I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3706 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the public health system 
in tribal communities and increase the number of American Indians 
and Alaska Natives pursuing health careers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 
Mr. RUIZ (for himself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the 
public health system in tribal communities and increase 
the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives 
pursuing health careers, 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 ‘‘Native Health and 
Wellness Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. TRIBAL HEALTH BLOCK GRANT. 
Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended 
by inserting after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
247b–22) the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 317U. TRIBAL HEALTH BLOCK GRANT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent and in the 
amounts made available in advance by appropriations, the 
Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, shall award a grant, in 
an amount determined pursuant to the formula developed 
under subsection (e), to each eligible Indian tribe or tribal 
organization for the purposes of promoting health, pre-
venting disease, and reducing health disparities among 
American Indians and Alaska Natives. 
‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 
this section, including the development of the formula re-
quired by subsection (e), in consultation with eligible In-
dian tribes and tribal organizations. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under 
this section for a fiscal year, an Indian tribe or tribal orga-
nization shall submit to the Secretary a plan at such time, 
in such manner, and containing such information as the 
Secretary may require. 
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Each grantee under this sec-
tion shall use the grant funds— 
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‘‘(1) to establish or support preventive health 
service programs that facilitate the achievement of 
health-status goals; 
‘‘(2) to establish or support public health serv-
ices that reduce the prevalence of chronic disease 
among American Indians and Alaska Natives; or 
‘‘(3) to strengthen public health infrastructure 
to facilitate the surveillance and response to infec-
tious disease and foodborne illness outbreaks. 
‘‘(e) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall develop a for-
mula to be used in allocating the total amount of funds 
made available to carry out this section for a fiscal year 
among the eligible Indian tribes and tribal organizations. 
‘‘(f) REPORTS.—Each grantee under this section 
shall submit reports at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘In-
dian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ have the meanings 
given to such terms in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 
Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro-
priated $56,700,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 
2022.’’. 
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SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO RECRUIT AND MENTOR AMER-
ICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE YOUTH 
AND YOUNG ADULTS. 
Subpart 3 of part E of title VII of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295f et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 779. RECRUITMENT AND MENTORING OF AMERICAN 
INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE YOUTH AND 
YOUNG ADULTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 
to Indian tribes and tribal organizations for the purpose 
of recruiting and mentoring American Indian and Alaska 
Native youth and young adults in health professions. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An Indian tribe or tribal orga-
nization receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall use 
the grant funds— 
‘‘(1) to expose American Indian and Alaska Na-
tive adolescent youth or young adults to health pro-
fessions; 
‘‘(2) to promote science education; 
‘‘(3) to establish mentoring relationships be-
tween— 
‘‘(A) American Indian and Alaska Native 
youth or young adults; and 
‘‘(B) health professionals; 
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‘‘(4) to provide hands-on learning experiences in 
a health care setting; 
‘‘(5) to establish partnerships with institutions 
of higher education (including tribal colleges), local 
educational agencies, and other community-based en-
tities to develop a larger and more competitive appli-
cant pool for health professional careers; or 
‘‘(6) to provide counseling, mentoring, and 
other services designed to assist American Indian 
and Alaska Native youth or young adults in the pur-
suit of higher education with respect to health pro-
fessions. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) HEALTH PROFESSION.—The term ‘health 
profession’ has the meaning given to the term 
‘Health profession’ in section 4 of the Indian Health 
Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 
‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 
has the meaning given to such term in section 4 of 
the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 
1603). 
‘‘(3) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 
organization’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
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‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro-
priated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 
2022.’’. 
Æ 
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