Title: U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act
This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish procedures to ensure consistent and efficient medical screenings for all individuals stopped between ports of entry. The screenings shall take place within 12 hours of the initial stop. The bill imposes various requirements for screenings, including documentation of current medical complaints and recordkeeping.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall research and report to Congress new approaches to improve the screening procedures and recommend any necessary corrective actions, as well as a plan to record the results of the screenings in electronic health records that are interoperable with other DHS systems.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3525 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3525

 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Commissioner 
 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish uniform processes 
   for medical screening of individuals interdicted between ports of 
                     entry, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2019

Ms. Underwood introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Commissioner 
 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish uniform processes 
   for medical screening of individuals interdicted between ports of 
                     entry, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening 
Standards Act''.

SEC. 2. UNIFORM PROCESSES FOR MEDICAL SCREENING OF INDIVIDUALS 
              INTERDICTED BETWEEN PORTS OF ENTRY.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle C of title IV of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 437. MEDICAL SCREENING OF INDIVIDUALS INTERDICTED BETWEEN PORTS 
              OF ENTRY.

    ``(a) In General.--To improve border security and the processing of 
individuals and families interdicted by the U.S. Border Patrol between 
ports of entry, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
in coordination with the Chief Medical Officer of the Department, shall 
establish uniform processes and training to ensure consistent and 
efficient medical screening of all individuals so interdicted within 12 
hours of such interdiction.
    ``(b) Screening Process Components.--At a minimum, the uniform 
processes and training established under subsection (a) shall include 
the following:
            ``(1) Requirements for initial screening that includes 
        documentation of the following:
                    ``(A) Current medical complaints and concerns.
                    ``(B) A brief medical history to identify current 
                medications and any chronic or past illnesses.
                    ``(C) Basic vital statistics.
            ``(2) Criteria for determining when to make a referral to 
        higher medical care and a process to execute such referral.
            ``(3) Recordkeeping requirements.
    ``(c) Dissemination and Training.--The uniform processes and 
training shall be made available to appropriate personnel of U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection and other Department components, offices, 
and contractors, as appropriate.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 436 the following new item:

``Sec. 437. Medical screening of individuals interdicted between ports 
                            of entry.''.

SEC. 3. RESEARCH REGARDING PROVISION OF MEDICAL SCREENING OF 
              INDIVIDUALS INTERDICTED BY U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER 
              PROTECTION BETWEEN PORTS OF ENTRY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting 
through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the 
Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Commissioner 
of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Chief Medical Officer of 
the Department, shall research innovative approaches to address 
capability gaps regarding the provision of medical screening of 
individuals interdicted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection between 
ports of entry and issue to the Secretary recommendations for any 
necessary corrective actions.
    (b) Consultation.--In carrying out the research required under 
subsection (a), the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the 
Department of Homeland Security shall consult with appropriate national 
professional associations with expertise in emergency, nursing, and 
other medical care, including expertise in pediatric care.
    (c) Report.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a 
report containing the recommendations referred to in subsection (a), 
together with information relating to what actions, if any, the 
Secretary plans to take in response to such recommendations.

SEC. 4. ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS INTEROPERABILITY ASSESSMENT AND 
              IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

    (a) Assessment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Chief Information Officer of the 
        Department of Homeland Security shall submit to the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security an assessment of the challenges to 
        achieving interoperability of electronic health records, with 
        appropriate privacy and other safeguards, within the 
        Department's information technology systems of individuals who 
        receive medical screening after being interdicted by U.S. 
        Customs and Border protection between ports of entry in 
        accordance with section 437 of the Homeland Security Act of 
        2002 (as added by section 2).
            (2) Contents.--The assessment required under paragraph (1) 
        shall include information on programmatic, policy, and 
        operational options to overcome challenges described in such 
        assessment and a cost and benefit analyses for each such 
        option.
    (b) Implementation Plan.--Not later than 120 days after receipt of 
the assessment required under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate an implementation plan, including 
benchmarks and metrics, for achieving the interoperability described in 
such subsection.
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