I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8470 
To establish procedures related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID– 
19) in correctional facilities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 1, 2020 
Ms. BARRAGA´N introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, 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 establish procedures related to the coronavirus disease 
2019 (COVID–19) in correctional facilities. 
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 ‘‘Federal Correctional 
Facilities COVID–19 Response Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘cor-
rectional facility’’ includes— 
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(A) Federal prisons, including all prison, 
correctional, and detention facilities run by the 
Bureau of Prisons; and 
(B) privately owned or privately operated 
prison, correctional, and detention facilities con-
tracted by Federal entities, including the Bu-
reau of Prisons, to house Federal incarcerated 
persons. 
(2) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY EMPLOYEE.—The 
term ‘‘correctional facility employee’’ means any in-
dividual employed at a correctional facility housing 
Federal incarcerated persons, including— 
(A) a Federal employee; 
(B) an employee of a privately owned or 
privately operated prison, correctional, or deten-
tion facility contracted by a Federal entity to 
house Federal incarcerated persons; and 
(C) an employee of a private company con-
tracted to provide goods and services at a cor-
rectional facility. 
(3) COVID–19 DIAGNOSTIC
TEST.—The term 
‘‘COVID–19 diagnostic test’’ means a test— 
(A) that is an in vitro diagnostic product 
(as defined in section 809.3 of title 21, Code of 
Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto) 
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for the detection of SARS–CoV–2 or the diag-
nosis of the virus that causes COVID–19; and 
(B) the administration of which— 
(i) is approved, cleared, or authorized 
under section 510(k), 513, 515, or 564 of 
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
(21 U.S.C. 360(k), 360c, 360e, 360bbb–3); 
(ii) the developer has requested, or in-
tends to request, emergency use authoriza-
tion under section 564 of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
360bbb–3), unless and until the emergency 
use authorization request under such sec-
tion 564 has been denied or the developer 
of such test does not submit a request 
under such section within a reasonable 
timeframe; 
(iii) is developed in and authorized by 
a State that has notified the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services of its inten-
tion to review tests intended to diagnose 
COVID–19; or 
(iv) is another test that the Secretary 
determines appropriate in guidance. 
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(4) COVID–19 PANDEMIC.—The term ‘‘COVID– 
19 pandemic’’ means the period beginning on the 
date of enactment of this Act and ending on the 
date that is 1 year after the date on which the pub-
lic health emergency declaration under section 319 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) 
with respect to COVID–19 terminates. 
(5) HIGH-RISK INCARCERATED PERSON.—The 
term ‘‘high-risk incarcerated person’’ means an indi-
vidual who meets the definition of ‘‘incarcerated per-
son’’ under this section who— 
(A) is 50 years old or older; 
(B) has chronic kidney disease; 
(C) has chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-
ease; 
(D) is immunocompromised; 
(E) has obesity; 
(F) has a heart condition, such as coro-
nary artery disease or cardiomyopathy; 
(G) has sickle cell disease; 
(H) has type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus; 
(I) has moderate to severe asthma; 
(J) has cerebrovascular disease; 
(K) has cystic fibrosis; 
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(L) has hypertension or high blood pres-
sure; 
(M) has a neurological condition such as 
dementia or Parkinson’s Disease; 
(N) has liver disease; 
(O) is pregnant; 
(P) has pulmonary fibrosis; 
(Q) has thalassemia; 
(R) is a smoker; 
(S) has a disability; or 
(T) meets any other characteristic identi-
fied by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention as putting individuals at increased 
risk of developing severe illness from COVID– 
19. 
(6) INCARCERATED PERSON.—The term ‘‘incar-
cerated person’’ means an individual involuntarily 
confined or detained in a correctional facility. 
(7) SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF COVID–19.—The 
term ‘‘signs and symptoms of COVID–19’’ means 
fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or dif-
ficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, 
headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, 
congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diar-
rhea, and any other medical condition or reaction 
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identified by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention as being a physical reaction to the con-
traction of the severe acute respiratory syndrome 
coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV–2). 
SEC. 3. MANDATED COVID–19 TESTING AT CORRECTIONAL 
FACILITIES. 
(a) TESTING OF INCARCERATED PERSONS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each correctional facility 
shall— 
(A) not later than 15 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act— 
(i) provide each incarcerated person in 
the facility with the option to take a 
COVID–19 diagnostic test, regardless of 
whether the incarcerated person exhibits 
symptoms of COVID–19, at no cost to the 
incarcerated person; 
(ii) provide each incarcerated person 
with the results of the diagnostic test, re-
gardless of the results, including an inter-
pretation of what the test results mean in 
the incarcerated person’s preferred lan-
guage; 
(iii) provide each incarcerated person 
who tests positive for COVID–19 with nec-
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essary medical care (as outlined in the Na-
tional Institutes of Health COVID–19 
Treatment Guidelines), including COVID– 
19 tests to monitor recovery if indicated by 
the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, and housing in a medical isolation 
unit under the care of medical profes-
sionals, at no cost to the incarcerated per-
son; 
(iv) place each asymptomatic incarcer-
ated person who is exposed to a positive 
case in quarantine until testing is com-
pleted consistent with Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention guidance; and 
(v) place each symptomatic incarcer-
ated person into medical isolation while 
awaiting test results; and 
(B) during the period beginning not later 
than 45 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act and ending on the last day of the 
COVID–19 pandemic— 
(i) conduct weekly COVID–19 diag-
nostic testing of incarcerated persons in 
the facility in accordance with the guide-
lines developed under section 6, regardless 
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of whether such incarcerated persons ex-
hibit symptoms of COVID–19, at no cost 
to incarcerated persons; 
(ii) conduct COVID–19 diagnostic 
testing for any incarcerated person with 
COVID–19 symptoms, or for any incarcer-
ated person who is a close contact of a 
known COVID–19 case, in accordance with 
the guidelines developed under section 6; 
(iii) provide each incarcerated person 
with the results of the diagnostic tests, re-
gardless of the results, including an inter-
pretation of what the test results mean in 
the incarcerated person’s preferred lan-
guage; 
(iv) provide each incarcerated person 
who tests positive for COVID–19 with nec-
essary medical care (as outlined in the Na-
tional Institutes of Health COVID–19 
Treatment Guidelines), including COVID– 
19 tests to monitor recovery if indicated by 
the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, and housing in a medical isolation 
unit under the care of medical profes-
sionals, at no cost to the incarcerated per-
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son, in accordance with the guidelines de-
veloped under section 6; 
(v) quarantine each incarcerated per-
son exposed to a positive COVID–19 case 
in accordance with the guidelines developed 
under section 6; and 
(vi) establish a procedure through 
which incarcerated people can opt out of 
COVID–19 testing, in accordance with the 
guidelines developed under section 6. 
(2) NEW ENTRANTS.—During the period begin-
ning not later than 45 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act and ending on the last day of the 
COVID–19 pandemic, each correctional facility 
shall— 
(A) provide each incarcerated person newly 
admitted or transferred to the facility with an 
optional COVID–19 diagnostic test within 24 
hours of entering the facility, regardless of 
whether the incarcerated person exhibits symp-
toms of COVID–19, at no cost to the incarcer-
ated person; and 
(B) immediately quarantine each incarcer-
ated person newly admitted or transferred to 
the facility within 24 hours of entering the fa-
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cility, consistent with Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention guidance, until the incar-
cerated person has been confirmed to be nega-
tive for COVID–19, in accordance with the 
guidelines developed under section 6. 
(b) TESTING OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITY EMPLOY-
EES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each correctional facility 
shall— 
(A) not later than 15 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act— 
(i) provide each correctional facility 
employee with a required COVID–19 diag-
nostic test, regardless of whether the em-
ployee exhibits symptoms of COVID–19, at 
no cost to the employee; and 
(ii) provide each correctional facility 
employee who tests positive for COVID–19 
with unlimited paid administrative leave 
for 
the 
purpose 
of 
recovering 
from 
COVID–19, and no cost COVID–19 diag-
nostic testing for the purpose of moni-
toring recovery if indicated by the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, until 
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the employee tests negative for COVID–19; 
and 
(B) during the period beginning not later 
than 45 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act and ending on the last day of the 
COVID–19 pandemic— 
(i) conduct required weekly COVID– 
19 diagnostic testing of each correctional 
facility employee in the facility, in accord-
ance with the guidelines developed under 
section 6, regardless of whether the em-
ployee exhibits symptoms of COVID–19, at 
no cost to the employee; 
(ii) provide each correctional facility 
employee who tests positive for COVID–19 
with unlimited paid leave for the purpose 
of recovering from COVID–19, and no cost 
COVID–19 diagnostic testing for the pur-
pose of monitoring recovery if indicated by 
the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, until the employee tests negative 
for COVID–19; and 
(iii) provide each correctional facility 
employee who is exposed to a positive 
COVID–19 case with guaranteed paid 
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leave to quarantine, consistent with Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention 
guidance, or until the employee has been 
confirmed to be negative for COVID–19. 
(c) PRIVACY.—Any data collected, stored, received, or 
published under this section shall— 
(1) be so collected, stored, received, or pub-
lished in a manner that protects the privacy of indi-
viduals whose information is included in the data; 
(2) be deidentified or anonymized in a manner 
that protects the identity of all individuals whose in-
formation is included in the data; 
(3) comply with privacy protections provided 
under the regulations promulgated under section 
264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac-
countability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note); 
and 
(4) be limited in use for the purpose of public 
health and be protected from all other internal use 
by any entity that collects, stores, or receives the 
data, including use of the data in determinations of 
eligibility (or continued eligibility) in health plans, 
and from any other inappropriate uses. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to relevant medical and pub-
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