[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1168 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1168
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide increased
foreign assistance for tuberculosis prevention, treatment, and control.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 22, 2001
Mr. Brown of Ohio (for himself, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Andrews,
Mr. Ganske, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Baca, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr.
Rodriguez, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Olver, Mr. Kildee, Mrs. Capps, Mrs.
Wilson, Mr. Carson of Oklahoma, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Frost, Mr. Udall of
Colorado, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Brown of
Florida, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Rangel, Ms. McCarthy of
Missouri, and Mr. Reyes) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide increased
foreign assistance for tuberculosis prevention, treatment, and control.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Tuberculosis (TB) Now Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1)(A) Tuberculosis is one of the greatest infectious
causes of death of adults worldwide, killing 2,000,000 people
per year--one person every 15 seconds.
(B) Globally, tuberculosis is the leading cause of death of
young women and the leading cause of death of people with HIV/
AIDS.
(2) An estimated 8,000,000 individuals develop active
tuberculosis each year.
(3) Tuberculosis is spreading as a result of inadequate
treatment and it is a disease that knows no national borders.
(4) With over 40 percent of tuberculosis cases in the
United States attributable to foreign-born individuals and with
the increase in international travel, commerce, and migration,
elimination of tuberculosis in the United States depends on
efforts to control the disease in developing countries.
(5) The threat that tuberculosis poses for Americans
derives from the global spread of tuberculosis and the
emergence and spread of strains of multi-drug resistant
tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
(6) Up to 50,000,000 individuals may be infected with
multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
(7) In the United States, tuberculosis treatment, normally
about $2,000 per patient, skyrockets to as much as $250,000 per
patient to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, and
treatment may not even be successful.
(8) Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis kills more than one-
half of those individuals infected in the United States and
other industrialized nations and without access to treatment it
is a virtual death sentence in the developing world.
(9) There is a highly effective and inexpensive treatment
for tuberculosis. Recommended by the World Health Organization
as the best curative method for tuberculosis, this strategy,
known as directly observed treatment, short course (DOTS),
includes low-cost effective diagnosis, treatment, monitoring,
and recordkeeping, as well as a reliable drug supply. A
centerpiece of DOTS is observing patients to ensure that they
take their medication and complete treatment.
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR TUBERCULOSIS PREVENTION, TREATMENT, AND CONTROL.
(a) Additional Prevention, Treatment, and Control.--Section
104(c)(7)(A) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2151b(c)(7)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (i), by adding at the end before the
semicolon the following: ``, including by expanding the use of
the strategy known as directly observed treatment, short course
(DOTS) and strategies to address multi-drug resistant
tuberculosis (MDR-TB) where appropriate at the local level,
particularly in countries with the highest rate of
tuberculosis''; and
(2) in clause (ii)--
(A) by inserting after ``the cure of at least 85
percent of the cases detected'' the following: ``by
focusing efforts on the use of the directly observed
treatment, short course (DOTS) strategy or other
internationally accepted primary tuberculosis control
strategies''; and
(B)(i) by striking ``and the cure'' and inserting
``the cure''; and
(ii) by adding at the end before the period the
following: ``, and the reduction of tuberculosis-
related deaths by 50 percent, by December 31, 2010''.
(b) Funding Requirement.--Section 104(c)(7) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(c)(7)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C);
and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
``(B) In carrying out this paragraph, not less than 75 percent of
the amount appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations
under subparagraph (D) shall be used for the diagnosis and treatment of
tuberculosis or for direct patient services and anti-tuberculosis drugs
for at-risk and affected populations utilizing directly observed
treatment, short course (DOTS) strategy or other internationally
accepted primary tuberculosis control strategies developed in
consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO), including the
Global Tuberculosis Drug Facility of WHO's Stop TB Partnership.''.
(c) Annual Report.--Section 104(c)(7) of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(c)(7)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) (as redesignated by
this Act) as subparagraph (D); and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
``(C) In conjunction with the transmission of the annual request
for enactment of authorizations and appropriations for foreign
assistance programs for each fiscal year, the President shall transmit
to Congress a report that contains a summary of all programs, projects,
and activities carried out under this paragraph for the preceding
fiscal year, including a description of the extent to which such
programs, projects, and activities have made progress to achieve the
goals described in subparagraph (A)(ii).''.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--Subparagraph (D) of section
104(c)(7) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2151b(c)(7)), as redesignated by this Act, is amended by striking
``$60,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002'' and
inserting ``$60,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and $200,000,000 for
fiscal year 2002''.
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