S.Amdt. 2540

SA 2540. Mr. BARRASSO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 2499 proposed by Mr. McConnell to the bill S. 178, to
condemn gross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in
Xinjiang, and calling for an end to arbitrary detention, torture, and
harassment of these communities inside and outside China; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

TITLE __--

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary

public health and social services emergency fund

(including transfer of funds)

For an additional amount for ``Public Health and Social
Services Emergency Fund'', $25,000,000,000, to remain
available until expended, to prevent, prepare for, and
respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally,
which shall be for necessary expenses to reimburse, through
grants or other mechanisms, eligible health care providers
for health care related expenses or lost revenues that are
attributable to coronavirus:  Provided, That these funds may
not be used to reimburse expenses or losses that have been
reimbursed from other sources or that other sources are
obligated to reimburse:  Provided further, That recipients of
payments under this paragraph shall submit reports and
maintain documentation as the Secretary determines are needed
to ensure compliance with conditions that are imposed by this
paragraph for such payments, and such reports and
documentation shall be in such form, with such content, and
in such time as the Secretary may prescribe for such purpose:
Provided further, That ``eligible health care providers''
means public entities, Medicare or Medicaid enrolled
suppliers and providers, and such for-profit entities and
not-for-profit entities not otherwise described in this
proviso as the Secretary may specify, within the United
States (including territories), that provide diagnoses,
testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual
cases of COVID-19:  Provided further, That the Secretary of
Health and Human Services shall, on a rolling basis, review
applications and make payments under this

[[Page S4856]]

paragraph in this Act:  Provided further, That funds
appropriated under this paragraph in this Act shall be
available for building or construction of temporary
structures, leasing of properties, medical supplies and
equipment including personal protective equipment and testing
supplies, increased workforce and trainings, emergency
operation centers, retrofitting facilities, and surge
capacity:  Provided further, That, in this paragraph, the
term ``payment'' means a pre-payment, prospective payment, or
retrospective payment, as determined appropriate by the
Secretary:  Provided further, That payments under this
paragraph shall be made in consideration of the most
efficient payment systems practicable to provide emergency
payment:  Provided further, That to be eligible for a payment
under this paragraph, an eligible health care provider shall
submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services an
application that includes a statement justifying the need of
the provider for the payment and the eligible health care
provider shall have a valid tax identification number:
Provided further, That, not later than 3 years after final
payments are made under this paragraph, the Office of
Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human
Services shall transmit a final report on audit findings with
respect to this program to the Committees on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives and the Senate:  Provided
further, That nothing in this section limits the authority of
the Inspector General or the Comptroller General to conduct
audits of interim payments at an earlier date:  Provided
further, That not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall provide a report to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
on obligation of funds, including obligations to such
eligible health care providers summarized by State of the
payment receipt:  Provided further, That such reports shall
be updated and submitted to such Committees every 60 days
until funds are expended:  Provided further, That such amount
is designated by the Congress as being for an emergency
requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
______