[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3679 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3679
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation administration to
develop an interagency task force to develop and implement a strategy
to identify and advance research on communicable diseases in air
travel, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 25, 2023
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick (for herself, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr.
Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Norton, Mr. Carson,
and Ms. Titus) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation administration to
develop an interagency task force to develop and implement a strategy
to identify and advance research on communicable diseases in air
travel, 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 ``Healthy Air Travel Act''.
SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON COMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN AIR TRAVEL.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human
Services and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish an
interagency task force to develop and implement a strategy to identify
and advance research on communicable diseases in air travel.
(b) Membership.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human
Services and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall select members
of the task force established pursuant to subsection (a) from the
Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Homeland Security,
and the Department of Health and Human Services and such other Federal
departments or agencies as the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration considers appropriate.
(c) Consultation.--
(1) In general.--When developing a strategy under
subsection (a), the task force established pursuant to such
subsection shall consult with aviation industry, health
experts, and labor stakeholders, including representatives of--
(A) air carriers, which shall include domestic air
carriers consisting of major air carriers, low-cost
carriers, regional air carriers and cargo carriers;
(B) airport operators, including with respect to
large hub, medium hub, small hub, and nonhub commercial
service airports;
(C) labor organizations that represent airline
pilots, flight attendants, air carrier airport customer
service representatives, and air carrier maintenance,
repair, and overhaul workers;
(D) the labor organization certified under section
7111 of title 5, United States Code, as the exclusive
bargaining representative of air traffic controllers of
the Federal Aviation Administration;
(E) the labor organization certified under such
section as the exclusive bargaining representative of
airway transportation systems specialists and aviation
safety inspectors of the Federal Aviation
Administration;
(F) trade associations representing air carriers
and airports;
(G) aircraft manufacturing companies;
(H) public health and infectious disease experts
and researchers;
(I) scientists and engineers familiar with air
travel;
(J) general aviation; and
(K) such other stakeholders as the Administrator of
the Federal Aviation Administration considers
appropriate.
(2) Balance of input.--The Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall ensure input from stakeholders
under paragraph (1) is balanced between labor stakeholders and
airline, airport, and manufacturer stakeholders.
(d) Requirements on Agencies.--The task force established pursuant
to subsection (a) shall--
(1) determine the resources needed by each department,
agency, or administration of the Federal Government;
(2) identify the responsibilities of each such department,
agency, or administration; and
(3) catalog all interagency agreements related to this
section for Congress.
(e) Contents of Strategy.--The task force established under
subsection (a) shall develop a strategy that, at a minimum--
(1) provides a holistic look at what is known about
communicable diseases in air transportation;
(2) identifies any areas of needed research;
(3) gives researchers access to relevant data, including
deidentified health data, and to the extent practicable, gives
researchers access to aircraft and airports;
(4) incorporates, as appropriate, the considerations made
by the Comptroller General of the United States to the
Secretary of Transportation contained in the report titled
``Air Travel and Communicable Diseases: Federal Leadership
Needed to Advance Research'', issued in July 2022 (GAO-22-
104579);
(5) considers the latest peer-reviewed scientific studies
that address communicable disease with respect to air
transportation; and
(6) considers funding constraints.
(f) Report.--The task force established pursuant to subsection (A)
shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate a report on the contents of the
strategy developed under subsection (d) and that identifies what
authorities, if any, the task force considers are needed by either the
task force or the membership agencies of the task force to help ensure
implementation of the strategy developed under subsection (d).
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Air transportation.--The term ``air transportation''
means the movement of passengers and airline crew through
airports, onto and off aircraft, and in the aircraft cabin.
(2) Communicable disease.--The term ``communicable
disease'' means a communicable disease that has the potential
to cause a future epidemic or pandemic of infectious disease
that would constitute a public health emergency of
international concern as declared, after the date of enactment
of this Act, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
247d).
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