Global Health Security Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3302 To improve global health security, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 13, 2020 Mr. KING introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To improve global health security, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Health Security 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) An infectious disease threat anywhere can 8 become a threat everywhere. In today’s inter- 9 connected world, a pathogen can travel around the 10 globe to major cities in as few as 24 hours. 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3302 IS (2) Infectious diseases have killed more humans 1 than war and conflict. Before its eradication, small- 2 pox killed at least 300,000,000 people in the 20th 3 century. Mosquito-borne illnesses are responsible for 4 50 percent more human deaths each year than 5 deaths caused by other humans, including war and 6 civil violence. The influenza pandemic of 1918–19 7 caused the deaths of 3 times as many people as all 8 of those killed in World War I. 9 (3) Population growth has brought people closer 10 to one another and closer to animals, which has in- 11 creased the opportunities for pathogens to be trans- 12 mitted between animals and humans. 13 (4) Human health is intimately connected to 14 animal and environmental health at the national and 15 international levels. 16 (5) Zoonotic diseases are responsible for— 17 (A) approximately 60 percent of all human 18 infections; 19 (B) approximately 75 percent of recently 20 emerging infectious diseases affecting humans; 21 and 22 (C) more than 80 percent of biological 23 agents that could be intentionally released as 24 biological weapons. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3302 IS (6) Environmental change has made it easy for 1 disease vectors, such as mosquitoes, to cover more 2 territory. 3 (7) There are many recent examples of new, re- 4 emerging, and zoonotic pathogens quickly spreading 5 across the globe, including— 6 (A) Ebola virus disease, which killed more 7 than 11,000 people and infected more than 8 28,000 people in West Africa between 2014 and 9 2016, and which has infected and killed an un- 10 known number of people in the Democratic Re- 11 public of the Congo since 2018; 12 (B) novel coronavirus disease (COVID), 13 which, as of February 12, 2020, had infected at 14 least 45,000 people in at least 25 countries, re- 15 sulting in more than 1,100 deaths in China; 16 (C) yellow fever virus; 17 (D) cholera; 18 (E) avian influenza virus (H7N9); 19 (F) novel Middle East Respiratory Syn- 20 drome (MERS) coronavirus; and 21 (G) Zika virus. 22 (8) The costs of new, reemerging, and zoonotic 23 infections are high in human and financial terms. 24 For example— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3302 IS (A) the anthrax attacks in the eastern 1 United States in late 2001 infected 22 people, 2 killed 5, and cost more than $1,000,000,000 to 3 clean up; 4 (B) an outbreak of severe acute respiratory 5 syndrome (SARS) originating in southern 6 China in late 2002 infected more than 8,000 7 people, resulted in 774 deaths, and had an eco- 8 nomic impact estimated at $30,000,000,000 in 9 only a few months; 10 (C) the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic 11 killed an estimated 284,000 people in a single 12 year; and 13 (D) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 14 spread silently for decades before detection, has 15 led to the death of 35,000,000 people, and cur- 16 rently affects 37,000,000 people who are living 17 with the virus. 18 (9) The enormous costs of pandemics can be 19 averted with strategic investment in capacity build- 20 ing and preparedness. 21 (10) The Global Health Security Agenda, which 22 was launched in February 2014 in partnership with 23 countries from around the world, is designed— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3302 IS (A) to measurably address global vulner- 1 ability to infectious diseases; 2 (B) to strengthen systems; and 3 (C) to ensure that a trained workforce has 4 the tools needed to prevent, detect, and respond 5 rapidly and effectively to infectious disease 6 threats. 7 (11) Stopping an outbreak at its source, wheth- 8 er naturally occurring, deliberate, or accidental, re- 9 quires close collaboration among the health, animal, 10 agriculture, defense, security, development, commer- 11 cial, and other sectors. 12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 13 It is the sense of Congress that— 14 (1) advancing global health security is a core 15 tenet of our national strategy for countering biologi- 16 cal threats; 17 (2) supporting global health security requires 18 operationalizing the ‘‘One Health’’ concept linking 19 human, animal, and environmental health; 20 (3) the United States must be prepared to pre- 21 vent, detect, and respond to the threat posed by bio- 22 terrorism, as well as accidental releases from a lab- 23 oratory; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3302 IS (4) it is in the national interest of the United 1 States— 2 (A) to promote global health security; and 3 (B) to accelerate efforts to build the capac- 4 ity of countries— 5 (i) to prevent, detect, and respond to 6 infectious diseases; and 7 (ii) to achieve the core capacities re- 8 quired by the World Health Organization’s 9 International Health Regulations, adopted 10 at Geneva May 23, 2005; 11 (5) no single nation can be prepared or pro- 12 tected if other nations remain unprepared to counter 13 biological threats; 14 (6) national and international multi-sectoral co- 15 operation and preparedness are at the core of effec- 16 tive control of infectious diseases through strength- 17 ened health systems and preparedness; 18 (7) global health security depends upon collabo- 19 rations across all societal sectors, including human 20 and animal health, agriculture, development, envi- 21 ronmental, national security and defense, science 22 and technology, academic and research communities, 23 nongovernmental organizations, and the private sec- 24 tor, to meet the policy objective set forth in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3302 IS 4(3) of strengthening health systems and pandemic 1 preparedness; 2 (8) an effective global health security strategy 3 should include— 4 (A) preventing avoidable incidents and ca- 5 tastrophes, such as antimicrobial resistance, 6 zoonotic diseases, outbreaks, breaches of bio- 7 safety and security, and immunization-prevent- 8 able deaths; 9 (B) detecting threats early through— 10 (i) building and sustaining national 11 and global laboratory systems; 12 (ii) improving disease surveillance; 13 (iii) enhancing the reporting of infec- 14 tious disease outbreaks; and 15 (iv) developing the health workforce; 16 and 17 (C) responding to threats rapidly and ef- 18 fectively through— 19 (i) emergency operations centers; 20 (ii) linking public health with multi- 21 sectoral rapid response; and 22 (iii) medical countermeasures and per- 23 sonnel deployment; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3302 IS (9) strategic global health security action re- 1 quires United States coordination and collaboration 2 with international governance entities, including— 3 (A) the World Health Organization; 4 (B) the Food and Agriculture Organization 5 of the United Nations; 6 (C) the World Organization for Animal 7 Health; 8 (D) the Global Partnership Against the 9 Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass De- 10 struction; 11 (E) the International Criminal Police Or- 12 ganization (commonly known as 13 ‘‘INTERPOL’’); 14 (F) the Economic Community of West Af- 15 rican States; 16 (G) the United Nations Office for Disaster 17 Risk Reduction; 18 (H) the Global Alliance for Vaccines and 19 Immunization (commonly known as ‘‘GAVI’’); 20 and 21 (I) other relevant international stake- 22 holders and organizations; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3302 IS (10) the strategic goals described in paragraph 1 (8) must be subject to measurement, assessment, 2 and analysis. 3 SEC. 4. DEFINED TERM. 4 In this Act, the term ‘‘global health security’’ means 5 the activities required to minimize the danger and impact 6 of acute public health events that endanger the collective 7 health of populations living across geographical regions 8 and international boundaries. 9 SEC. 5. POLICY OBJECTIVES. 10 It is the policy of the United States— 11 (1) to advance global health security through 12 engagement in a multi-faceted, multi-country, multi- 13 sectoral framework to accelerate targeted partner 14 countries’ measurable capabilities to achieve specific 15 targets to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious 16 disease threats, whether naturally occurring, delib- 17 erate, or accidental; 18 (2) to encourage governments and multilateral 19 agencies, development banks, nongovernmental orga- 20 nizations, and private sector stakeholders throughout 21 the world to make fortifying health security a na- 22 tional priority and a key commitment; and 23 (3) to emphasize improving coordination and 24 collaboration across governmental and societal sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3302 IS tors to help strengthen health systems and pandemic 1 preparedness. 2 SEC. 6. GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY SPECIAL ADVISOR. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established, within the 4 Executive Office of the President, the position of Special 5 Advisor for Global Health Security (referred to in this Act 6 as the ‘‘Advisor’’), who shall be appointed by the Presi- 7 dent, at a level not lower than that of a Senior Director. 8 (b) GENERAL DUTIES.—The Advisor shall— 9 (1) serve as the President’s principal advisor on 10 global health security and global health emergencies; 11 (2) coordinate the United States Government’s 12 efforts to carry out global health security activities, 13 including participation in the Global Health Security 14 Agenda; 15 (3) convene and chair the Global Health Secu- 16 rity Interagency Review Council described in section 17 7; and 18 (4) submit a report to Congress not less fre- 19 quently than twice per year that describes the activi- 20 ties and accomplishments of the Advisor during the 21 reporting period. 22 (c) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The duties of the Advisor 23 shall also include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3302 IS (1) ensuring program and policy coordination 1 among the relevant executive branch agencies and 2 nongovernmental organizations, including auditing, 3 monitoring, and evaluation of all such programs; 4 (2) ensuring that each relevant executive 5 branch agency undertakes programs primarily in 6 areas in which the agency has the greatest expertise, 7 technical capabilities, and potential for success; 8 (3) avoiding duplication of effort; 9 (4) ensuring, through interagency and inter- 10 national coordination, that global health security 11 programs of the United States are coordinated with, 12 and complementary to, the delivery of related global 13 health, food security, development, and education 14 programs; 15 (5) establishing due diligence criteria for all re- 16 cipients of funds appropriated by the Federal Gov- 17 ernment for global health security assistance; 18 (6) developing policy that will prioritize global 19 health security, especially the role of building low- 20 and middle-income country capacity to contain pan- 21 demic threats, in all relevant future global and na- 22 tional health, research and development, and bio- 23 defense strategies, including the National Health Se- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3302 IS curity Strategy, the National Security Strategy, and 1 the National Biodefense Strategy; and 2 (7) articulating assessment standards that— 3 (A) measure countries’ individual status 4 and progress in building the necessary capac- 5 ities to prevent, detect, and respond to infec- 6 tious disease threats, in accordance with agreed 7 bilateral or multilateral targets and in support 8 of full implementation of the International 9 Health Regulations, adopted at Geneva May 23, 10 2005; 11 (B) are based on a peer-to-peer model in 12 which external experts are invited to work with 13 the country to evaluate capacity; 14 (C) ensure an objective approach and fa- 15 cilitate cross-sectoral learning; and 16 (D) are part of the capacity building cycle 17 designed to inform national priority setting, tar- 18 get resources, and track progress. 19 (d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the duties set 20 forth in subsection (b), the Advisor shall ensure the co- 21 ordination of United States Government efforts referred 22 to in subsection (b)(2) with relevant international stake- 23 holders and organizations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:48 Feb 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3302.IS S3302 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3302 IS (e) MONITORING.—To ensure that adequate meas- 1 ures are established and implemented, the Centers for Dis- 2 ease Control and Prevention should— 3 (1) advise the Advisor on monitoring, surveil- 4 lance, and evaluation activities; and 5 (2) be a key implementer of such activities 6 under this section. 7 (f) FORM.—The reports required under subsection 8 (b)(4) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 9 contain a classified annex. 10 SEC. 7. 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