Masks Work Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4391 To authorize a public service announcement campaign on the efficacy of cloth face coverings in reducing the spread of COVID–19, to authorize a program to provide cloth face coverings to any individual in the United States who requests one free of charge, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To authorize a public service announcement campaign on the efficacy of cloth face coverings in reducing the spread of COVID–19, to authorize a program to provide cloth face coverings to any individual in the United States who requests one free of charge, 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 ‘‘Masks Work Act of 4 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4391 IS (1) The SARS–CoV–2 virus has killed over 1 150,000 individuals in the United States and in- 2 fected more than 4,000,000 others. 3 (2) The measures taken to contain the virus, in- 4 cluding social distancing and stay at home orders, 5 have resulted in a significant economic disruption, 6 causing tens of millions of individuals to lose jobs 7 and income. 8 (3) Scientific experts have warned of the danger 9 of a second wave of infections striking the United 10 States in fall and winter. 11 (4) Scientific experts within the United States 12 Government and elsewhere have strongly advised in- 13 dividuals to wear cloth face coverings as a means to 14 slow the spread of COVID–19 and have stated that 15 wearing cloth face coverings may reduce the spread 16 of respiratory droplets that may carry the disease. 17 (5) There is a growing body of scientific re- 18 search indicating that high levels of cloth face cov- 19 ering adoption by a population can reduce trans- 20 mission of the virus, and may prevent asymptomatic 21 or presymptomatic carriers from unknowingly infect- 22 ing others. 23 (6) One scientific model estimated that if 80 24 percent of the population adopted proper face cov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4391 IS ering use, transmission would be 1⁄12 what it would 1 be in a population without wearing cloth face cov- 2 erings. Another newly released study conducted with 3 animals found that certain face coverings reduced 4 transmission of COVID–19 by 75 percent. 5 (7) Nations in Southeast Asia with high levels 6 of cloth face covering wearing have been more effec- 7 tive than others in reducing the spread of COVID– 8 19, and have experienced comparably fewer infec- 9 tions and deaths as a result. 10 (8) A recent study from the University of 11 Iowa’s College of Public Health suggests that the 15 12 States and the District of Columbia, having man- 13 dated wearing face coverings in public between April 14 8, 2020, and May 15, 2020, averted as many as 15 230,000 to 450,000 COVID–19 cases. 16 (9) Many individuals have heeded the calls of 17 public health experts to wear cloth face coverings 18 and have made major sacrifices in other aspects of 19 their life in order to control the spread of the virus. 20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 21 It is the sense of Congress that — 22 (1) following the consensus advice of public 23 health experts to wear face coverings can meaning- 24 fully reduce transmission rates for COVID–19, re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4391 IS sulting in fewer deaths, fewer individuals made seri- 1 ously ill, and less economic disruption; 2 (2) individuals should wear appropriate face 3 coverings in accordance with public health guidance, 4 including in situations where social distancing is dif- 5 ficult or impossible, particularly in indoors environ- 6 ments, both to protect themselves and to protect 7 older individuals or others with health conditions 8 that increase the risks of serious illness due to 9 COVID–19; and 10 (3) leaders across the political spectrum should 11 model behaviors recommended by public health ex- 12 perts by wearing face coverings appropriately and 13 encouraging those around them to do the same. 14 SEC. 4. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT CAMPAIGN. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Centers for 16 Disease Control and Prevention (in this section referred 17 to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall carry out a linguistically and 18 culturally competent public service announcement cam- 19 paign on television, radio, the internet, and digital plat- 20 forms, and in print publications, informing the public on— 21 (1) the efficacy of cloth face coverings; and 22 (2) why cloth face coverings are recommended 23 by public health experts to reduce the spread of 24 COVID–19. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4391 IS (b) AUDIENCE.—In carrying out the campaign under 1 subsection (a), the Director shall ensure that public serv- 2 ice announcements reach as many individuals as possible 3 with scientifically accurate messages about cloth face cov- 4 erings. 5 (c) ACCESSIBILITY.—The Director shall ensure that 6 public service announcements are provided in formats suit- 7 able for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, 8 blind, and people who cannot rely on speech to be heard 9 and understood, including the following: 10 (1) American Sign Language. 11 (2) Large print. 12 (3) Braille. 13 (4) Fully accessible websites. 14 (5) Captioned videos. 15 (d) LANGUAGE.—The Director shall ensure that pub- 16 lic service announcements under this section are provided 17 in languages in addition to English, including— 18 (1) the languages recommended in the Depart- 19 ment of Homeland Security’s Language Access Plan 20 issued on October 1, 2016, and any succeeding plan; 21 (2) Native American languages that are official 22 State languages that have not less than 1,000 23 speakers, and any other Native American language 24 with not less than 10,000 speakers; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4391 IS (3) territorial languages that are official lan- 1 guages. 2 (e) ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES OR FORMATS.—The Di- 3 rector shall ensure that public service announcements 4 under this section are developed in additional languages 5 or formats as needed to meet specific State or local needs 6 as requested by a State governor or department of health. 7 (f) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—In carrying out the 8 campaign under subsection (a), the Director may, subject 9 to the availability of appropriations, award grants to, and 10 enter into contracts with, public and private entities (in- 11 cluding nonprofit organizations). 12 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 13 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 14 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2020 and 15 2021, to remain available until expended. 16 SEC. 5. CLOTH FACE COVERINGS FOR ALL. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap- 18 propriations, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 19 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry 20 out a program, in partnership with other Federal agencies, 21 to provide cloth face coverings to any individual in the 22 United States who requests such coverings free of charge 23 by United States mail and through other means, such as 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4391 IS distribution at COVID–19 testing sites, as determined ap- 1 propriate by the Secretary. 2 (b) REQUESTS.—In carrying out this section, the 3 Secretary shall establish procedures allowing individuals 4 to request up to three cloth face coverings per person in 5 their household through the internet, by mail, or by phone 6 (including text messaging). 7 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall consult 8 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 9 Prevention, the Director of the National Institutes of 10 Health, and the heads of other agencies as appropriate 11 regarding the design and selection of cloth face coverings 12 to be provided under this section. 13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 14 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 15 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2020 and 16 2021, to remain available until expended. 17 SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH RESEARCH ON 18 CLOTH FACE COVERING EFFICACY. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In- 20 stitutes of Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Di- 21 rector’’) shall conduct or support research on the efficacy 22 of cloth face coverings, face shields, and other facial cov- 23 erings to reduce the spread of COVID–19. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4391 IS (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Research under this section 1 may include— 2 (1) research on the effect of wearing cloth face 3 coverings on the spread of SARS–CoV–2 and 4 COVID–19; 5 (2) research on the situations for which cloth 6 face coverings are scientifically indicated; 7 (3) research on the most effective materials or 8 designs of cloth face coverings; and 9 (4) other topics as the Director determines ap- 10 propriate. 11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 12 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 13 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022, 14 to remain available until expended. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS