II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1777 

To amend title II of the Public Health Service Act to restore the integrity 

to the office of the Surgeon General. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2007 

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

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

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Public Health Service Act to restore 

the integrity to the office of the Surgeon General. 

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 ‘‘Surgeon General Integ5 rity Restoration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

7 ACT. 

8 Section 204 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 205) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 204. SURGEON GENERAL. 

2 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Surgeon General shall 

4 be appointed for a four-year term by the President 

5 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate as 

6 provided for in paragraph (2). 

7 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENT.—The 

8 Surgeon General shall be appointed from individuals 

9 who— 

10 ‘‘(A) are, or who agree to become, mem11 bers of the Regular Corps; 

12 ‘‘(B) have specialized training or signifi13 cant experience in public health programs; and 

14 ‘‘(C) who are nominated by the Institute of 

15 Medicine under paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(3) NOMINATIONS.—Upon a vacancy in the 

17 position of Surgeon General, the Institute of Medi18 cine shall submit to the Secretary and the President 

19 a list of 10 nominees, that meet the requirements of 

20 paragraph (2), to fill such vacancy. The Secretary 

21 shall recommend to the President a nominee from 

22 such list unless the Secretary has rejected all such 

23 nominees. If the Secretary rejects all such nominees, 

24 the Secretary shall provide a written explanation as 

25 to why each such nominee was unsatisfactory. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EXPIRATION OF TERM.—Upon the expira2 tion of the term of service, the Surgeon General, un3 less reappointed under this subsection, shall revert 

4 to the grade and number in the Regular or Reserve 

5 Corps that he or she would have occupied had he not 

6 served as Surgeon General. 

7 ‘‘(b) BUDGET AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any 

8 other provision of law, for each fiscal year, the Surgeon 

9 General shall prepare and submit, directly to the President 

10 for review and transmittal to Congress, an annual budget 

11 estimate (including the number and type of personnel 

12 needs for the Surgeon General) for the Office of the Sur13 geon General, after reasonable opportunity for comment 

14 (but without change) by the Secretary. Such estimate shall 

15 also be submitted to the Committee on Health, Education, 

16 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

18 and made available to the general public. 

19 ‘‘(c) RELEASE OF REPORTS.—The Surgeon General 

20 may submit any draft of a speech or report prepared by 

21 the Surgeon General to the Secretary or any employee of 

22 the Department of Health and Human Services for com23 ment. The Surgeon General may issue, deliver, or release 

24 such speech or report notwithstanding any comment or ob25 jection of the Secretary or any such employee. 


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1 ‘‘(d) STAFF.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

2 law, the Surgeon General shall have the authority, subject 

3 to Federal civil service laws, to directly hire staff without 

4 otherwise obtaining clearance or undergoing review as 

5 generally required within the Department of Health and 

6 Human Services. 

7 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION OF CENSORSHIP.—With respect to 

8 any work product of the Surgeon General, such work prod9 uct may not be censored in any manner (except to comply 

10 with Federal national security or privacy laws) by any 

11 Federal entity or official for political reasons. The Sur12 geon General shall identify and separately label any pro13 posed modifications to such a work product that the Sur14 geon General does not consent to accept.’’. 

Æ 


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