Securing America From Epidemics Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2118 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To authorize United States participation in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2118.RFS H2118 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 2118 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing America 2 From Epidemics Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Due to increasing population and popu- 6 lation density, human mobility, and ecological 7 change, emerging infectious diseases pose a real and 8 growing threat to global health security. 9 (2) While vaccines can be the most effective 10 tools to protect against infectious disease, the ab- 11 sence of vaccines for a new or emerging infectious 12 disease with epidemic potential is a major health se- 13 curity threat globally, posing catastrophic potential 14 human and economic costs. 15 (3) The COVID–19 pandemic has infected more 16 than 119,960,700 individuals and has killed at least 17 2,656,822 people worldwide, and it is likely that un- 18 reported cases and deaths are significant. 19 (4) Even regional outbreaks can have enormous 20 human costs and substantially disrupt the global 21 economy and cripple regional economies. The 2014 22 Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 23 11,000 and cost $2,800,000,000 in losses in the af- 24 fected countries alone. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2118.RFS H2118 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 2118 RFS (5) While the need for vaccines to address 1 emerging epidemic threats is acute, markets to drive 2 the necessary development of vaccines to address 3 them—a complex and expensive undertaking—are 4 very often critically absent. Also absent are mecha- 5 nisms to ensure access to those vaccines by those 6 who need them when they need them. 7 (6) To address this global vulnerability and the 8 deficit of political commitment, institutional capac- 9 ity, and funding, in 2017, several countries and pri- 10 vate partners launched the Coalition for Epidemic 11 Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI’s mission 12 is to stimulate, finance, and coordinate development 13 of vaccines for high-priority, epidemic-potential 14 threats in cases where traditional markets do not 15 exist or cannot create sufficient demand. 16 (7) Through funding of partnerships, CEPI 17 seeks to bring priority vaccines candidates through 18 the end of phase II clinical trials, as well as support 19 vaccine platforms that can be rapidly deployed 20 against emerging pathogens. 21 (8) CEPI supported the manufacturing of the 22 United States-developed Moderna COVID–19 vac- 23 cine during its Phase 1 clinical trial, and CEPI has 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2118.RFS H2118 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 2118 RFS initiated at least 12 partnerships to develop vaccines 1 against COVID–19. 2 (9) CEPI is co-leading COVAX, the vaccines 3 pillar of the ACT–Accelerator, which is a global col- 4 laboration to quickly produce and equitably dis- 5 tribute safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics 6 for COVID–19. 7 (10) Support for and participation in CEPI is 8 an important part of the United States own health 9 security and biodefense and is in the national inter- 10 est, complementing the work of many Federal agen- 11 cies and providing significant value through global 12 partnership and burden-sharing. 13 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR UNITED STATES PARTICIPA- 14 TION. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States is hereby au- 16 thorized to participate in the Coalition for Epidemic Pre- 17 paredness Innovations (‘‘Coalition’’). 18 (b) DESIGNATION.—The President is authorized to 19 designate an employee of the relevant Federal department 20 or agency providing the majority of United States con- 21 tributions to the Coalition, who should demonstrate knowl- 22 edge and experience in the fields of development and pub- 23 lic health, epidemiology, or medicine, to serve— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2118.RFS H2118 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 2118 RFS (1) on the Investors Council of the Coalition; 1 and 2 (2) if nominated by the President, on the Board 3 of Directors of the Coalition, as a representative of 4 the United States. 5 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi- 7 dent shall submit to the appropriate congressional com- 8 mittees a report that includes the following: 9 (1) The United States planned contributions to 10 the Coalition and the mechanisms for United States 11 participation in such Coalition. 12 (2) The manner and extent to which the United 13 States shall participate in the governance of the Co- 14 alition. 15 (3) How participation in the Coalition supports 16 relevant United States Government strategies and 17 programs in health security and biodefense, includ- 18 ing— 19 (A) the Global Health Security Strategy 20 required by section 7058(c)(3) of division K of 21 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 22 (Public Law 115–141); 23 (B) the applicable revision of the National 24 Biodefense Strategy required by section 1086 of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2118.RFS H2118 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 2118 RFS the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis- 1 cal Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 104); and 2 (C) any other relevant decision-making 3 process for policy, planning, and spending in 4 global health security, biodefense, or vaccine 5 and medical countermeasures research and de- 6 velopment. 7 (d) UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS.—Amounts au- 8 thorized to be appropriated under chapters 1 and 10 of 9 part I and chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance 10 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) are authorized to 11 be made available for United States contributions to the 12 Coalition. 13 (e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 14 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 15 mittees’’ means— 16 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 17 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 18 resentatives; and 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2118.RFS H2118 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 2118 RFS (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 1 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 2 Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2118.RFS H2118 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS