[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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