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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2305

To authorize and encourage the President to conclude an agreement with

Mexico to establish a United States-Mexico Border Health Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 27, 1993

Mr. COLEMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Foreign Affairs and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To authorize and encourage the President to conclude an

agreement with Mexico to establish a United StatesMexico Border Health Commission.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. AGREEMENT TO ESTABLISH BINATIONAL COM4 MISSION.

5 The President is authorized and encouraged to con6 clude an agreement with Mexico to establish a binational

7 commission to be known as the United States-Mexico Bor8 der Health Commission.

9 SEC. 2. DUTIES.

10 It should be the duty of the Commission—
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1 (1) to conduct a comprehensive needs assess2 ment in the United States-Mexico border area for

3 the purposes of identifying, evaluating, preventing,

4 and resolving health problems that affect the general

5 population of the area;

6 (2) to implement the actions recommended by

7 the needs assessment by—

8 (A) assisting in the coordination of the ef9 forts of public and private persons to prevent

10 and resolve such health problems,

11 (B) assisting in the coordination of the ef12 forts of public and private persons to educate

13 such population concerning such health prob14 lems, and

15 (C) developing and implementing programs

16 to prevent and resolve such health problems

17 and to educate such population concerning such

18 health problems where a program is necessary

19 to meet a need that is not being met by the ef20 forts of other public or private persons; and

21 (3) to formulate recommendations to the Gov22 ernments of the United States and Mexico concern23 ing a fair and reasonable method by which the gov24 ernment of one country would reimburse a public or

25 private person in the other country for the cost of
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1 a health care service that the person furnishes to a

2 citizen or resident alien of the first country who is

3 unable, through insurance or otherwise, to pay for

4 the service.

5 SEC. 3. OTHER AUTHORIZED FUNCTIONS.

6 In addition to the duties described in section 2, the

7 Commission should be authorized to perform the following

8 additional functions as the Commission determines to be

9 appropriate:

10 (1) To conduct or sponsor investigations, re11 search, or studies designed to identify, study, and

12 monitor health problems that affect the general pop13 ulation in the United States-Mexico border area.

14 (2) To provide financial, technical, or adminis15 trative assistance to public or private persons who

16 act to prevent, resolve, or educate such population

17 concerning such health problems.

18 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.

19 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT OF UNITED STATES

20 SECTION.—The United States section of the Commission

21 should be composed of 13 members. The section should

22 consist of the following members:

23 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv24 ices or such individual’s delegate.
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1 (2) The commissioners of health from the

2 States of Texas, New Mexico, California, and Ari3 zona or such individuals’ delegates.

4 (3) 2 individuals from each of the States of

5 Texas, New Mexico, California, and Arizona who are

6 nominated by the chief executive officer of one of

7 such States and are appointed by the President from

8 among individuals—

9 (A) who have a demonstrated interest in

10 health issues of the United States-Mexico bor11 der area; and

12 (B) whose name appears on a list of 6

13 nominees submitted to the President by the

14 chief executive officer of the State where the

15 nominees resides.

16 (b) COMMISSIONER.—The Commissioner of the Unit17 ed States section of the Commission should be the Sec18 retary of Health and Human Services or such individual’s

19 delegate to the Commission. The Commissioner should be

20 the leader of the section.

21 SEC. 5. REGIONAL OFFICES.

22 The Commission should establish no fewer than 2 re23 gional border offices in locations selected by the Commis24 sion.
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1 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

2 Not later than February 1 of each year that occurs

3 more than 1 year after the date of the establishment of

4 the Commission, the Commission should submit an annual

5 report to both the United States Government and the Gov6 ernment of Mexico regarding all activities of the Commis7 sion during the preceding calendar year.

8 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

9 For purposes of this Act:

10 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

11 means the United States-Mexico Border Health

12 Commission authorized in section 1.

13 (2) HEALTH PROBLEM.—The term ‘‘health

14 problem’’ means a disease or medical ailment or an

15 environmental condition that poses the risk of dis16 ease or medical ailment. The term includes diseases,

17 ailments, or risks of disease or ailment caused by or

18 related to environmental factors, control of animals

19 and rabies, control of insect and rodent vectors, dis20 posal of solid and hazardous waste, and control and

21 monitoring of air and water quality.

22 (3) RESIDENT ALIEN.—The term ‘‘resident

23 alien’’, when used in reference to a country, means

24 an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence

25 to the country or otherwise permanently residing in
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1 the country under color of law (including residence

2 as an asylee, refugee, or parolee).

3 (4) UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER AREA.—

4 The term ‘‘United States-Mexico border area’’

5 means the area located in the United States and

6 Mexico within 100 kilometers of the border between

7 the United States and Mexico.

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