I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 560
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish programs to increase
the supply of professional nurses and provide educational assistance
to nurses, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 25, 1993
Mr. ACKERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the
Committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish pro-
grams to increase the supply of professional nurses and
provide educational assistance to nurses, and for other
purposes.
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 ‘‘Emergency Nurse
Shortage Relief Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO INCREASE NUMBER OF
ACTIVE NURSES.
Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following new section:
‘‘NURSE RECRUITMENT PROGRAMS
‘‘SEC. 823. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may
make grants to public and nonprofit private entities to
carry out programs—
‘‘(1) to promote nursing as a career choice and
to educate the public regarding the value of the
nursing profession;
‘‘(2) to identify students in public secondary
schools who show an interest in health care and pro-
vide such students with internships in the area of
health care;
‘‘(3) to promote the nursing profession in public
secondary schools; and
‘‘(4) to recruit nursing students, by using cre-
ative methods, from groups not traditionally well
represented in the nursing profession, including
men, minorities, and individuals who are pursuing a
second career.
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this
section, a public or private nonprofit entity shall submit
an application to the Secretary as the Secretary may re-
quire.
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this section. Any amounts appro-
priated under this section shall remain available until ex-
pended.’’.
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO ATTRACT INACTIVE
NURSES BACK INTO NURSING PROFESSION.
Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.), as amended by sec-
tion 2 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the
end the following new section:
‘‘INACTIVE NURSE REACTIVATION AND TRAINING
PROGRAMS
‘‘SEC. 824. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may
make grants to public and private nonprofit entities and
schools of nursing to establish or assist programs—
‘‘(1) to encourage and assist nurses that are
not practicing in the nursing profession to reenter
the profession;
‘‘(2) to train or educate nurses that are reen-
tering the nursing profession and practicing nurses
as nurse practitioners or nurse midwives or in areas
of needed specialized nursing skills; and
‘‘(3) to provide tuition assistance to students
enrolled in educational programs designed to facili-
tate the reentry into the nursing profession of
nurses that are not practicing in the nursing profes-
sion.
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this
section, a public or private nonprofit entity or a school
of nursing shall submit an application to the Secretary as
the Secretary may require.
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this section. Any amounts appro-
priated under this section shall remain available until ex-
pended.’’.
SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS TO RETAIN PRACTICING
NURSES.
Subpart I of part A of title VIII of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296k et seq.), as amended by sec-
tions 2 and 3 of this Act, is further amended by adding
at the end the following new section:
‘‘PRACTICING NURSE RETENTION PROGRAMS
‘‘SEC. 825. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may
make grants to health care facilities to carry out pro-
grams—
‘‘(1) to demonstrate the use of innovative meth-
ods to increase the attractiveness to individuals of
the nursing profession as a career choice through
changes in traditional wage structures, flexible deliv-
ery and scheduling of employment options and bene-
fits, and restructuring the role of nurses in the
health care facilities; and
‘‘(2) to demonstrate innovative methods of pro-
viding for advancement in careers in the nursing
profession to encourage nurses and nurse assistants
to continue education in nursing.
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this
section, a health care facility shall submit an application
to the Secretary as the Secretary may require.
‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF HEALTH CARE FACILITY.—For
purposes of this section, the term ‘health care facility’
means a hospital, public health center, outpatient medical
facility, rehabilitation facility, facility for long-term care,
or other facility for the provision of health care services.
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this section. Any amounts appro-
priated under this section shall remain available until ex-
pended.’’.
SEC. 5. PROGRAM FOR LOANS FOR CONTINUED NURSE
TRAINING 
AND 
LOAN 
FORGIVENESS 
TO
NURSING STUDENTS.
Part B of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 297 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subpart:
‘‘Subpart V—Assistance for Nurses After Completion of
Nursing School
‘‘LOANS FOR CONTINUED NURSE TRAINING
‘‘SEC. 849. (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The
Secretary may establish a program to insure educational
loans to individuals who have attained a degree as a reg-
istered nurse for educational expenses related to programs
designed to train or educate nurses as nurse practitioners
or nurse midwives or in areas of needed specialized nurs-
ing skills (as designated by the Secretary under section
860(a)(2)).
‘‘(b) ORGANIZATION OF PROGRAM.—With respect to
the program of Insured Health Education Assistance
Loans to Graduate Students established in subpart I of
part A of title VII, the provisions of such subpart shall,
except as inconsistent with this section, apply to the pro-
gram established under subsection (a) in the same manner
and to the same extent as such provisions apply to the
program established in such subpart I.
‘‘(c) BUDGET COMPLIANCE.—The authority of the
Secretary to insure loans under this section shall be effec-
tive for any fiscal year only to such extent or in such
amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts.
‘‘STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM
‘‘SEC. 849A. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary
may carry out a program to enter into agreements with
eligible individuals to assist in repaying, in the amounts
specified in subsection (c), the eligible educational loans
of the eligible individuals.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE BORROWERS.—An individual shall be
eligible to receive assistance under this section if the indi-
vidual—
‘‘(1)(A) is enrolled as a full-time student in a
collegiate school of nursing in a program leading to
the achievement of a degree as a registered nurse;
and
‘‘(B) agrees, to the satisfaction of the Sec-
retary, to work full time as a registered nurse in a
nursing crisis area; or
‘‘(2)(A) has attained a degree as a registered
nurse;
‘‘(B) is enrolled in a program designed to train
or educate the individual as a nurse practitioner or
nurse midwife or regarding an area of a needed spe-
cialized nursing skill; and
‘‘(C) agrees, to the satisfaction of the Sec-
retary, to work full time after completion of the pro-
gram as a registered nurse in a nursing crisis area
in a position that utilizes such training or education.
‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—The program estab-
lished by the Secretary under this section may pay to a
holder of loans on behalf of an eligible individual, for each
completed 12-month period of work as agreed to under
paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(C) of subsection (b), an amount
equal to the amount equal to the percentage of the total
of the principal, interest, and related expenses of such
educational loans of the eligible individual determined in
accordance with the following table:
‘‘Years of work completed
as agreed to as a full-time
registered nurse in a nurs-
ing crisis area
Percentage of total of principal,
interest, and related expenses of
eligible loans repaid under this
section for previous 12-month pe-
riod
Cumulative percentage of total of
principal, interest, and related ex-
penses of eligible loans repaid
under this section
1 .......................................
20 ................................................
2 .......................................
20 ................................................
3 .......................................
45 ................................................
4 .......................................
15 ................................................
100
‘‘(d) DEFINITION
OF
ELIGIBLE
EDUCATIONAL
LOANS.—For purposes of this section the term ‘eligible
educational loan’ means—
‘‘(1) for an individual eligible under subsection
(b)(1), any educational loans received before the at-
tainment by the individual of the position of reg-
istered nurse; and
‘‘(2) for an individual eligible under subsection
(b)(2), any educational loans relating to the program
in which the individual participates pursuant to sub-
paragraph (B) of such subsection.
‘‘(e) BUDGET COMPLIANCE.—The authority of the
Secretary to enter into agreements under this section to
repay loans shall be effective for any fiscal year only to
such extent or in such amounts as are provided in appro-
priation Acts.’’.
SEC. 6. INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CORPORATIONS WHICH
PROVIDE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR NURSE TRAIN-
ING.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to foreign tax credit, etc.) is amended by
adding at the end thereof the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 30. SCHOLARSHIPS PROVIDED BY CORPORATIONS
FOR NURSE TRAINING.
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of a C
corporation, there shall be allowed as a credit against the
tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an
amount equal to 20 percent of the amount paid or in-
curred by the taxpayer during the taxable year as qualified
nursing scholarships.
‘‘(b) 
QUALIFIED
NURSING
SCHOLARSHIP
DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified
nursing scholarship’ means any scholarship—
‘‘(1) which is excludable from the gross income
of the recipient, and
‘‘(2) which is received by an individual who is
a candidate for a degree as a registered nurse or for
a higher nursing degree for purposes of pursuing
such a degree.
‘‘(c) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.—The
credit allowed by subsection (a) for any taxable year shall
not exceed the excess (if any) of—
‘‘(1) the regular tax for the taxable year re-
duced by the sum of the credits allowable under sub-
part A and sections 27, 28, and 29, over
‘‘(2) the tentative minimum tax for the taxable
year.’’
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for such subpart B is amended by adding at the end there-
of the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 30. Scholarships provided by corporations for nurse training.’’
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after
the date of the enactment of this Act, in taxable years
ending after such date.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as provided in section 6(c), this Act and the
amendments made by this Act shall take effect upon the
expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act.
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