[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2967 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2967

  To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Office of 
 Management and Budget to execute a national biodefense strategy, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2016

Mr. Johnson (for himself and Mrs. Ernst) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Office of 
 Management and Budget to execute a national biodefense strategy, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``National Biodefense Strategy Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. BIODEFENSE STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--Title V of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 311 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 526. NATIONAL BIODEFENSE STRATEGY.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `biodefense' means any involvement in 
        mitigating the risks of major biological incidents and public 
        health emergencies to the United States, including with respect 
        to--
                    ``(A) threat awareness;
                    ``(B) prevention and protection;
                    ``(C) surveillance and detection;
                    ``(D) response and recovery; and
                    ``(E) attribution of an intentional biological 
                incident;
            ``(2) the term `biodefense enterprise' means the programs, 
        projects, activities, and resources across the Federal 
        Government that are involved in biodefense;
            ``(3) the term `Council' means the Biodefense Coordination 
        Council established under subsection (b); and
            ``(4) the term `Strategy' means the National Biodefense 
        Strategy required to be established under subsection (b)(5).
    ``(b) Biodefense Coordination Council.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The President shall establish a 
        Biodefense Coordination Council, which shall be comprised of, 
        at a minimum--
                    ``(A) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
                    ``(B) the Secretary of Agriculture;
                    ``(C) the Secretary of Defense;
                    ``(D) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
                    ``(E) the Secretary of State;
                    ``(F) the Director of National Intelligence; and
                    ``(G) the Administrator of the Environmental 
                Protection Agency.
            ``(2) Duties.--The Council shall--
                    ``(A) provide the expertise necessary to develop 
                the Strategy; and
                    ``(B) in coordination with the Office of Management 
                and Budget, review, prioritize, and align necessary 
                biodefense activities and spending across the Federal 
                Government, in a manner consistent with the Strategy.
            ``(3) Rotating chair.--During the 4-year period beginning 
        on the date on which the Council is established, and each 4-
        year period thereafter, each of the 4 Secretaries described in 
        subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1) shall serve as 
        the chairperson for the Council for 1 year. The first 
        chairperson of the Council shall be the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services.
            ``(4) President's annual budget.--The recommendations of 
        the Council shall inform the budget submitted by the President 
        under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, with 
        respect to biodefense activities.
            ``(5) Strategy.--The President shall develop a National 
        Biodefense Strategy to direct and align the inter-governmental 
        and multi-disciplinary efforts of the Federal Government 
        towards an effective and continuously improving biodefense 
        enterprise, including threat awareness, prevention and 
        protection, surveillance and detection, and response and 
        recovery to major biological incidents.
    ``(c) Coordination.--
            ``(1) Council.--In developing the Strategy, the President 
        shall utilize the Council.
            ``(2) Other agencies.--In developing the Strategy, the 
        President may utilize--
                    ``(A) the Secretary of Commerce;
                    ``(B) the Attorney General; and
                    ``(C) any other Federal department or agency the 
                President determines appropriate.
            ``(3) Private sector entities.--The President may receive 
        input on elements of the Strategy from private sector 
        biodefense entities.
            ``(4) Academic institutions.--The President may receive 
        input on elements of the Strategy from academic institutions.
    ``(d) Coordination With Existing Strategies.--The Strategy shall 
serve as a comprehensive guide for United States biodefense that 
directs and harmonizes all other strategies or plans established or 
maintained by a Federal department or agency with respect to 
biodefense.
    ``(e) Contents.--
            ``(1) Requirements.--The Strategy shall include, at a 
        minimum--
                    ``(A) a comprehensive description of the entities 
                and positions of leadership with responsibility, 
                authority, and accountability for implementing, 
                overseeing, and coordinating Federal biodefense 
                activities described in subsection (b)(5), including a 
                description of how such entities coordinate on each 
                aspect of biodefense;
                    ``(B) a review of current and previous 
                collaborative efforts between the Armed Forces and the 
                civilian sector of the Federal Government on biodefense 
                activities and coordination;
                    ``(C) a detailed analysis of the--
                            ``(i) relevant recommendations issued by 
                        external biodefense review panels or 
                        commissions, and the extent to which the 
                        recommendations have been considered and 
                        implemented by Federal departments and 
                        agencies;
                            ``(ii) lessons learned from the response of 
                        the Federal Government to public health 
                        emergencies occurring within the 5 years 
                        preceding the submission of the strategy;
                            ``(iii) risks associated with major 
                        biological incidents;
                            ``(iv) resources and capabilities needed to 
                        address identified risks;
                            ``(v) resource and capability gaps in the 
                        biodefense enterprise, including gaps in--
                                    ``(I) each category of biodefense 
                                activity described in subsection 
                                (a)(1);
                                    ``(II) identification and research 
                                of emerging biological threats;
                                    ``(III) programs, projects, and 
                                activities in effect before the date of 
                                enactment of this section;
                                    ``(IV) strategies and 
                                implementation plans related to 
                                biodefense activities in effect before 
                                the date of enactment of this section;
                                    ``(V) the ability to reallocate 
                                Federal resources to address risks 
                                posed by emerging biological threats; 
                                and
                                    ``(VI) meeting the needs of 
                                vulnerable populations during the 
                                response to and recovery from a public 
                                health emergency; and
                            ``(vi) prioritization and allocation of 
                        investment across the biodefense enterprise;
                    ``(D) 5-year goals, priorities, and metrics to 
                improve and strengthen the ability of the Federal 
                Government to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover 
                from a major biological incident;
                    ``(E) short- and long-term research and development 
                projects or initiatives planned to improve biodefense 
                capability; and
                    ``(F) recommendations for legislative action needed 
                to expedite progression toward the goals identified in 
                the Strategy.
            ``(2) Considerations.--In developing the Strategy, the 
        President may consider--
                    ``(A) the trade-offs made between differing goals 
                and requirements, due to constraints in expected assets 
                and resources over the time period of such goals and 
                requirements; and
                    ``(B) any other analysis the President determines 
                appropriate.
    ``(f) Deadline.--Not later than 24 months after the date of 
enactment of this section and notwithstanding subsection (k), the 
President shall submit the Strategy to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives.
    ``(g) Status Updates.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this section, and every 180 days thereafter until the date 
on which the Strategy is submitted to the congressional committees 
described in subsection (f), the President shall submit to such 
congressional committees an update on the status of the Strategy.
    ``(h) Requirement.--Notwithstanding subsection (k), the Strategy 
shall be made available on a public Internet website.
    ``(i) Five-Year Update.--Beginning 5 years after the date on which 
the Strategy is submitted to the congressional committees described in 
subsection (f), and not less frequently than every 5 years thereafter, 
the President shall update the Strategy.
    ``(j) Annual Biodefense Expenditures Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
        which the President submits a budget to Congress under section 
        1105 of title 31, United States Code, the President shall 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
        detailing the total amount of expenditures on biodefense 
        activities by all Federal departments and agencies.
            ``(2) Requirement.--The first report submitted under 
        paragraph (1) shall provide historical context by detailing the 
        total amount of expenditures on biodefense for the 3 preceding 
        fiscal years, in addition to the fiscal year requirements for 
        the fiscal year covered by the report.
    ``(k) Classified Annex.--To the fullest extent possible, any 
reports required to be made publicly available under this section shall 
be unclassified, but may include classified annexes that shall be 
submitted concurrently to the congressional homeland security 
committees.''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 note) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 525 the following:

``Sec. 526. National Biodefense Strategy.''.
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