COVID–19 Commission Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6455 To establish the National Commission Regarding the 2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID–19 Pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 3, 2020 Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LAN- GEVIN, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. PAYNE, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. CORREA, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce A BILL To establish the National Commission Regarding the 2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID–19 Pandemic, 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 ‘‘National Commission 4 Regarding the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID–19) Pan- 5 demic Act’’ or the ‘‘COVID–19 Commission Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6455 IH SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMMISSION REGARDING THE 2019 1 NOVEL CORONAVIRUS COVID–19 PANDEMIC. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 3 legislative branch a National Commission Regarding the 4 2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID–19 Pandemic (referred 5 to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’). 6 (b) PURPOSES.—The Commission shall— 7 (1) make a full and complete accounting of the 8 circumstances surrounding the emergence of the 9 2019 novel coronavirus, the Nation’s preparedness 10 for the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic, and the 11 actions taken by Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 12 territorial governments at critical junctures before 13 and after the World Health Organization designated 14 the 2019 novel coronavirus as a public health emer- 15 gency of international concern on January 30, 2020; 16 (2) identify and examine lessons learned regard- 17 ing preparedness, response, and recovery efforts at 18 the Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, and 19 international levels relating to the 2019 novel 20 coronavirus; 21 (3) review and evaluate recommendations and 22 pandemic plans issued by the Bipartisan Commis- 23 sion on Biodefense and other nonpartisan entities re- 24 garding health security, pandemic preparedness, re- 25 sponse, or recovery; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6455 IH (4) not later than 18 months after the initial 1 meeting of the Commission pursuant to subsection 2 (e), publish a public report that includes rec- 3 ommendations for the development of a national 4 plan to improve preparedness, response, and recov- 5 ery efforts based on the lessons learned under para- 6 graph (1) that addresses policies, programs, and, as 7 appropriate, changes in law to minimize negative 8 public health, economic, and social impacts of future 9 wide-scale public health emergencies. 10 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 11 (1) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be com- 12 posed of 25 members, of whom— 13 (A) two members shall be appointed by the 14 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 15 House of Representatives, of whom one member 16 shall be selected by the Chair and one member 17 shall be selected by the Ranking Member; 18 (B) two members shall be appointed by the 19 Committee on Homeland Security of the House 20 of Representatives, of whom one member shall 21 be selected by the Chair and one member shall 22 be selected by the Ranking Member; 23 (C) two members shall be appointed by the 24 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6455 IH the House of Representatives, of whom one 1 member shall be selected by the Chair and one 2 member shall be selected by the Ranking Mem- 3 ber; 4 (D) two members shall be appointed by the 5 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 6 House of Representatives, of whom one member 7 shall be selected by the Chair and one member 8 shall be selected by the Ranking Member; 9 (E) two members shall be appointed by the 10 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 11 Representatives, of whom one member shall be 12 selected by the Chair and one member shall be 13 selected by the Ranking Member; 14 (F) two members shall be appointed by the 15 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 16 ture of the House of Representatives, of whom 17 one member shall be selected by the Chair and 18 one member shall be selected by the Ranking 19 Member; 20 (G) two members shall be appointed by the 21 Committee on Education and Labor of the 22 House of Representatives, of whom one member 23 shall be selected by the Chair and one member 24 shall be selected by the Ranking Member; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6455 IH (H) two members shall be appointed by the 1 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 2 mental Affairs of the Senate, of whom one 3 member shall be selected by the Chair and one 4 member shall be selected by the Ranking Mem- 5 ber; 6 (I) two members shall be appointed by the 7 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans- 8 portation of the Senate, of whom one member 9 shall be selected by the Chair and one member 10 shall be selected by the Ranking Member; 11 (J) two members shall be appointed by the 12 Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, 13 of whom one member shall be selected by the 14 Chair and one member shall be selected by the 15 Ranking Member; 16 (K) two members shall be appointed by the 17 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 18 Pensions of the Senate, of whom one member 19 shall be selected by the Chair and one member 20 shall be selected by the Ranking Member; 21 (L) two members shall be appointed by the 22 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, 23 of whom one member shall be selected by the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6455 IH Chair and one member shall be selected by the 1 Ranking Member; and 2 (M) one member shall be appointed by the 3 Joint Economic Committee of Congress selected 4 by the Chairman and Vice Chair. 5 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.— 6 (A) AREAS OF EXPERTISE.—Each indi- 7 vidual appointed to the Commission shall be a 8 United States persons with significant expertise 9 in one or more of the following areas: 10 (i) Public health preparedness, re- 11 sponse, and recovery operations. 12 (ii) Administration of emergency pre- 13 paredness, response, and recovery oper- 14 ations. 15 (iii) Transportation. 16 (iv) Education. 17 (v) Economics. 18 (vi) Healthcare, with a focus on bio- 19 technology and biomedical sciences. 20 (vii) Foreign policy. 21 (viii) Logistics and supply chain. 22 (ix) Intelligence. 23 (x) Election security and administra- 24 tion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6455 IH (B) POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION.—Not 1 more than 13 members of the Commission may 2 be from the same political party. 3 (C) COMPOSITION.—At least one member 4 of the Commission shall be an individual with 5 significant expertise in each of the areas speci- 6 fied in subparagraph (A). Not fewer than 18 7 members of the Commission, in an equally di- 8 vided manner, shall be individuals with signifi- 9 cant expertise in the areas specified clauses (i) 10 and (ii) of such subparagraph. 11 (D) NONGOVERNMENT APPOINTEES.—An 12 individual appointed to the Commission may 13 not be an officer or employee of the Federal 14 Government. 15 (3) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—Members 16 of the Commission shall be appointed not later than 17 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 18 (d) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Chair and Vice 19 Chair of the Commission shall be members with significant 20 expertise in the areas specified in clauses (i) and (ii) of 21 subsection (c)(2)(A), and shall be chosen from among the 22 members through a vote taken by a majority of the mem- 23 bers. The Chair and Vice Chair shall be of different polit- 24 ical parties. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6455 IH (e) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall meet 1 and begin operating not later than 45 days after the date 2 of the appointment of its final member. 3 (f) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, 4 the Commission shall meet upon the call of the Chair or 5 a majority of its members. Eighteen members of the Com- 6 mission shall constitute a quorum, and members shall 7 have the option to vote by proxy. Any vacancy in the Com- 8 mission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 9 the same manner in which the original appointment was 10 made. 11 (g) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.— 13 (A) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The 14 Commission or, on the authority of the Com- 15 mission, may, for the purpose of carrying out 16 this section— 17 (i) hold such hearings and sit and act 18 at such times and places, take such testi- 19 mony, receive such evidence, administer 20 such oaths; and 21 (ii) subject to subparagraph (B), re- 22 quire, by subpoena or otherwise, the at- 23 tendance and testimony of such witnesses 24 and the production of such books, records, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6455 IH correspondence, memoranda, papers, and 1 documents. 2 (B) SUBPOENAS.— 3 (i) ISSUANCE.— 4 (I) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena 5 may be issued under this subsection 6 only— 7 (aa) by the agreement of the 8 Chair and the Vice Chair; or 9 (bb) by the affirmative vote 10 of 18 members of the Commis- 11 sion. 12 (II) SIGNATURE.—Subject to 13 subclause (I), subpoenas issued under 14 this subsection may be issued under 15 the signature of the Chair and Vice 16 Chair or any member designated by a 17 majority of the Commission, and may 18 be served by any person designated by 19 the Chair and Vice Chair or by a 20 member designated by a majority of 21 the Commission. 22 (ii) ENFORCEMENT.— 23 (I) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 24 contumacy or failure to obey a sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6455 IH poena issued under this subsection, 1 the United States district court for 2 the judicial district in which the sub- 3 poenaed person resides, is served, or 4 may be found, or where the subpoena 5 is returnable, may issue an order re- 6 quiring such person to appear at any 7 designated place to testify or to 8 produce documentary or other evi- 9 dence. Any failure to obey the order of 10 the court may be punished by the 11 court as a contempt of that court. 12 (II) ADDITIONAL ENFORCE- 13 MENT.—In the case of any failure of 14 any witness to comply with any sub- 15 poena or to testify when summoned 16 under authority of this subsection, the 17 Commission may, by majority vote, 18 certify a statement of fact consti- 19 tuting such failure to the appropriate 20 United States attorney, who may 21 bring the matter before the grand 22 jury for its action, under the same 23 statutory authority and procedures as 24 if the United States attorney had re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6455 IH ceived a certification under sections 1 102 through 104 of the Revised Stat- 2 utes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 3 192 through 194). 4 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL, STATE, 5 LOCAL, TRIBAL, OR TERRITORIAL AGENCIES.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission is au- 7 thorized to secure directly from any executive 8 department, bureau, agency, board, commission, 9 office, independent establishment, or other in- 10 strumentality of government at the Federal, 11 State, local Tribal, or territorial level, informa- 12 tion, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for 13 the purposes of carrying out this section. Each 14 such department, bureau, agency, board, com- 15 mission, office, independent establishment, or 16 instrumentality shall, to the extent authorized 17 by law, furnish such information, suggestions, 18 estimates, and statistics directly to the Commis- 19 sion, upon request made by the Chair and Vice 20 Chair or any member designated by a majority 21 of the Commission. 22 (B) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND 23 DISSEMINATION.—Information shall only be re- 24 ceived, handled, stored, and disseminated by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6455 IH members of the Commission and its staff con- 1 sistent with all applicable statutes, regulations, 2 and Executive orders. 3 (3) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 4 (A) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRA- 5 TION.—The Administrator of General Services 6 shall provide to the Commission on a reimburs- 7 able basis administrative support and other 8 services for the performance of the Commis- 9 sion’s functions. 10 (B) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGEN- 11 CIES.—In addition to the assistance prescribed 12 in subparagraph (A), departments and agencies 13 of the United States may provide to the Com- 14 mission such services, funds, facilities, staff, 15 and other support services as they may deter- 16 mine advisable and as may be authorized by 17 law. 18 (h) PUBLIC MEETINGS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall hold 20 public hearings and meetings to the extent appro- 21 priate. 22 (2) PROTECTION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 23 Any public hearings of the Commission shall be con- 24 ducted in a manner consistent with the protection of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:39 Apr 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6455.IH H6455 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6455 IH information provided to or developed for or by the 1 Commission as required by any applicable statute, 2 regulation, or Executive order. 3 (i) STAFF OF COMMISSION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.— 5 (A) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.— 6 The Chair [Text truncated for display. 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