II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3570 

To establish a National Public Health Coordinating Council to assess the 

impact of Federal health-related socio-economic and environmental policies across Federal agencies to improve the public’s health. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

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

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

A BILL 

To establish a National Public Health Coordinating Council 

to assess the impact of Federal health-related socio-economic and environmental policies across Federal agencies 

to improve the public’s health. 

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 ‘‘Public Health Coordi5 nating Council Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH COORDINATING COUN2 CIL. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec5 retary’’), acting in collaboration with the Surgeon General, 

6 shall establish a National Public Health Coordinating 

7 Council (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Council’’) to 

8 facilitate and strengthen sustained communication and co9 ordination across Federal agencies and offices regarding 

10 public health and to review and make recommendations 

11 concerning adequate and needed socio-economic and envi12 ronmental policies to reduce health disparities and im13 prove the public’s health. 

14 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be composed 

15 of— 

16 (1) the heads of each Federal department or 

17 agency (or their designees) that administers a pro18 gram related to, or affected by, public health policies 

19 and projects (including medical and population20 based public health programs), including the Sec21 retary, the Surgeon General, the heads of the insti22 tutes and agencies within the Department of Health 

23 and Human Services, the heads of those Centers for 

24 Disease Control and Prevention centers determined 

25 appropriate by the Secretary, and the heads of other 

26 Federal departments and agencies, including the DeVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:33 Sep 28, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3570.IS S3570

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1 partment of Agriculture, the Department of Com2 merce, the Department of Defense, the Department 

3 of Education, the Department of Energy, the Envi4 ronmental Protection Agency, the Department of 

5 Housing and Urban Development, the Department 

6 of Homeland Security, the Department of the Inte7 rior, the Department of Justice, the Department of 

8 Labor, and the Department of Transportation; 

9 (2) representatives from each of the 10 regional 

10 health offices of the Department of Health and 

11 Human Services, who shall provide a State, local, 

12 and tribal perspective; 

13 (3) health advisors or other members of the 

14 President’s domestic policy and domestic security 

15 councils; 

16 (4) public health experts who are not employed 

17 by the Federal Government, of whom— 

18 (A) two individuals shall be appointed by 

19 the President pro tempore of the Senate upon 

20 the recommendation of the Majority Leader of 

21 the Senate, after consultation with the Chair22 man of the Committee on Health, Education, 

23 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 

24 (B) two individuals shall be appointed by 

25 the President pro tempore of the Senate upon 


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1 the recommendation of the Minority Leader of 

2 the Senate, after consultation with the ranking 

3 minority member of the Committee on Health, 

4 Education, Labor, and Pensions; 

5 (C) three individuals shall be appointed by 

6 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

7 after consultation with the Chairman of the 

8 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

9 House of Representatives; and 

10 (D) three individuals shall be appointed by 

11 the Minority Leader of the House of Represent12 atives, after consultation with the ranking mi13 nority member of the Committee on Energy and 

14 Commerce of the House of Representatives; and 

15 (5) other individuals determined appropriate by 

16 the Secretary or the co-chairpersons of the Council. 

17 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

18 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—The Surgeon General and 

19 the Assistant Secretary for Health shall serve as the 

20 co-chairpersons of the Council. 

21 (2) TERMS.—Members of the Council appointed 

22 under subsection (b)(4) shall serve for a term of 2 

23 years and members appointed under subsection 

24 (b)(5) shall serve for a term of 3 years, except that 

25 the initial terms of the members appointed under 


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1 subsection (b)(4) shall be staggered. Such members 

2 may be reappointed for one or more additional term. 

3 Any member appointed to fill a vacancy for an unex4 pired term shall be appointed for the remainder of 

5 such term. A member may serve after the expiration 

6 of the member’s term until a successor has taken of7 fice. 

8 (3) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at the 

9 call of the chairperson, but not fewer than 2 times 

10 each year. All meetings of the Council shall be public 

11 and shall include appropriate time periods for ques12 tions and presentations by the public. 

13 (4) SUBCOMMITTEES; ESTABLISHMENT AND

14 MEMBERSHIP.—In carrying out its functions, the 

15 Council may establish subcommittees and convene 

16 workshops and conferences. Such subcommittees 

17 shall be composed of Council members and may hold 

18 such meetings as are necessary to enable the sub19 committees to carry out their duties. 

20 (5) SUPPORT.—The Council shall receive nec21 essary and appropriate administrative and other 

22 support from the Secretary, including the detailing 

23 of Department of Health and Human Services staff. 

24 The heads of the Federal entities represented on the 


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1 Council shall share information, data, resources, and 

2 staff as appropriate. 

3 (d) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall determine the du4 ties of the Council, which shall at a minimum include— 

5 (1) reviewing existing Federal health programs 

6 and policies, the Federal administration of such pro7 grams, and whether such program provide for the 

8 availability of equitable public health services across 

9 communities; 

10 (2) making recommendations for the modifica11 tion of such Federal programs and policies to im12 prove public health; 

13 (3) making recommendations for the funding of 

14 such Federal programs at levels that would improve 

15 public health; 

16 (4) seeking to strengthen the impact of Federal 

17 public health efforts by improving interagency col18 laboration and promoting a dialogue on broad public 

19 health issues; 

20 (5) making recommendations to improve the ef21 ficiency of Federal health programs; 

22 (6) providing for the demonstration of Federal 

23 health leadership through the activities of the coun24 cil; 


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1 (7) improving Federal communication regarding 

2 health programs and policies through— 

3 (A) the sharing of health-related informa4 tion, knowledge, and data and the identification 

5 of gaps in comparable data and knowledge 

6 needed to improve the public’s health; and 

7 (B) the facilitation of new health-related 

8 partnerships, and enhancing existing networks 

9 across Federal agencies; 

10 (8) identifying needed technical assistance to 

11 State and local public health agencies; and 

12 (9) carrying out other activities determined ap13 propriate by the Council to improve public health. 

14 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

15 on which the Council is established, and biennially there16 after, the Council shall submit to the President, the Com17 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

18 Senate, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

19 the House of Representatives, a report that contains— 

20 (1) a description of the demonstrated strategic 

21 collaboration among Federal entities with respect to 

22 health programs and policies; 

23 (2) a summary of any evidence of improvements 

24 in communication and collaboration between such 


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1 Federal entities with respect to Federal health pro2 grams and policies; 

3 (3) a description of any improvements in effi4 ciencies of activities by such Federal entities with re5 spect to such health programs and policies; 

6 (4) a description of the impact on public health 

7 of any modifications to such Federal programs and 

8 policies made as a result of the activities of the 

9 Council; 

10 (5) a description of progress made in meeting 

11 national health objectives and the public health in12 frastructure required to meet such objectives; and 

13 (6) recommendations for policies and programs 

14 to reduce health disparities. 

15 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

17 such sums as may be necessary. 

Æ 


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