I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2737 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Correctional 
Public Health. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 26, 2005 
Mr. STRICKLAND (for himself, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. HOLDEN, 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 
PAYNE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an 
Office of Correctional Public Health. 
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 ‘‘Office of Correctional 
Public Health Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDING. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Approximately 2.1 million people are incar-
cerated in the United States.
(2) The number of inmates held in Federal, 
State, and private correctional facilities rose 28 per-
cent between midyear 1995 and 2000. 
(3) The offender population in jails turns over 
between 20 and 25 times each year. 
(4) At least 95 percent of those currently incar-
cerated will be released from custody. 
(5) Offender populations enter correctional fa-
cilities with a higher rate of infection of chronic and 
communicable diseases, including asthma, diabetes, 
hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis, than is 
present in the general population. 
(6) The prevalence of mental illness in correc-
tional facilities is rising. Estimates are that between 
14 and 20 percent of jail inmates in 1996 had some 
type of anxiety disorder. In State prison facilities, it 
is estimated that between 22 and 30 percent have an 
anxiety disorder. 
(7) The prevalence of AIDS among inmates is 
3.5 times higher than among the general population. 
(8) An estimated 98,500 to 145,500 HIV-posi-
tive inmates were released from prisons and jails in 
1996. 
(9) According to estimates, between 12 and 15 
percent of all individuals in the United States with
chronic or current hepatitis B infection in 1996 
spent time in a correctional facility that year. 
(10) Between 1.3 and 1.4 million inmates re-
leased from prison or jail in 1996 were infected with 
hepatitis C. The prevalence of hepatitis C among in-
mates is between 9 and 10 times higher than the es-
timated hepatitis C prevalence in the Nation’s popu-
lation as a whole. In the United States, about 30 
percent of the total population with hepatitis C virus 
are former prisoners or have a history of incarcer-
ation. 
(11) In 1996, an estimated 35 percent of all 
those in America who had tuberculosis had served 
time in a correctional facility. 
(12) According to estimates, substance abuse is 
a major characteristic of incoming prisoners. Sev-
enty-five percent of State prisoners, and 80 percent 
of Federal prisoners, may be characterized as alco-
hol-involved or drug-involved offenders. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL 
PUBLIC HEALTH. 
Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300u et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following section:
‘‘OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH 
‘‘SEC. 1711. (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established 
within the Office of Public Health and Science an office 
to be known as the Office of Correctional Public Health 
(in this section referred to as the ‘Office’), which shall be 
headed by a director appointed by the Secretary. The Sec-
retary shall carry out this section acting through the Di-
rector of the Office. 
‘‘(b) GENERAL DUTIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 
out public health activities regarding individuals who 
are employees in Federal, State, or local penal or 
correctional institutions or who are incarcerated in 
such institutions (which activities regarding such in-
dividuals are referred to in this section as ‘correc-
tional health activities’, and which individuals are so 
referred to collectively as ‘correctional populations’). 
Correctional health activities that may be carried out 
under the preceding sentence include activities re-
garding disease prevention, health promotion, service 
delivery, research, and health professions education. 
‘‘(2) CERTAIN TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS.—The 
types of penal or correctional institutions with re-
spect to which this section is authorized to be car-
ried out include facilities in which individuals are
held pending judicial proceedings (including individ-
uals who are minors), facilities in which individuals 
are held pending administrative proceedings of the 
Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to citi-
zenship and immigration services, and facilities in 
which individuals who are minors are held pursuant 
to judicial proceedings in which such individuals are 
found, as minors, to have engaged in violations of 
law. 
‘‘(c) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out correc-
tional health activities under subsection (b), the Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(1) coordinate all correctional health programs 
within the Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices; 
‘‘(2) provide technical support to State and 
local correctional agencies on correctional health 
issues; 
‘‘(3) cooperate with other Federal agencies car-
rying out correctional health programs to ensure co-
ordination of such programs; 
‘‘(4) consult with, and provide outreach to, 
State directors of correctional health and providers 
of correctional health care;
‘‘(5) facilitate the exchange of information re-
garding correctional health activities; and 
‘‘(6) facilitate collaboration between correctional 
facilities and State and local health departments. 
‘‘(d) GRANTS REGARDING HEPATITIS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, may make grants to States 
for the purpose of providing for correctional popu-
lations screenings, immunizations, and treatment for 
hepatitis A, B, and C. 
‘‘(2) DISCRETION
OF
GRANTEE
REGARDING 
SCOPE
OF
PROGRAM.—A State receiving a grant 
under paragraph (1) may expend the grant for any 
or all of the activities authorized in such paragraph. 
‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the 
costs of the program to be carried out under 
paragraph (1) by a State, the Secretary may 
make a grant under such paragraph only if the 
State agrees to make available (directly or 
through donations from public or private enti-
ties) non-Federal contributions toward such 
costs in an amount not less than 20 percent of