I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6808 
To provide for the establishment of a Health Force and a Resilience Force 
to respond to public health emergencies and meet public health needs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 12, 2020 
Mr. CROW (for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. SEWELL of Ala-
bama, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
MEEKS, Mr. COX of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, 
Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. 
HOULAHAN, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 
the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment of a Health Force and 
a Resilience Force to respond to public health emer-
gencies and meet public health needs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Force and Re-
silience Force Act of 2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. HEALTH FORCE. 
(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of the Health Force 
established under this section to recruit, train, and employ 
Americans to respond to the COVID–19 pandemic in their 
communities, provide capacity for ongoing and future pub-
lic health care needs, and build skills for new workers to 
enter the public health and health care workforce. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention through its State, local, territorial, 
and tribal partners, shall establish a Health Force (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Force’’) composed of com-
munity members dedicated to responding to public health 
emergencies as declared by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health 
Service Act, including the COVID–19 emergency, and pro-
viding increased capacity to address ongoing and future 
public health needs. 
(c) ORGANIZATION
AND
ADMINISTRATION.—The 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall— 
(1) award grants, contracts, or enter into coop-
erative agreements for the recruitment, hiring, man-
aging, administration, and organization of the Force 
to States, localities, territories, Indian Tribes, Tribal 
organizations, urban Indian health organizations, or 
health service providers to Tribes; and 
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(2) provide assistance for expenses incurred by 
States, localities, territories, Indian Tribes, Tribal 
organizations, urban Indian health organizations, or 
health service providers to Tribes prior to the award-
ing of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 
under subparagraph (A) to facilitate the implemen-
tation of the Force, including assistance for planning 
and recruitment activities, as provided for in section 
424 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5189b). 
(d) SERVICE.— 
(1) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Force shall be 
composed of eligible members selected pursuant 
to guidelines developed by the Director in con-
sultation with States, localities, territories, In-
dian Tribes, Tribal organizations, urban Indian 
health organizations, or health service providers 
to Tribes funded entities. At a minimum such 
guidelines shall ensure that a member of the 
Force— 
(i) is at least 18 years of age; and 
(ii) has a high school diploma or 
equivalent or has successfully completed an 
employment literacy test. 
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(B) OTHER ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.— 
(i) CITIZENSHIP
OR
IMMIGRATION 
STATUS.—An individual who is authorized 
to work in the United States, including an 
individual with Deferred Action for Child-
hood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Pro-
tected Status (TPS) under section 244 of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1254a), shall not be disqualified for 
appointment under this section as a mem-
ber of the Force because of citizenship or 
immigration status. 
(ii) 
BANKRUPTCY.—An 
individual 
shall not be disqualified for appointment 
under this section as a member of the 
Force because of the bankruptcy or poor 
credit rating of such individual determined 
to be the result of the coronavirus public 
health emergency. 
(2) RECRUITMENT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The guidelines devel-
oped under paragraph (1) shall provide for 
Force recruitment information to be distributed 
at the national level through all available chan-
nels and partnerships as practicable. Such 
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guidelines shall also, as practicable, work with 
the Corporation for National and Community 
Service to make graduating high school seniors 
aware of Force employment opportunities while 
in their senior year, and every 2 years there-
after, unless they opt out of receiving notifica-
tions or have joined the Force. As practicable, 
Federal and State Departments of Labor shall 
share information about Force opportunities 
with those individuals applying for or receiving 
unemployment benefits. 
(B) RECRUITMENT BY STATE, LOCALITY, 
TERRITORY, INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZA-
TIONS, 
URBAN
INDIAN
HEALTH
ORGANIZA-
TIONS, OR
HEALTH
SERVICE
PROVIDERS
TO 
TRIBES
FUNDED
ENTITIES.—With respect to 
the employment of Force members in States, lo-
calities, territories, Indian Tribes, Tribal orga-
nizations, urban Indian health organizations, or 
health service providers to Tribes funded enti-
ties, such areas and entities shall support ex-
tensive recruitment efforts for Force personnel, 
including efforts to recruit Force members 
among focal communities as described in sub-
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section (g), as well as low-income, minority, and 
historically marginalized populations. 
(3) PREFERENCE.—Preference in the hiring of 
Force members shall be given to individuals who are 
veterans, unemployed or underemployed, recently 
furloughed community-based nonprofit, public health 
or health care professionals, or from focal commu-
nities as described in subsection (g). 
(4) TRAINING.— 
(A) CONTACT
TRACING
TRAINING.—The 
Director shall continue to provide Contact Trac-
ing Guidance and Resources, including contact 
tracing training plan(s) to address training re-
quirements for Force members to successfully 
conduct contact tracing activities under sub-
section (e)(1). States, localities, territories, In-
dian Tribes, Tribal organizations, urban Indian 
health organizations, or health service providers 
to Tribes funded entities shall determine which 
Force recruits will be provided with contact 
tracing training to meet State, locality, terri-
tory, and Tribal public health needs. 
(B) ADDITIONAL
TRAINING.—Not later 
than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Director shall identify and, as nec-
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essary, develop additional evidence-informed 
training resource packages to provide Force 
members the knowledge and skills necessary to 
conduct the full complement of activities de-
scribed in subsections (e) and (f). States, local-
ities, territories, Indian Tribes, Tribal organiza-
tions, urban Indian health organizations, or 
health service providers to Tribes shall deter-
mine which Force members will be provided 
with additional training to meet State, locality, 
territory, and Tribal public health needs. 
(C) SPECIALIZED
TRAINING.—In orga-
nizing the Force under this section, the Direc-
tor may elect to establish divisions of Force 
members who receive specialized comprehensive 
training, including divisions of Force members 
who have met State licensure requirements, 
have prior relevant experience, or have super-
visory skills or demonstrated aptitude. 
(D) 
TRAINING
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
training programs under this subparagraph 
shall— 
(i) be adaptable by State, locality, ter-
ritorial, Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, 
urban Indian health organization, or health 
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service providers to Tribes funded entities 
to meet local needs; 
(ii) be implemented as quickly as pos-
sible by either or both of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention and fund-
ed entities, based on local needs and abili-
ties; 
(iii) be distance-based eLearning that 
can be accessed electronically, including by 
using a smartphone, with the goal of lim-
iting opportunities for disease transmission 
while maximizing knowledge and skills ac-
quisition and retention among Force train-
ees; 
(iv) include refresher training at reg-
ular and frequent intervals as determined 
appropriate by the Director and/or funded 
entities; 
(v) incorporate training components 
on personal safety, including staying safe 
around animals in the context of home vis-
its, use of personal protective equipment, 
and health privacy and ethics; and 
(vi) leverage existing training and cer-
tification programs approved by States, 
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territories, tribal nations, and community 
health worker certifying bodies. 
(E) MISCELLANEOUS.—Where determined 
necessary, the Director may— 
(i) recommend training under this 
subparagraph that includes face-to-face 
interaction; 
(ii) 
collaborate 
with, 
including 
through grants or cooperative agreements, 
public universities, including nursing, med-
ical, and veterinary schools, community 
colleges, or other career and technical edu-
cation institutes, community health cen-
ters, community health worker and com-
munity health representative training and 
certification programs, and other commu-
nity-based organizations, Federally recog-
nized Minority Serving Institutions, as well 
as public health associations and State and 
local health departments, to develop and 
implement training under this subpara-
graph, particularly for skills that typically 
have licensure requirements; and 
(iii) develop training and communica-
tions materials in multiple languages. 
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(F) TIMING.—The training provided under 
subparagraph (A) shall be designed to be com-
pleted by Force members within 14 days of the 
start of such training. The training programs 
under subparagraph (B) shall be made available 
where necessary to ensure that Force members 
are fully trained as soon as possible after com-
mencing such training. 
(G) PAYMENT
DURING
TRAINING.—Indi-
viduals shall be paid for each hour spent in 
training including refresher training. 
(5) SALARY AND BENEFITS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Force 
shall be paid directly by State, locality, terri-
torial, Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, urban 
Indian health organization, or health service 
providers to Tribes funded entities and sub- 
partners using funds provided by the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention under 
grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 
under this section. All Force positions shall be 
salaried with health and retirement benefits, in-
cluding paid family leave. Payment of salaries 
and benefits shall be in accordance with pre-
vailing wages. 
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