[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 149 (Tuesday, November 27, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6439-H6440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MEDICAL PREPAREDNESS ALLOWABLE USE ACT
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 5997) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to codify
authority under existing grant guidance authorizing use of Urban Area
Security Initiative and State Homeland Security Grant Program funding
for enhancing medical preparedness, medical surge capacity, and mass
prophylaxis capabilities, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5997
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 ``Medical Preparedness
Allowable Use Act''.
SEC. 2. USE OF CERTAIN HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT FUNDS FOR
ENHANCING MEDICAL PREPAREDNESS, MEDICAL SURGE
CAPACITY, AND MASS PROPHYLAXIS CAPABILITIES.
Section 2008 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
609) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by redesignating paragraphs (10)
through (13) as paragraphs (11) through (14), respectively,
and by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
``(10) enhancing medical preparedness, medical surge
capacity, and mass prophylaxis capabilities, including the
development and maintenance of an initial pharmaceutical
stockpile, including medical kits, and diagnostics sufficient
to protect first responders, their families, and immediate
victims from a chemical or biological event;''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(3)(B), by striking ``(a)(10)'' and
inserting ``(a)(11)''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr.
Thompson) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.
General Leave
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 5997, the Medical Preparedness
Allowable Use Act, a bipartisan bill which amends the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 to make it clear that grant funds under the State Homeland
Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative may be
used to enhance medical preparedness and purchase medical
countermeasures.
I introduced H.R. 5997 after a series of hearings on medical
countermeasures in the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on
Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications. At these
hearings, we received testimony from representatives of the emergency
response community on the importance of stockpiling medical
countermeasures in the event of a WMD attack. This includes pre-
deployed medical kits for first responders and their families, similar
to those provided to postal workers participating in the national U.S.
Postal Medical Countermeasures Dispensing Pilot Program.
The grant guidance for the State Homeland Security Grant Program and
the Urban Area Security Initiative currently permits this funding to be
used to procure medical countermeasures and for other medical
preparedness and medical surge capacity equipment and activities.
However, this guidance is developed on an annual basis, and there is no
guarantee that these uses will be authorized in the future.
{time} 1710
To be clear, this bill does not create a new grant program or
authorize new funding. It simply ensures that these activities will
remain allowable uses under SHSGP and UASI.
As the WMD Commission noted in its report, Mr. Speaker, ``World at
Risk,'' it is more likely than not that there will be a weapon of mass
destruction used someplace on Earth by a terrorist group before the end
of the year 2013, and it's more likely that this weapon will be
biological, rather than nuclear.
The expenditures authorized and codified by the bill we are
considering today can make a difference in the protection of the
public, including emergency responders, in the event of such an attack,
and there should be no doubt that grant funding may be used to support
them now and in the future.
As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness,
Response and Communications, I consistently find myself in awe of our
first responders and the sacrifices that they make on behalf of our
public. In the wake of events such as Hurricane Sandy, I am committed
to ensuring Congress does all that it can to support those brave men
and women, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased that this legislation is supported by the Emergency
Services Coalition on Medical Preparedness, which works to ensure that
we protect the protectors.
I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H6440]]
Emergency Services Coalition
for Medical Preparedness,
Falls Church, VA, November 19, 2012.
Hon. Gus Bilirakis,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response,
and Communications, Committee on Homeland Security, House
of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Bilirakis: The Emergency Services Coalition
for Medical Preparedness is pleased to support H.R. 5997 and
the proposed amendment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
The need for home and workplaces of medical caches to protect
the emergency services providers in the nation remains high.
Recent reports for the congressionally-chartered WMD
Commission emphasize the continuing threat posed by
biological weapons. Ensuring a resilient emergency services
sector is an imperative for a superior response, a major part
of this planning is the provision of Medkits pre-event to
these professionals.
Emergency services professionals have unique roles, and are
expected to serve and protect even in dangerous
circumstances. Having responsible pre-event protections in
place is necessary to ensure they can carry out this role.
Individual physician-based prescription efforts have provided
protection to hundreds of postal employees and federal
employees, but not the millions of protectors and their
families. Your bill addresses this gap.
We look forward to working with you and your staff in the
passage of the Bill. Thank you for your leadership and
continuing support in ``protecting the protectors.''
Sincerely,
Tim Stephens,
Advisor.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R.
5997, the Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act, and yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, although I support H.R. 5997, it is not without
reservation and concern about the reduced funding this Congress has
allocated to important Homeland Security Grant Programs over the past
few years. Due to significantly diminished appropriations for the
Homeland Security Grant Program, important targeted grant programs such
as the Metropolitan Medical Response System were consolidated into
larger umbrella grant programs, such as the Urban Area Security
Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program in FY 2012.
I'm concerned that Congress' failure to specify a funding allocation
for the Metropolitan Medical Response System sends the message that
medical preparedness is no longer a priority.
H.R. 5997 authorizes the use of funding awarded under the Urban Area
Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program to
enhance medical preparedness, medical surge capacity, and mass
distribution of medical countermeasures. All of these activities would
have been eligible under H.R. 1411, the Metropolitan Medical Response
Systems Program Act of 2011.
H.R. 1411, which would have authorized the Metropolitan Medical
Response System, was introduced by Representative Bilirakis and was
marked up by the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and
Communications last year. I would rather be standing here today in
support of H.R. 1411, which would send a clear message that medical
preparedness is a priority for this Congress.
That said, I will support H.R. 5997 because I understand that grant
resources are limited and that State and local governments must have
the flexibility to utilize the scarce resources available to improve
medical preparedness.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, despite my reservations
regarding this measure, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 5997,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Ranking Member, we'll continue to work on getting
that bill passed. I promise you. That's my bill, and we worked very
hard. As you said, it was marked up in committee, and we'll continue to
advocate on behalf, of course, of the MMRS grant program.
Mr. Speaker, I once again urge Members to support this very important
bill that ensures medical preparedness activities remain an allowable
use under Homeland Security Grant Programs.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 5997, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas
and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.
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