[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6966 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6966

 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in cooperation 
    with the Biodefense Steering Committee, to clarify the national 
 biodefense strategy and associated implementation plan, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2020

 Mr. Crow (for himself, Ms. Stefanik, and Ms. Jackson Lee) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in cooperation 
    with the Biodefense Steering Committee, to clarify the national 
 biodefense strategy and associated implementation plan, 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 ``Responsibility and Accountability in 
Strategic Pandemic/Biodefense Planning Act of 2020'' or the ``RASPP Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF NATIONAL BIODEFENSE STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 
cooperation with the Biodefense Steering Committee, shall clarify the 
national biodefense strategy and associated implementation plan 
developed under section 1086 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 104) to clearly document agreed-upon 
processes, roles, and responsibilities for making and enforcing 
enterprise-wide decisions.
    (b) Specific Clarifications.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall work with the head of each 
agency participating in the Biodefense Steering Committee, including 
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to--
            (1) enter into a memorandum of understanding, or take such 
        other action as is necessary, to describe the roles and 
        responsibilities of the Federal departments and agencies, 
        including internal and external coordination procedures, in 
        identifying and sharing information, as described in section 
        1086(b)(4) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
        Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 104(b)(4));
            (2) clarify roles, responsibilities, and processes for 
        decision making that involves shifting resources across agency 
        boundaries to more effectively or efficiently address 
        enterprise-wide risk;
            (3) prepare an inventory and assessment of all existing 
        strategies, plans, policies, laws, and interagency agreements 
        with respect to biodefense;
            (4) establish a resource plan to staff, support, and 
        sustain the efforts of the Biodefense Coordination Team;
            (5) clearly document guidance and methods for analyzing the 
        data collected from agencies to include non-Federal resources 
        and capabilities; and
            (6) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, report to the appropriate congressional committees on 
        possible implementation strategies, that will effectively and 
        efficiently enhance information-sharing activities on 
        biosurveillance data integration as identified in the national 
        biodefense strategy and associated implementation plan 
        described in subsection (a).
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the following:
            (1) The Committees on Armed Services of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate.
            (2) The Committees on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate.
            (3) The Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
        and Pensions of the Senate.
            (4) The Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
            (5) The Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
        and Forestry of the Senate.
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