Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Operations and Readiness Act” or the “PHS COR Act”.
Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Operations and Readiness Act
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide additional funding for the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service.
Sec. 2 Funding for Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service
Section 203 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 204) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(e) Operations of the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service
“(1) In general—Subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary, the Deputy Surgeon General shall carry out duties and responsibilities relating to the operations of the Commissioned Corps of the Service, including the following:
“(A) Enhance the processes and systems of the Commissioned Corps Headquarters.
“(B) Maximize the force management, operational capacity, and mission readiness of the Regular Corps, the Ready Reserve Corps, and the Public Health Emergency Response Strike Teams, a subcomponent of the Regular Corps.
“(C) Recruit and retain qualified professionals suited to serving underserved and vulnerable communities by—
“(i) enhancing onboarding timelines, providing officer placements to align with agency needs, and incentivizing recruiters and recruits; and
“(ii) expanding training opportunities, providing credentialing support for high demand skill sets, and enriching leadership and research potential.
“(D) Improve deployment processes and prepare mission teams to execute routine and emergent public health events.
“(E) Establish a legislative liaison office to carry out legislative affairs functions under the direction of the Deputy Surgeon General.
“(2) Authorization of appropriations—In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated for the Commissioned Corps of the Service, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Deputy Surgeon General to carry out paragraph (1) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter.”