I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3887

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 

of a National Center for Social Work Research. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2004

Mr. RODRIGUEZ (for himself, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of 

Texas, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. ENGEL, 

Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. 

GREENWOOD, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. FROST, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. 

ORTIZ, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. TOWNS, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

the establishment of a National Center for Social Work 

Research.

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 ‘‘National Center for 

5 Social Work Research Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) Social workers focus on the improvement of 

2 individual and family functioning and the creation of 

3 effective health and mental health prevention and 

4 treatment interventions in order for individuals to 

5 become more productive members of society. 

6 (2) Social workers provide front line prevention 

7 and treatment services in the areas of school vio8 lence, aging, teen pregnancy, child abuse, domestic 

9 violence, juvenile crime, and substance abuse, par10 ticularly in rural and underserved communities. 

11 (3) Social workers are in a unique position to 

12 provide valuable research information on these com13 plex social concerns, taking into account a wide 

14 range of social, medical, economic, and community 

15 influences from an interdisciplinary, family-centered, 

16 and community-based approach. 

17 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR SO18 CIAL WORK RESEARCH. 

19 Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘PART R—NATIONAL CENTER FOR SOCIAL WORK 

2 RESEARCH 

3 ‘‘SEC. 399AA. ESTABLISHMENT. 

4 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab5 lish the National Center for Social Work Research (in this 

6 part referred to as the ‘Center’) for the purpose of con7 ducting, supporting, and disseminating targeted research 

8 on social work methods and outcomes related to problems 

9 of significant social concern. 

10 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary shall appoint the 

11 Director of the Center. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 399BB. SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purpose de14 scribed in section 399AA(a), the Director of the Center—

15 ‘‘(1) shall promote research and training de16 signed to inform social work practice, thus increas17 ing the knowledge base and promoting a healthier 

18 America; 

19 ‘‘(2) shall provide policymakers with empiri20 cally-based research information to enable them to 

21 better understand complex social issues and make 

22 informed funding decisions about service effective23 ness and cost efficiency; and 

24 ‘‘(3) may establish in the Center and other non25 profit institutions, and make grants for, research 

26 traineeships and fellowships to address problems of 
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1 significant social concern, especially in underserved 

2 populations and underserved geographical areas, 

3 through the study and investigation of—

4 ‘‘(A) the prevention of disease; 

5 ‘‘(B) health promotion; 

6 ‘‘(C) the association of socioeconomic sta7 tus, gender, ethnicity, age, and geographical lo8 cation with health; 

9 ‘‘(D) the social work care of individuals 

10 and families affected by acute and chronic ill11 nesses, child abuse, neglect, or youth violence; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(E) child and family care. 

14 ‘‘(b) STIPENDS AND ALLOWANCES.—The Director of 

15 the Center may provide individuals receiving training, in16 struction, traineeships, or fellowships under this section 

17 with such stipends and allowances (including amounts for 

18 travel and subsistence and dependency allowances) as the 

19 Director determines necessary. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 399CC. ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

21 ‘‘(a) DUTIES.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab23 lish an advisory council for the Center (in this part 

24 referred to as the ‘advisory council’) that shall ad25 vise, assist, consult with, and make recommenda-
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1 tions to the Secretary and the Director of the Center 

2 on matters related to the activities carried out by 

3 and through the Center and the policies with respect 

4 to such activities. 

5 ‘‘(2) GIFTS.—The advisory council may rec6 ommend to the Secretary the acceptance, in accord7 ance with section 231, of conditional gifts for study, 

8 investigations, and research and for the acquisition 

9 of grounds or construction, equipment, or mainte10 nance of facilities for the Center. 

11 ‘‘(3) OTHER DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.—The 

12 advisory council—

13 ‘‘(A)(i) may make recommendations to the 

14 Director of the Center with respect to research 

15 to be conducted by the Center; 

16 ‘‘(ii) may review applications for grants 

17 and cooperative agreements for research or 

18 training and recommend for approval applica19 tions for projects that demonstrate the prob20 ability of making valuable contributions to 

21 human knowledge; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) may review any grant, contract, or 

23 cooperative agreement proposed to be made or 

24 entered into by the Center; 
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1 ‘‘(B) may collect, by correspondence or by 

2 personal investigation, information relating to 

3 studies that are being carried out in the United 

4 States or any other country and, with the ap5 proval of the Director of the Center, make such 

6 information available through appropriate publi7 cations; and 

8 ‘‘(C) may appoint subcommittees and con9 vene workshops and conferences. 

10 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The voting members of the 

12 advisory council shall be the ex officio members de13 scribed in paragraph (2) and not more than 18 indi14 viduals appointed by the Secretary under paragraph 

15 (3). 

16 ‘‘(2) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The ex officio 

17 members of the advisory council shall consist of the 

18 following officers and employees (or their designees): 

19 ‘‘(A) The Secretary of Health and Human 

20 Services, the Director of the Center, the Direc21 tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre22 vention, the Director of the Institute of Edu23 cation Sciences, the Assistant Attorney General 

24 for the Office of Justice Programs, the Director 

25 of the National Institutes of Health, the Asso-
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1 ciate Director for Prevention of the National 

2 Institute of Mental Health, and the Associate 

3 Director for Prevention of the National Insti4 tute on Drug Abuse. 

5 ‘‘(B) An official of the Department of 

6 Health and Human Services with principal re7 sponsibility for health programs relating to chil8 dren and families, designated by the Secretary 

9 of Health and Human Services. 

10 ‘‘(C) An official of the Department of De11 fense with principal responsibility for health af12 fairs, designated by the Secretary of Defense. 

13 ‘‘(D) An official of the National Institute 

14 of Mental Health with principal responsibility 

15 for services research and clinical epidemiology, 

16 designated by the Director of the National In17 stitute of Mental Health. 

18 ‘‘(E) An official of the Department of 

19 Housing and Urban Development with principal 

20 responsibility for community planning and de21 velopment, designated by the Secretary of 

22 Housing and Urban Development. 

23 ‘‘(F) An official of the Veterans Health 

24 Administration with principal responsibility for 

25 social work programs, designated by the Under 
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1 Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health 

2 Administration. 

3 ‘‘(G) Any other officer or employee of the 

4 United States who, at the request of the Sec5 retary, agrees to serve on the advisory council. 

6 ‘‘(3) APPOINTED MEMBERS.—The Secretary 

7 shall appoint not to exceed 18 individuals to the ad8 visory council, of which—

9 ‘‘(A) not more than two-thirds of such 18 

10 individuals shall be appointed from among the 

11 leading representatives of the health and sci12 entific disciplines (including public health and 

13 the behavioral or social sciences) relevant to the 

14 activities of the Center, of which at least 7 indi15 viduals shall be professional social workers who 

16 are recognized experts in the area of clinical 

17 practice, education, policy, or research; and 

18 ‘‘(B) not more than one-third of such 18 

19 individuals shall be appointed from the general 

20 public and shall include leaders in fields of pub21 lic policy, law, health policy, economics, and 

22 management. 

23 ‘‘(4) COMPENSATION.—Members of the advi24 sory council who are officers or employees of the 

25 United States shall not receive any compensation for 
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1 service on the advisory council. The remaining mem2 bers shall receive, for each day (including travel 

3 time) they are engaged in the performance of the 

4 functions of the advisory council, compensation at 

5 rates not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual 

6 rate in effect for an individual at grade GS–18 of 

7 the General Schedule. 

8 ‘‘(c) TERMS.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term of office of an in10 dividual appointed to the advisory council under sub11 section (b)(3) shall be 4 years, except that any indi12 vidual appointed to fill a vacancy on the advisory 

13 council shall serve for the remainder of the unex14 pired term. A member may serve after the expiration 

15 of the member’s term until a successor has been ap16 pointed. 

17 ‘‘(2) REAPPOINTMENTS.—A member of the ad18 visory council who has been appointed under sub19 section (b)(3) for a term of 4 years may not be re20 appointed to the advisory council prior to the expira21 tion of the 2-year period beginning on the date on 

22 which the prior term expired. 

23 ‘‘(3) VACANCY.—If a vacancy occurs on the ad24 visory council among the members under subsection 

25 (b)(3), the Secretary shall make an appointment to 
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1 fill that vacancy not later than 90 days after the 

2 date on which the vacancy occurs. 

3 ‘‘(4) EXPIRATION OF TERMS.—The Secretary 

4 shall make appointments to the advisory council in 

5 such a manner as to ensure that the terms of the 

6 members do not all expire in the same year. 

7 ‘‘(d) CHAIRPERSON.—

8 ‘‘(1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select 

9 the chairperson of the advisory council from among 

10 the members appointed under subsection (b)(3) and 

11 the Director of the Center. 

12 ‘‘(2) TERM.—The term of office of the chair13 person shall be 2 years, except that such term shall 

14 not apply if the chairperson is the Director of the 

15 Center. 

16 ‘‘(e) MEETINGS.—The advisory council shall meet at 

17 the call of the chairperson or upon the request of the Di18 rector of the Center, but not less than 3 times each fiscal 

19 year. The location of the meetings of the advisory council 

20 shall be subject to the approval of the Director of the Cen21 ter. 

22 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—The Director of 

23 the Center shall designate a member of the staff of the 

24 Center to serve as the executive secretary of the advisory 

25 council. The Director of the Center shall make available 
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1 to the advisory council such staff, information, and other 

2 assistance as the council may require to carry out its func3 tions. The Director of the Center shall provide orientation 

4 and training for new members of the advisory council to 

5 provide such members with such information and training 

6 as may be appropriate for their effective participation in 

7 the functions of the advisory council. 

8 ‘‘(g) COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The ad9 visory council—

10 ‘‘(1) may prepare for inclusion in the biennial 

11 report under section 399DD—

12 ‘‘(A) comments with respect to the activi13 ties of the advisory council in the fiscal years 

14 for which the report is prepared; 

15 ‘‘(B) comments on the progress of the 

16 Center in meeting its objectives; and 

17 ‘‘(C) recommendations with respect to the 

18 future direction and program and policy empha19 sis of the Center; and 

20 ‘‘(2) such additional reports as the advisory 

21 council determines to be appropriate. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 399DD. BIENNIAL REPORTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall transmit to 

24 the President and to the Congress a biennial report which 

25 shall be prepared by the Director of the Center, after con-
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1 sultation with the advisory council, and which shall consist 

2 of—

3 ‘‘(1) a description of the activities of the Center 

4 and the program policies of the Director of the Cen5 ter in the fiscal years for which the report is pre6 pared; and 

7 ‘‘(2) such additional information as the Direc8 tor determines appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(b) COMMENTS BY ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Di10 rector of the Center shall provide the advisory council an 

11 opportunity to submit written comments described in sec12 tion 399CC(g). 

13 ‘‘SEC. 400. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there is 

15 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec16 essary for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009.’’.

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