I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5848 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within 
the Office of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion the Office of Rural Health, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 3, 2021 
Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Ms. SEWELL, and Mr. BISHOP of Georgia) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
establish within the Office of the Director of the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention the Office of Rural 
Health, 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. CDC OFFICE OF RURAL HEALTH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
within the Office of the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention an office to be known as the ‘‘Of-
fice of Rural Health’’, to be headed by a director ap-
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pointed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention. 
(b) DUTIES.—The Director of the Office shall— 
(1) serve as the primary point of contact in the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on mat-
ters pertaining to rural health; 
(2) assist the Secretary in conducting, coordi-
nating, and promoting research regarding public 
health issues affecting rural populations, and in dis-
seminating the results of such research; 
(3) work with all personnel and offices of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to de-
velop, refine, coordinate, and promulgate policies, 
best practices, lessons learned, and innovative, suc-
cessful programs to improve care, services, and so-
cial determinants of health for populations who re-
side in rural areas of the United States; 
(4) coordinate and support rural health re-
search, conduct and support educational outreach, 
and disseminate evidence-based interventions related 
to health outcomes, access to health care, and life-
style challenges, to prevent death, disease, injury, 
and disability, and promote healthy behaviors, in 
rural populations, including rural minority and 
LGBTQ populations; 
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(5) improve the understanding of the challenges 
faced by rural populations; 
(6) identify disparities in the availability of 
health care and public health interventions for popu-
lations living in rural areas; 
(7) administer grants, cooperative agreements, 
and contracts to provide technical assistance and 
other activities as necessary to support activities re-
lated to improving health and health care in rural 
areas; and 
(8) perform such other functions and duties as 
the Secretary determines appropriate. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘Office’’, except as otherwise 
specified, means the Office of Rural Health estab-
lished pursuant to subsection (a). 
(2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services, acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 and each subsequent fis-
cal year. 
Æ 
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