to members of career, vol8 unteer, and combination fire departments or emer9 gency medical service agencies to serve as such peer 

10 counselors; 

11 ‘‘(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively to 

12 provide such training; and 

13 ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and materials 

14 as are necessary to conduct the program. 

15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a nonprofit 

17 organization with expertise and experience with re18 spect to the health and life safety of members of fire 

19 and emergency medical services agencies. 

20 ‘‘(2) The term ‘member’— 

21 ‘‘(A) with respect to an emergency medical 

22 services agency, means an employee, regardless of 

23 rank or whether they receive compensation (as 

24 defined in section 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime 

25 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to a fire department, 

2 means a firefighter (as defined in section 

3 1204(4) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

4 Streets Act of 1968).’’. 

5 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Effective as if included 

6 in the enactment of the Children’s Health Act of 2000 (Pub7 lic Law 106–310), the amendment instruction in section 

8 1603 of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘Part B of the 

9 Public Health Service Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Part B of title 

10 III of the Public Health Service Act’’. 

11 SEC. 4. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 

12 AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 

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

14 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 320C. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 

17 AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 

19 to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or enhanc20 ing behavioral health and wellness programs for health care 

21 providers. 

22 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.—A behavioral health 

23 and wellness program funded under this section shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) provide confidential support services for 

25 health care providers to help handle stressful or trauVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Sep 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1646.RH H1646

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1 matic patient-related events, including counseling 

2 services and wellness seminars; 

3 ‘‘(2) provide training to health care providers to 

4 serve as peer counselors to other health care providers; 

5 ‘‘(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively to 

6 provide such training; and 

7 ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and materials 

8 as are necessary to conduct such training and provide 

9 such peer counseling. 

10 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 

11 entity’ means a hospital, including a critical access hospital 

12 (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1) of the Social Security 

13 Act) or a disproportionate share hospital (as defined under 

14 section 1923(a)(1)(A) of such Act), a Federally-qualified 

15 health center (as defined in section 1905(1)(2)(B) of such 

16 Act), or any other health care facility.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES FOR EDUCATING 

18 MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ABOUT 

19 TREATING FIRE FIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY 

20 MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 

22 States Fire Administration, in consultation with the Sec23 retary of Health and Human Services, shall develop and 

24 make publicly available resources that may be used by the 


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1 Federal Government and other entities to educate mental 

2 health professionals about— 

3 (1) the culture of Federal, State, Tribal, and 

4 local career, volunteer, and combination fire depart5 ments and emergency medical services agencies; 

6 (2) the different stressors experienced by fire7 fighters and emergency medical services personnel, su8 pervisory firefighters and emergency medical services 

9 personnel, and chief officers of fire departments and 

10 emergency medical services agencies; 

11 (3) challenges encountered by retired firefighters 

12 and emergency medical services personnel; and 

13 (4) evidence-based therapies for mental health 

14 issues common to firefighters and emergency medical 

15 services personnel within such departments and agen16 cies. 

17 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing resources under 

18 subsection (a), the Administrator of the United States Fire 

19 Administration and the Secretary of Health and Human 

20 Services shall consult with national fire and emergency 

21 medical services organizations. 

22 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘firefighter’’ means any employee 

24 of a Federal, State, Tribal, or local fire department 


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1 who is responsible for responding to calls for emer2 gency service. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘emergency medical services per4 sonnel’’ means any employee, regardless of rank or 

5 whether they receive compensation, as defined in sec6 tion 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

7 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284(7)). 

8 (3) The term ‘‘chief officer’’ means any indi9 vidual who is responsible for the overall operation of 

10 a fire department or an emergency medical services 

11 agency, irrespective of whether such individual also 

12 serves as a firefighter or emergency medical services 

13 personnel. 

14 SEC. 6. BEST PRACTICES AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR AD15 DRESSING POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DIS16 ORDER IN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 

17 (a) DEVELOPMENT; UPDATES.—The Secretary of 

18 Health and Human Services shall— 

19 (1) develop and assemble evidence-based best 

20 practices and other resources to identify, prevent, and 

21 treat posttraumatic stress disorder and co-occurring 

22 disorders in public safety officers; and 

23 (2) reassess and update, as the Secretary deter24 mines necessary, such best practices and resources, in25 cluding based upon the options for interventions to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Sep 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1646.RH H1646

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1 duce suicide among public safety officers identified in 

2 the annual reports required by section 317V(e)(1)(F) 

3 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 

4 2 of this Act. 

5 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing, assembling, and 

6 updating the best practices and resources under subsection 

7 (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall con8 sult with, at a minimum, the following: 

9 (1) Public health experts. 

10 (2) Mental health experts with experience in 

11 studying suicide and other profession-related trau12 matic stress. 

13 (3) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing and 

14 treating mental health issues. 

15 (4) Relevant national police, fire, and emergency 

16 medical services organizations. 

17 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Health and 

18 Human Services shall make the best practices and resources 

19 under subsection (a) available to Federal, State, and local 

20 fire, law enforcement, and emergency medical services agen21 cies. 

22 (d) FEDERAL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PRO23 GRAMS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

24 shall work with Federal departments and agencies, includ25 ing the United States Fire Administration, to incorporate 


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1 education and training on the best practices and resources 

2 under subsection (a) into Federal training and development 

3 programs for public safety officers. 

4 (e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘public 

5 safety officer’’ means— 

6 (1) a public safety officer as defined in section 

7 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

8 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284); or 

9 (2) a public safety telecommunicator as described 

10 in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Standard Oc11 cupational Classification Manual of the Office of 

12 Management and Budget (2018). 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 419 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1646 

[Report No. 116–519, Part I] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human 

public safety officers, and for other purposes. and treatment of mental health issues among Services to improve the detection, prevention, 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

with an amendment 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology disprinted House on the State of the Union and ordered to be charged; committed to the Committee of the Whole 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS