DHS Medical Countermeasures Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3263 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in the Department of Homeland Security a medical coun- termeasures program, 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 02:20 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3263.RFS H3263 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3263 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DHS Medical Counter- 2 measures Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES PROGRAM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title XIX of the 5 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 311 et seq.) 6 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 1932. MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 9 medical countermeasures program to facilitate personnel 10 readiness, and protection for the Department’s employees 11 and working animals in the event of a chemical, biological, 12 radiological, nuclear, or explosives attack, naturally occur- 13 ring disease outbreak, or pandemic, and to support De- 14 partment mission continuity. 15 ‘‘(b) OVERSIGHT.—The Chief Medical Officer of the 16 Department shall provide programmatic oversight of the 17 medical countermeasures program established pursuant to 18 subsection (a), and shall— 19 ‘‘(1) develop Department-wide standards for 20 medical countermeasure storage, security, dis- 21 pensing, and documentation; 22 ‘‘(2) maintain a stockpile of medical counter- 23 measures, including antibiotics, antivirals, and radio- 24 logical countermeasures, as appropriate; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3263.RFS H3263 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3263 RFS ‘‘(3) preposition appropriate medical counter- 1 measures in strategic locations nationwide, based on 2 threat and employee density, in accordance with ap- 3 plicable Federal statutes and regulations; 4 ‘‘(4) provide oversight and guidance regarding 5 the dispensing of stockpiled medical counter- 6 measures; 7 ‘‘(5) ensure rapid deployment and dispensing of 8 medical countermeasures in a chemical, biological, 9 radiological, nuclear, or explosives attack, naturally 10 occurring disease outbreak, or pandemic; 11 ‘‘(6) provide training to Department employees 12 on medical countermeasure dispensing; and 13 ‘‘(7) support dispensing exercises. 14 ‘‘(c) MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES WORKING 15 GROUP.—The Chief Medical Officer shall establish a med- 16 ical countermeasures working group comprised of rep- 17 resentatives from appropriate components and offices of 18 the Department to ensure that medical countermeasures 19 standards are maintained and guidance is consistent. 20 ‘‘(d) MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES MANAGE- 21 MENT.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the en- 22 actment of this section, the Chief Medical Officer shall de- 23 velop and submit to the Secretary an integrated logistics 24 support plan for medical countermeasures, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3263.RFS H3263 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3263 RFS ‘‘(1) a methodology for determining the ideal 1 types and quantities of medical countermeasures to 2 stockpile and how frequently such methodology shall 3 be reevaluated; 4 ‘‘(2) a replenishment plan; and 5 ‘‘(3) inventory tracking, reporting, and rec- 6 onciliation procedures for existing stockpiles and 7 new medical countermeasure purchases. 8 ‘‘(e) STOCKPILE ELEMENTS.—In determining the 9 types and quantities of medical countermeasures to stock- 10 pile under subsection (d), the Chief Medical Officer shall 11 utilize, if available— 12 ‘‘(1) Department chemical, biological, radio- 13 logical, and nuclear risk assessments; and 14 ‘‘(2) Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 15 tion guidance on medical countermeasures. 16 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 17 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 18 submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 19 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home- 20 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate the 21 plan developed in accordance with subsection (d) and brief 22 such Committees regarding implementing the require- 23 ments of this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3263.RFS H3263 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3263 RFS ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘medical 1 countermeasures’ means antibiotics, antivirals, radio- 2 logical countermeasures, and other countermeasures that 3 may be deployed to protect the Department’s employees 4 and working animals in the event of a chemical, biological, 5 radiological, nuclear, or explosives attack, naturally occur- 6 ring disease outbreak, or pandemic.’’. 7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 8 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 9 amended by adding after the item relating to section 1931 10 the following new item: 11 ‘‘Sec. 1932. Medical countermeasures.’’. Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3263.RFS H3263 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS