National Military Civilian Medical Surge Program Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6510 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6510

   To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
   Defense to establish the Military-Civilian Medical Surge Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 9, 2025

  Mr. Bacon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
   Defense to establish the Military-Civilian Medical Surge Program.

    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 ``National Military Civilian Medical 
Surge Program Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. MILITARY-CIVILIAN MEDICAL SURGE PROGRAM.

    Section 1096 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by adding at the end the 
        following: ``; medical surge program''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Medical Surge Program.--(1) The Secretary of Defense, in 
collaboration with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall 
carry out a program of record known as the Military-Civilian Medical 
Surge Program to--
            ``(A) support locations that the Secretary of Defense 
        selects under paragraph (3)(B); and
            ``(B) enhance the interoperability and medical surge 
        capability and capacity of the National Disaster Medical System 
        in response to a declaration or other action described in 
        subparagraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (4).
    ``(2)(A) The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Institute for 
Defense Health Cooperation at the Uniformed Services University of the 
Health Sciences (or such successor center), shall oversee the 
management, staffing, and deployment of the Program, in coordination 
with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of the 
Defense Health Agency, and, for purposes of ensuring that the Program 
is carried out in a manner that is consistent with paragraph (6), the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
    ``(B) In carrying out subparagraph (A) during a contingency 
operation, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the Program 
provides support, acting through the Defense Health Agency serving as a 
combat support agency, to the relevant combatant command.
    ``(C) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure the program is 
administrated in coordination with the military departments, the Joint 
Staff, the Defense Health Agency, and the Department of Health and 
Human Services through semiannual coordination meetings and quarterly 
updates. On an annual basis, one such meeting shall include the 
participation of partners specified in paragraph (3)(A).
    ``(D) In carrying out the Program, the Secretary of Defense shall 
maintain requirements for staffing, specialized training, research, and 
education, regarding patient regulation, movement, definitive care, and 
other matters the Secretary determines critical to sustaining the 
health of members of the armed forces.
    ``(3)(A) In carrying out the Program, the Secretary of Defense 
shall establish partnerships at locations selected under subparagraph 
(B) with public, private, and nonprofit health care organizations, 
health care institutions, health care entities, academic medical 
centers of institutions of higher education, and hospitals that the 
Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services determine--
            ``(i) are critical in mobilizing a civilian medical 
        response in support of a wartime contingency or other 
        catastrophic event in the United States; and
            ``(ii) have demonstrated technical proficiency in critical 
        national security domains, including high-consequence 
        infectious disease and special pathogen preparedness, and 
        matters relating to defense, containment, management, care, and 
        transportation.
    ``(B) The Secretary of Defense shall select not fewer than eight 
locations that are operationally relevant to the missions of the 
Department of Defense under the National Disaster Medical System and 
are aeromedical or other transport hubs or logistics centers in the 
United States for partnerships under subparagraph (A). The Secretary 
may select more than eight locations, including locations outside of 
the continental United States, if the Secretary determines such 
additional locations cover areas of strategic and operational relevance 
to the Department.
    ``(4) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall ensure that the partnerships under paragraph 
(3)(A) allow for civilian medical personnel to quickly and effectively 
mobilize direct support to military medical treatment facilities and 
provide support to other requirements of the military health system 
pursuant to the following:
            ``(A) A declaration of a national emergency under the 
        National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.).
            ``(B) A public health emergency declared under section 319 
        of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).
            ``(C) A declaration of war by Congress.
            ``(D) A contingency operation.
            ``(E) The President's exercise of executive powers under 
        the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.).
            ``(F) Any other emergency or major disaster as declared by 
        the President.
    ``(5) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services 
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives a report on the status, readiness, and operational 
capabilities of the Program. Each report shall include an assessment of 
personnel readiness, resource availability, interagency coordination 
efforts, and recommendations for continued improvements to the Program.
    ``(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the 
Secretary of Defense to control, direct, limit, or otherwise affect the 
authorities of the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect 
to the leadership and administration of the National Disaster Medical 
System, public health and medical preparedness and response, staffing 
levels, or resource allocation.
    ``(7) In this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `institution of higher education' means a 
        four-year institution of higher education (as defined in 
        section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        1001(a))).
            ``(B) The term `National Disaster Medical System' means the 
        system established under section 2812 of the Public Health 
        Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300hh-11).
            ``(C) The term `Program' means the Military-Civilian 
        Medical Surge Program established under paragraph (1).''.
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