National Commission on the COVID–19 Pandemic in the United States Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4132 To establish the Commission on the COVID–19 Pandemic in the United States. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 1, 2020 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. REED, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. CARPER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. SMITH, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Ad- ministration A BILL To establish the Commission on the COVID–19 Pandemic in the United States. 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; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘National Commission on the COVID–19 Pandemic in the 5 United States Act’’. 6 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 7 gress that— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4132 IS (1) it is important to consider what the 1 coronavirus disease 19 (COVID–19) pandemic re- 2 veals about the vulnerabilities to the national secu- 3 rity of the United States, especially how prepared 4 the United States would be for a biological attack 5 that not only causes public health confusion and fear 6 but also public fear similar to the level caused by a 7 terrorist attack; 8 (2) the purpose of establishing the commission 9 under section 2 is not just to look back at prior 10 practices and mistakes but to learn lessons as quick- 11 ly as possible to better protect the United States 12 going forward; and 13 (3) it is crucial to better understand the in- 14 creasing likelihood of pandemic threats (such as the 15 recent threats of severe acute respiratory syndrome 16 (SARS), Ebola, the 2009–H1N1 influenza, and 17 COVID–19) and health issues that the United 18 States could face during the next several decades. 19 SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE COVID–19 PAN- 20 DEMIC IN THE UNITED STATES. 21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.—There is es- 22 tablished in the legislative branch the National Commis- 23 sion on the COVID–19 Pandemic in the United States (in 24 this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4132 IS (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Commission are 1 to— 2 (1) examine and report upon the facts and cir- 3 cumstances relating to the outbreak and spread of 4 coronavirus disease 19 (COVID–19) caused by the 5 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 6 (SARS–CoV–2) (in this section referred to as 7 ‘‘COVID–19’’) in the United States; 8 (2) ascertain, evaluate, and report on the evi- 9 dence developed by any relevant governmental and 10 nongovernmental entities regarding the facts and 11 circumstances surrounding COVID–19; 12 (3) make a full and complete assessment and 13 accounting of the circumstances surrounding the 14 outbreak and spread of COVID–19 in the United 15 States; 16 (4) make a full and complete assessment and 17 accounting of the preparedness of the Federal Gov- 18 ernment, State governments, local governments, and 19 the private sector for the outbreak and spread of 20 COVID–19 in the United States; 21 (5) make a full and complete assessment and 22 accounting of the actions by the Federal Govern- 23 ment, State governments, local governments, and the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4132 IS private sector in response to the outbreak and 1 spread of COVID–19 in the United States; and 2 (6) investigate and report to the President and 3 Congress on its findings, conclusions, and rec- 4 ommendations to improve the ability of the United 5 States to prepare for, detect, prevent, and, if nec- 6 essary, respond to epidemics and pandemics such as 7 COVID–19, whether naturally occurring or caused 8 by State or non-State actors. 9 (c) COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION.— 10 (1) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be com- 11 posed of 10 members, of whom— 12 (A) 1 member shall be appointed by the 13 President, who shall serve as chair of the Com- 14 mission; 15 (B) 1 member shall be appointed by the 16 leader of the Senate (majority or minority lead- 17 er, as the case may be) of the political party 18 that is not the same political party as the Presi- 19 dent, in consultation with the leader of the 20 House of Representatives (majority or minority 21 leader, as the case may be) of the same political 22 party as such Senate leader, who shall serve as 23 vice chair of the Commission; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4132 IS (C) 2 members shall be appointed by the 1 senior member of the Senate leadership of the 2 Democratic Party; 3 (D) 2 members shall be appointed by the 4 senior member of the leadership of the House 5 of Representatives of the Republican Party; 6 (E) 2 members shall be appointed by the 7 senior member of the Senate leadership of the 8 Republican Party; and 9 (F) 2 members shall be appointed by the 10 senior member of the leadership of the House 11 of Representatives of the Democratic Party. 12 (2) QUALIFICATIONS; INITIAL MEETING.— 13 (A) POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION.—Not 14 more than 5 members of the Commission shall 15 be from the same political party. 16 (B) NONGOVERNMENTAL APPOINTEES.— 17 An individual appointed to the Commission may 18 not be an officer or employee of the Federal 19 Government or any State or local government. 20 (C) QUALIFICATIONS.—It is the sense of 21 Congress that individuals appointed to the 22 Commission should be prominent United States 23 citizens, with national recognition and signifi- 24 cant depth of experience in such professions as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4132 IS public health, medicine (including epidemi- 1 ology), governmental service, academia, home- 2 land security, the armed services, emergency 3 preparedness and management, law, public ad- 4 ministration, and intelligence. 5 (D) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All 6 members of the Commission shall be appointed 7 during the period beginning January 21, 2021, 8 and ending February 5, 2021. 9 (E) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission 10 shall meet and begin the operations of the Com- 11 mission as soon as practicable. 12 (3) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial 13 meeting, the Commission shall meet upon the call of 14 the chair or a majority of its members. Six members 15 of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. Any 16 vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its pow- 17 ers, but shall be filled in the same manner in which 18 the original appointment was made. 19 (d) FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION.—The functions of 20 the Commission are to— 21 (1) conduct an investigation that— 22 (A) addresses the matters specified in sub- 23 section (b); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4132 IS (B) investigates relevant facts and cir- 1 cumstances relating to the outbreak and spread 2 of COVID–19 in the United States, and the re- 3 sponse to such outbreak and spread, including 4 with respect to any relevant legislation, Execu- 5 tive order, regulation, plan, policy, practice, or 6 procedure; and 7 (C) may include relevant facts and cir- 8 cumstances relating to— 9 (i) Federal, State, and local authori- 10 ties with responsibilities relevant to the 11 outbreak and spread of COVID–19 in the 12 United States, including such authorities 13 with responsibilities relating to public 14 health, emergency management, and epi- 15 demic and pandemic preparedness and re- 16 sponse; 17 (ii) private sector organizations; 18 (iii) intelligence agencies and law en- 19 forcement agencies; 20 (iv) diplomacy and international co- 21 ordination; 22 (v) immigration and border control; 23 (vi) the role of congressional oversight 24 and resource allocation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4132 IS (vii) other activities of the public and 1 private sectors determined relevant by the 2 Commission for its inquiry; 3 (2) identify, review, and evaluate the lessons 4 learned from the outbreak and spread of COVID–19 5 in the United States, and the response to such out- 6 break and spread, regarding the structure, coordina- 7 tion, management, policies, procedures, and actions 8 of Federal, State, and local governments and non- 9 governmental entities relative to preparing for, de- 10 tecting, preventing, and responding to epidemics and 11 pandemics, whether naturally occurring or caused by 12 a State or non-State actor; and 13 (3) submit to the President and Congress such 14 reports as are required by this section containing 15 such findings, conclusions, and recommendations as 16 the Commission shall determine, including proposing 17 organization, coordination, planning, management 18 arrangements, procedures, rules, and regulations. 19 (e) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.— 21 (A) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The 22 Commission or, on the authority of the Com- 23 mission, any subcommittee or member thereof, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4132 IS may, for the purpose of carrying out this sec- 1 tion— 2 (i) hold such hearings and sit and act 3 at such times and places, take such testi- 4 mony, receive such evidence, and admin- 5 ister such oaths, as the Commission or 6 such designated subcommittee or des- 7 ignated member may determine advisable; 8 and 9 (ii) subject to subparagraph (B)(i), 10 require, by subpoena or otherwise, the at- 11 tendance and testimony of such witnesses 12 and the production of such books, records, 13 correspondence, memoranda, papers, and 14 documents, as the Commission or such 15 designated subcommittee or designated 16 member may determine advisable. 17 (B) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENAS.— 18 (i) IN GENERAL.—A subpoena may be 19 issued under this paragraph only— 20 (I) by the agreement of the chair 21 and the vice chair; or 22 (II) by the affirmative vote of 6 23 members of the Commission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4132 IS (ii) SIGNATURE.—Subject to clause 1 (i), subpoenas issued under this paragraph 2 may be issued under the signature of the 3 chair or any member designated by a ma- 4 jority of the Commission, and may be 5 served by any person designated by the 6 chair or by a member designated by a ma- 7 jority of the Commission. 8 (C) ENFORCEMENT OF SUBPOENAS.— 9 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of con- 10 tumacy or failure to obey a subpoena 11 issued under this paragraph, the United 12 States district court for the judicial district 13 in which the subpoenaed person resides, is 14 served, or may be found, or where the sub- 15 poena is returnable, may issue an order re- 16 quiring such person to appear at any des- 17 ignated place to testify or to produce docu- 18 mentary or other evidence. Any failure to 19 obey the order of the court may be pun- 20 ished by the court as a contempt of that 21 court. 22 (ii) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In 23 the case of any failure of any witness to 24 comply with any subpoena or to testify 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4132 IS when summoned under authority of this 1 subsection, the Commission may, by major- 2 ity vote, certify a statement of fact consti- 3 tuting such failure to the appropriate 4 United States attorney, who shall bring the 5 matter before the grand jury for its action, 6 under the same statutory authority and 7 procedures as if the United States attorney 8 had received a certification under sections 9 102 through 104 of the Revised Statutes 10 of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192 11 through 194). 12 (2) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to 13 such extent and in such amounts as are provided in 14 appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable 15 the Commission to discharge its duties under this 16 section. 17 (3) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission is au- 19 thorized to secure directly from any executive 20 department, bureau, agency, board, commission, 21 office, independent establishment, or instrumen- 22 tality of the Government, information, sugges- 23 tions, estimates, and statistics for the purposes 24 of this section. Each department, bureau, agen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4132 IS cy, board, commission, office, independent es- 1 tablishment, or instrumentality shall, to the 2 fullest extent permitted by law, furnish such in- 3 formation, suggestions, estimates, and statistics 4 directly to the Commission, upon request made 5 by the chair, the chair of any subcommittee cre- 6 ated by a majority of the Commission, or any 7 member designated by a majority of the Com- 8 mission. 9 (B) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND 10 DISSEMINATION.—Information shall only be re- 11 ceived, handled, stored, and disseminated by 12 members of the Commission and its staff con- 13 sistent with all applicable statutes, regulations, 14 and Executive orders. 15 (4) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 16 (A) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRA- 17 TION.—The Administrator of General Services 18 shall provide to the Commission on a reimburs- 19 able basis administrative support and other 20 services for the performance of the Commis- 21 sion’s functions. 22 (B) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGEN- 23 CIES.—In addition to the assistance prescribed 24 in subparagraph (A), departments and agencies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4132.IS S4132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4132 IS of the United States may provide to the Com- 1 mission such services, funds, facilities, staff, 2 and other support services as t [Text truncated for display. 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