
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC202]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                    CHAPTER 6A--PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
 
        SUBCHAPTER I--ADMINISTRATION AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
 
                         Part A--Administration
 
Sec. 202. Administration and supervision of Service

    The Public Health Service in the Department of Health and Human 
Services shall be administered by the Assistant Secretary for Health 
under the supervision and direction of the Secretary.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title II, Sec. 201, 58 Stat. 683; 1953 Reorg. 
Plan No. 1, Secs. 5, 8 eff. Apr. 11, 1953, 18 F.R. 2053, 67 Stat. 631; 
Pub. L. 103-43, title XX, Sec. 2008(f), June 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 212.)


                               Amendments

    1993--Pub. L. 103-43 substituted ``Health and Human Services'' for 
``Health, Education, and Welfare'' and ``Assistant Secretary for 
Health'' for ``Surgeon General''.

                          Transfer of Functions

    Functions of Federal Security Administrator transferred to Secretary 
of Health, Education, and Welfare and all agencies of Federal Security 
Agency transferred to Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by 
section 5 of Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1953, set out as a note under section 
3501 of this title. Federal Security Agency and office of Administrator 
abolished by section 8 of Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1953. Secretary and 
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare redesignated Secretary and 
Department of Health and Human Services by section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96-
88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.


                   International Health Administration

    Ex. Ord. No. 10399, Sept. 27, 1952, 17 F.R. 8648, designated Surgeon 
General to perform certain duties under International Sanitary 
Regulations of World Health Organization.


                    REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 3 OF 1966

         Eff. June 25, 1966, 31 F.R. 8855, 80 Stat. 1610

Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of 
    Representatives in Congress assembled, April 25, 1966, pursuant to 
    the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 203, as 
    amended [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.].

                      PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE


                    Section 1. Transfer of Functions

    (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, 
there are hereby transferred to the Secretary of Health, Education, and 
Welfare (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) all functions of the 
Public Health Service, of the Surgeon General of the Public Health 
Service, and of all other officers and employees of the Public Health 
Service, and all functions of all agencies of or in the Public Health 
Service.
    (b) This section shall not apply to the functions vested by law in 
any advisory council, board, or committee of or in the Public Health 
Service which is established by law or is required by law to be 
established.


              Sec. 2. Performance of Transferred Functions

    The Secretary may from time to time make such provisions as he shall 
deem appropriate authorizing the performance of any of the functions 
transferred to him by the provisions of this reorganization plan by any 
officer, employee, or agency of the Public Health Service or of the 
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.


                           Sec. 3. Abolitions

    (a) The following agencies of the Public Health Service are hereby 
abolished:
    (1) The Bureau of Medical Services, including the office of Chief of 
the Bureau of Medical Services.
    (2) The Bureau of State Services, including the office of Chief of 
the Bureau of State Services.
    (3) The agency designated as the National Institutes of Health (42 
U.S.C. 203), including the office of Director of the National Institutes 
of Health (42 U.S.C. 206(b)) but excluding the several research 
Institutes in the agency designated as the National Institutes of 
Health.
    (4) The agency designated as the Office of the Surgeon General (42 
U.S.C. 203(1)), together with the office held by the Deputy Surgeon 
General (42 U.S.C. 206(a)).
    (b) The Secretary shall make such provisions as he shall deem 
necessary respecting the winding up of any outstanding affairs of the 
agencies abolished by the provisions of this section.


                      Sec. 4. Incidental Transfers

    As he may deem necessary in order to carry out the provisions of 
this reorganization plan, the Secretary may from time to time effect 
transfers within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare of any 
of the records, property, personnel and unexpended balances (available 
or to be made available) of appropriations, allocations, and other funds 
of the Department which relate to functions affected by this 
reorganization plan.
    [The Secretary and Department of Health, Education, and Welfare were 
redesignated the Secretary and Department of Health and Human Services, 
respectively, by 20 U.S.C. 3508.]


                        Message of the President

To the Congress of the United States:
    I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1966, prepared in 
accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, and 
providing for reorganization of health functions of the Department of 
Health, Education, and Welfare.

                                I

    Today we face new challenges and unparalleled opportunities in the 
field of health. Building on the progress of the past several years, we 
have truly begun to match the achievements of our medicine to the needs 
of our people.
    The task ahead is immense. As a nation, we will unceasingly pursue 
our research and learning, our training and building, our testing and 
treatment. But now our concern must also turn to the organization of our 
Federal health programs.
    As citizens we are entitled to the very best health services our 
resources can provide.
    As taxpayers, we demand the most efficient and economic health 
organizations that can be devised.
    I ask the Congress to approve a reorganization plan to bring new 
strength to the administration of Federal health programs.
    I propose a series of changes in the organization of the Public 
Health Service that will bring to all Americans a structure modern in 
design, more efficient in operation and better prepared to meet the 
great and growing needs of the future. Through such improvements we can 
achieve the full promise of the landmark health legislation enacted by 
the 89th Congress.
    I do not propose these changes lightly. They follow a period of 
careful deliberation. For many months the Secretary of Health, 
Education, and Welfare, and the Surgeon General have consulted leading 
experts in the Nation--physicians, administrators, scientists, and 
public health specialists. They have confirmed my belief that 
modernization and reorganization of the Public Health Service are 
urgently required and long overdue.

                               II

    The Public Health Service is an operating agency of the Department 
of Health, Education, and Welfare. It is the principal arm of the 
Federal Government in the field of health. Its programs are among those 
most vital to our well-being.
    Since 1953 more than 50 new programs have been placed in the Public 
Health Service. Its budget over the past 12 years has increased 
tenfold--from $250 million to $2.4 billion.
    Today the organization of the Public Health Service is clearly 
obsolete. The requirement that new and expanding programs be 
administered through an organizational structure established by law more 
than two decades ago stands as a major obstacle to the fulfillment of 
our Nation's health goals.
    As presently constituted, the Public Health Service is composed of 
four major components:
        National Institutes of Health.
        Bureau of State Services.
        Bureau of Medical Services.
        Office of the Surgeon General.
Under present law, Public Health Service functions must be assigned only 
to these four components.
    This structure was designed to provide separate administrative 
arrangements for health research, programs of State and local aid, 
health services, and executive staff resources. At a time when these 
functions could be neatly compartmentalized, the structure was adequate. 
But today the situation is different.
    Under recent legislation many new programs provide for an integrated 
attack on specific disease problems or health hazards in the environment 
by combining health services, State and local aid, and research. Each 
new program of this type necessarily is assigned to one of the three 
operating components of the Public Health Service. Yet none of these 
components is intended to administer programs involving such a variety 
of approaches.
    Our health problems are difficult enough without having them 
complicated by outmoded organizational arrangements.
    But if we merely take the step of integrating the four agencies 
within the Public Health Service we will not go far enough. More is 
required.

                               III

    The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare performs major 
health or health-related functions which are not carried out through the 
Public Health Service, although they are closely related to its 
functions. Among these are:
        Health insurance for the aged, administered through the Social 
    Security Administration;
        Medical assistance for the needy, administered through the 
    Welfare Administration;
        Regulation of the manufacture, labeling, and distribution of 
    drugs, carried out through the Food and Drug Administration; and
        Grants-in-aid to States for vocational rehabilitation of the 
    handicapped, administered by the Vocational Rehabilitation 
    Administration.
    Expenditures for health and health-related programs of the 
Department administered outside the Public Health Service have increased 
from $44 million in 1953 to an estimated $5.4 billion in 1967.
    As the head of the Department, the Secretary of Health, Education, 
and Welfare is responsible for the Administration and coordination of 
all the Department's health functions. He has clear authority over the 
programs I have just mentioned.
    But today he lacks this essential authority over the Public Health 
Service. The functions of that agency are vested in the Surgeon General 
and not in the Secretary.
    This diffusion of responsibility is unsound and unwise.
    To secure the highest possible level of health services for the 
American people the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare must be 
given the authority to establish--and modify as necessary--the 
organizational structure for Public Health Service programs.
    He must also have the authority to coordinate health functions 
throughout the Department. The reorganization plan I propose will 
accomplish these purposes. It will provide the Secretary with the 
flexibility to create new and responsive organizational arrangements to 
keep pace with the changing and dynamic nature of our health programs.
    My views in this respect follow a basic principle of good government 
set by the Hoover Commission in 1949 when it recommended that ``the 
Department head should be given authority to determine the organization 
within his Department.''

                               IV

    In summary, the reorganization plan would:
        Transfer to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare the 
    functions now vested in the Surgeon General of the Public Health 
    Service and in its various subordinate units (this transfer will not 
    affect certain statutory advisory bodies such as the National 
    Advisory Cancer and Heart Councils);
        Abolish the four principal statutory components of the Public 
    Health Service, including the offices held by their heads (the 
    Bureau of Medical Services, the Bureau of State Services, the 
    National Institutes of Health exclusive of its several research 
    institutes such as the National Cancer and Heart Institutes, and the 
    Office of the Surgeon General); and
        Authorize the Secretary to assign the functions transferred to 
    him by the plan to officials and entities of the Public Health 
    Service and to other agencies of the Department as he deems 
    appropriate.
Thus, the Secretary would be--
        Enabled to assure that all health functions of the Department 
    are carried out as effectively and economically as possible;
        Given authority commensurate with his responsibility; and
        Made responsible in fact for matters for which he is now, in any 
    case, held accountable by the President, the Congress, and the 
    people.

                                V

    I have found, after investigation, that each reorganization included 
in the accompanying reorganization plan is necessary to accomplish one 
or more of the purposes set forth in section 2(a) of the Reorganization 
Act of 1949, as amended.
    Should the reorganizations in the accompanying reorganization plan 
take effect, they will make possible more effective and efficient 
administration of the affected health programs. It is, however, not 
practicable at this time to itemize the reductions in expenditures which 
may result.
    I strongly recommend that the Congress allow the reorganization plan 
to become effective.

                                                      Lyndon B. Johnson.

    The White House, April 25, 1966.

                        Executive Order No. 10506

    Ex. Ord. No. 10506, Dec. 10, 1953, 18 F.R. 8219, which delegated 
certain functions of the President relating to the Public Health 
Service, was superseded by Ex. Ord. No. 11140, Jan. 30, 1964, 29 F.R. 
1637, set out below.

               Ex. Ord. No. 11140. Delegation of Functions

    Ex. Ord. No. 11140, Jan. 30, 1964, 29 F.R. 1637, as amended by Ex. 
Ord. No. 12608, Sept. 9, 1987, 52 F.R. 34617, provided:
    By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 301 of Title 3 of 
the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is 
ordered as follows:
    Section 1. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is hereby 
authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other 
action of the President, to perform the following-described functions 
vested in the President under the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 
682), as amended [this chapter]:
    (a) The authority under Section 203 (42 U.S.C. 204): to appoint 
commissioned officers of the Reserve Corps.
    (b) The authority under Section 206(b) (42 U.S.C. 207(b)) to 
prescribe titles, appropriate to the several grades, for commissioned 
officers of the Public Health Service other than medical officers.
    (c) The authority under Section 207(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 209(a)(2)) to 
terminate commissions of officers of the Reserve Corps without the 
consent of the officers concerned.
    (d) The authority under Section 210(a), (k), and (l) (42 U.S.C. 
211(a), (k), and (l)) to make or terminate temporary promotions of 
commissioned officers of the Regular Corps and Reserve Corps.
    (e) The authority under Section 211(a)(5) (42 U.S.C. 212(a)(5)) to 
approve voluntary retirements under that section.
    (f) The authority to prescribe regulations under the following-
designated Sections: 207(a), 207(b), 208(e), 210(a), 210(b), 210(d)(1), 
210(h), 210(i), 210(j)(1), 210(k), 215(a), 218(a), 219(a), and 510 (42 
U.S.C. 209(a), 209(b), 210(e), 211(a), 211(b), 211(d)(1), 211(h), 
211(i), 211(j)(1), 211(k), 216(a), 218a(a), 210-1(a), and 228).
    (g) The authority under Sections 321(a) and 364(a) (42 U.S.C. 248(a) 
and 267(a)) to approve the selection of suitable sites for and the 
establishment of additional institutions, hospitals, stations, grounds, 
and anchorages; subject, however, to the approval of the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget, except as he may otherwise provide.
    Sec. 2. The Surgeon General is hereby authorized and empowered, 
without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, to 
perform the function vested in the President by Sections 203 and 
207(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 683, 685), as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 204 and 209(a)(2)), or otherwise, of accepting 
voluntary resignations of commissioned officers of the Regular Corps or 
the Reserve Corps.
    Sec. 3. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is hereby 
authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other 
action of the President, to exercise the authority vested in the 
President by Section 704 of Title 37 of the United States Code to 
prescribe regulations.
    Sec. 4. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is hereby 
authorized to redelegate all or any part of the functions set forth 
under (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 1 hereof to the Surgeon General 
of the Public Health Service or other official of that Service who is 
required to be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate.
    Sec. 5. All actions heretofore taken by appropriate authority with 
respect to the matters affected by this order and in force at the time 
of the issuance of this order, including any regulations prescribed or 
approved with respect to such matters, shall, except as they may be 
inconsistent with the provisions of this order, remain in effect until 
amended, modified, or revoked pursuant to the authority conferred by 
this order.
    Sec. 6. As used in this order, the term ``functions'' embraces 
duties, powers, responsibilities, authority, or discretion, and the term 
``perform'' may be construed to mean ``exercise''.
    Sec. 7. (a) Executive Order No. 10506 of December 10, 1953, entitled 
``Delegating Certain Functions of the President under the Public Health 
Service Act,'' is hereby superseded.
    (b) Executive Orders Nos. 9993 of August 31, 1948, 10031 of January 
26, 1949, 10280 of August 16, 1951, 10354 of May 26, 1952, and 10497 of 
October 27, 1953, which prescribed regulations relating to commissioned 
officers and employees of the Public Health Service, are hereby revoked. 
Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to alter or otherwise affect 
the regulations prescribed by the Surgeon General (42 CFR Parts 21 and 
22) to replace the regulations prescribed by the orders described in the 
preceding sentence.
