National Coronavirus Commission Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4666 To establish the Commission on the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish the Commission on the Coronavirus 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Coronavirus 4 Commission Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 6 There is established in the legislative branch the 7 Commission on the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United 8 States (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’). 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4666 IS SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of the Commission are to— 2 (1) examine and report upon the facts and the 3 causes relating to the emergence and spread of the 4 2019 novel coronavirus disease (referred to in this 5 Act as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic in the United 6 States; 7 (2) make a full and complete accounting of the 8 United States preparedness for, and response to, the 9 COVID–19 pandemic, to include investigating and 10 reporting on the preparedness and response of the 11 United States in terms of— 12 (A) medical intelligence and information 13 gathering; 14 (B) communication and information shar- 15 ing by the Federal Government with foreign 16 governments and private sector, nongovern- 17 mental, and international public health organi- 18 zations regarding public health threats, includ- 19 ing early warning, detection, and prevention 20 and response measures; 21 (C) interagency communication and infor- 22 mation sharing regarding health threats and 23 pandemic response, including among the na- 24 tional security agencies, public health agencies, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4666 IS and State, local, Tribal, and territorial govern- 1 ments; 2 (D) public health monitoring and testing 3 capabilities; 4 (E) availability of medical equipment and 5 supplies, including supply chain vulnerabilities, 6 the prioritization and distribution of medical 7 equipment and supplies by government and pri- 8 vate actors, and the operation of government- 9 maintained stockpiles; 10 (F) hospital preparedness; 11 (G) emergency management; 12 (H) military engagement, including the 13 National Guard Bureau; 14 (I) contributions and adherence to sci- 15 entific research, including supporting and co- 16 ordinating global research on diagnostics, vac- 17 cines, and treatments; 18 (J) coordination and distribution of re- 19 sources between the Federal Government and 20 State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments; 21 (K) prison, jail, and immigration detention 22 center preparedness; 23 (L) health and economic impacts on under- 24 served communities, rural populations, racial 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4666 IS and ethnic minority populations, older adults, 1 and all other populations with known health 2 disparities, which may include— 3 (i) immigrant populations; 4 (ii) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgen- 5 der, and queer individuals; 6 (iii) people with disabilities; 7 (iv) American Indian, Alaska Native, 8 and Native Hawaiian populations; and 9 (v) residents of territories of the 10 United States; 11 (M) economic relief, including— 12 (i) loan, grant, and other financial as- 13 sistance; 14 (ii) unemployment insurance com- 15 pensation; 16 (iii) tax deferment; 17 (iv) direct payments; and 18 (v) eviction and foreclosure relief; 19 (N) impacts on elementary and secondary 20 education and higher education and evaluation 21 of mitigation strategies to support student en- 22 gagement and achievement; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4666 IS (O) impacts on nursing homes, assisted liv- 1 ing facilities, and other congregate care set- 2 tings; 3 (P) Federal guidance, assistance, and man- 4 dates for State, local, Tribal, and territorial 5 governments; 6 (Q) State, local, Tribal, and territorial gov- 7 ernment preparedness and response, which may 8 include— 9 (i) State, local, Tribal, and territorial 10 government preparedness and response in 11 relation to Federal guidance, assistance, 12 and mandates; 13 (ii) imposition, implementation, and 14 efficacy of stay-at-home orders and other 15 orders or recommendations to contain the 16 spread of COVID–19; 17 (iii) emergency management; 18 (iv) interagency coordination and com- 19 munication; 20 (v) regional coordination; 21 (vi) public health monitoring and test- 22 ing; and 23 (vii) all other preparedness and re- 24 sponse policies and actions affecting hos- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4666 IS pitals, congregate care settings, schools, 1 prisons, jails, and the State, local, Tribal, 2 and territorial populations in general; and 3 (R) other areas as determined relevant and 4 appropriate by the Commission (by agreement 5 of the chair and vice chair of the Commission); 6 and 7 (3) investigate and report to the President and 8 Congress on its findings, conclusions, and rec- 9 ommendations to improve the ability of the Federal 10 Government, State, local, Tribal, and territorial gov- 11 ernments, and the private sector to— 12 (A) prevent, respond to, and prepare for 13 future epidemics and pandemics, whether natu- 14 rally occurring or caused by State or non-State 15 actors; and 16 (B) if needed, mitigate the human, eco- 17 nomic, and security costs of future epidemics 18 and pandemics. 19 SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION. 20 (a) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be comprised 21 of 10 members, of whom— 22 (1) 1 member shall be appointed by the Presi- 23 dent, who shall serve as the chair of the Commis- 24 sion; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4666 IS (2) 1 member shall— 1 (A) be appointed by the leader of the Sen- 2 ate who represents the major political party 3 that the President does not represent, in con- 4 sultation with the leader of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives from the same political party; and 6 (B) serve as the vice chair of the Commis- 7 sion; 8 (3) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 9 member of the Senate leadership of the Democratic 10 Party; 11 (4) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 12 member of the Senate leadership of the Republican 13 Party; 14 (5) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 15 member of the leadership of the House of Represent- 16 atives of the Republican Party; and 17 (6) 2 members shall be appointed by the senior 18 member of the leadership of the House of Represent- 19 atives of the Democratic Party. 20 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.— 21 (1) POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION.—Not more 22 than 5 members of the Commission shall be from 23 the same political party. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4666 IS (2) NONGOVERNMENTAL APPOINTEES.—An in- 1 dividual appointed to the Commission shall not— 2 (A) be an officer or employee of the Fed- 3 eral Government or any State, local, Tribal, or 4 territorial government; or 5 (B) have held a position in any agency, of- 6 fice, or other establishment in the executive, 7 legislative, or judicial branch of the Federal 8 Government, the functions and duties of which 9 included planning, coordinating, or imple- 10 menting any aspect of the Federal Government 11 response to the public health emergency de- 12 clared by the Secretary of Health and Human 13 Services under section 319 of the Public Health 14 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 15 2020, with respect to COVID–19, including a 16 position that required the individual holding the 17 position to attend meetings relating to that re- 18 sponse. 19 (3) ETHICS AND CONFLICTS REPORT.—The 20 Commission shall hire an ethics counsel, and not 21 later than 30 days after the initial meeting of the 22 Commission, the ethics counsel shall submit to the 23 relevant committees of Congress a detailed plan for 24 identifying and resolving potential and actual con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4666 IS flicts of interest by any member of the Commission, 1 including of an ethical, financial, or personal nature, 2 or that could lead a reasonable person to conclude 3 a conflict may exist. 4 (4) OTHER QUALIFICATIONS.— 5 (A) GOVERNORS, PUBLIC HEALTH EX- 6 PERTS, AND ECONOMIC POLICY EXPERTS.—In 7 appointing members to the Commission, the ap- 8 pointing individuals described in subsection (a) 9 of the same political party shall coordinate to 10 ensure that the members appointed by each po- 11 litical party include— 12 (i) at least 1 former governor of a 13 State; 14 (ii) at least 1 public health expert; 15 and 16 (iii) at least 1 economic policy expert. 17 (B) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense 18 of Congress that individuals appointed to the 19 Commission should be prominent United States 20 citizens, with national recognition and signifi- 21 cant depth of experience in such professions as 22 governmental service, public health, scientific 23 research, public administration, intelligence 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4666 IS gathering, commerce, national security, and for- 1 eign affairs. 2 (5) TIMELINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All mem- 3 bers of the Commission shall be appointed not later 4 than 30 days after the date of the expiration of the 5 public health emergency declared by the Secretary of 6 Health and Human Services under section 319 of 7 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on 8 January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19, and 9 not earlier than such date of expiration. 10 (6) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commis- 11 sion shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 12 the same manner in which the original appointment 13 was made. 14 (c) MEETINGS.— 15 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall 16 meet and begin the operations of the Commission 17 within 45 days after the appointment of all Commis- 18 sion members. 19 (2) ADDITIONAL MEETINGS.—After the initial 20 meeting of the Commission, the Commission shall 21 meet upon the call of the chair or a majority of the 22 members of the Commission. 23 (3) QUORUM.—Six members of the Commission 24 shall constitute a quorum. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4666 IS SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION. 1 The functions of the Commission are to— 2 (1) conduct an investigation that— 3 (A) addresses the purposes described in 4 section 3; 5 (B) investigates relevant facts and cir- 6 cumstances relating to the emergence and 7 spread of COVID–19 in the United States, and 8 the response to the COVID–19 pandemic by the 9 Federal Government and, as appropriate, State, 10 Tribal, territorial, and local governments, in- 11 cluding any relevant legislation, Executive 12 order, regulation, plan, policy, practice, or pro- 13 cedure; 14 (C) may include relevant facts and cir- 15 cumstances relating to— 16 (i) public health agencies; 17 (ii) health care agencies; 18 (iii) financial and labor agencies; 19 (iv) intelligence agencies; 20 (v) defense and national security 21 agencies; 22 (vi) diplomacy and development agen- 23 cies; 24 (vii) White House offices and councils; 25 (viii) private sector organizations; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4666 IS (ix) scientific research; 1 (x) pandemic preparedness and re- 2 sponse; 3 (xi) vaccine, diagnostic, and thera- 4 peutics research and development; 5 (xii) underserved populations, older 6 adults, and all populations facing health 7 disparities; 8 (xiii) immigration and border control; 9 (xiv) international trade and supply 10 chains; 11 (xv) the role of congressional and 12 State government oversight and resource 13 allocation; and 14 (xvi) other areas of the public and pri- 15 vate sectors determined relevant by the 16 Commission for its inquiry; 17 (2) identify, review, and evaluate the lessons 18 learned from the COVID–19 pandemic regarding the 19 structure, coordination, management policies, and 20 procedures of the Federal Government and State, 21 local, Tribal, and territorial governments and non- 22 governmental entities, relative to detecting, pre- 23 venting, and responding to epidemics and pandem- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4666.IS S4666 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4666 IS ics, whether naturally occurring or caused by State 1 or non-State actors; and 2 (3) submit to the President and Congress such 3 reports as are required by this Act containing such 4 findings, conclusions, and legislative, regulatory, and 5 policy recommendations as the Commission shall de- 6 termine, including proposing organization, coordina- 7 tion, planning, management arrangements, proce- 8 dures, rules, and regulations. 9 SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.— 11 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commis- 12 sion or, on the authority of the Commission, any 13 subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the pur- 14 pose of carrying out this Act— 15 (A) hold such hearings, sit and act at such 16 times and places, take such testimony, receive 17 such evidence, and administer such oaths as the 18 Commission or such designated subcommittee 19 or designated member may determine advisable; 20 and 21 (B) subject to paragraph (2)(A), require, 22 by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and 23 testimony of such witnesses and the product [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]