RASPP Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6966 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in cooperation with the Biodefense Steering Committee, to clarify the national biodefense strategy and associated implementation plan, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mr. CROW (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, and Ms. JACKSON LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in cooperation with the Biodefense Steering Committee, to clarify the national biodefense strategy and associated implementation plan, 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 ‘‘Responsibility and Ac- 4 countability in Strategic Pandemic/Biodefense Planning 5 Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘RASPP Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6966.IH H6966 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6966 IH SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF NATIONAL BIODEFENSE STRAT- 1 EGY. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 3 Human Services, in cooperation with the Biodefense 4 Steering Committee, shall clarify the national biodefense 5 strategy and associated implementation plan developed 6 under section 1086 of the National Defense Authorization 7 Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 104) to clearly docu- 8 ment agreed-upon processes, roles, and responsibilities for 9 making and enforcing enterprise-wide decisions. 10 (b) SPECIFIC CLARIFICATIONS.—In carrying out sub- 11 section (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services 12 shall work with the head of each agency participating in 13 the Biodefense Steering Committee, including the Admin- 14 istrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 15 to— 16 (1) enter into a memorandum of understanding, 17 or take such other action as is necessary, to describe 18 the roles and responsibilities of the Federal depart- 19 ments and agencies, including internal and external 20 coordination procedures, in identifying and sharing 21 information, as described in section 1086(b)(4) of 22 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 23 Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 104(b)(4)); 24 (2) clarify roles, responsibilities, and processes 25 for decision making that involves shifting resources 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Jun 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6966.IH H6966 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6966 IH across agency boundaries to more effectively or effi- 1 ciently address enterprise-wide risk; 2 (3) prepare an inventory and assessment of all 3 existing strategies, plans, policies, laws, and inter- 4 agency agreements with respect to biodefense; 5 (4) establish a resource plan to staff, support, 6 and sustain the efforts of the Biodefense Coordina- 7 tion Team; 8 (5) clearly document guidance and methods for 9 analyzing the data collected from agencies to include 10 non-Federal resources and capabilities; and 11 (6) not later than 90 days after the date of en- 12 actment of this Act, report to the appropriate con- 13 gressional committees on possible implementation 14 strategies, that will effectively and efficiently en- 15 hance information-sharing activities on biosurveil- 16 lance data integration as identified in the national 17 biodefense strategy and associated implementation 18 plan described in subsection (a). 19 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 20 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 21 sional committees’’ means the following: 22 (1) The Committees on Armed Services of the 23 House of Representatives and the Senate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6966.IH H6966 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6966 IH (2) The Committees on Appropriations of the 1 House of Representatives and the Senate. 2 (3) The Committee on Energy and Commerce 3 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 4 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 5 Senate. 6 (4) The Committee on Homeland Security of 7 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 8 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 9 Senate. 10 (5) The Committee on Agriculture of the House 11 of Representatives and the Committee on Agri- 12 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6966.IH H6966 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS