[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5880-H5882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SECURING AMERICA FROM EPIDEMICS ACT

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 6334) to authorize United States participation in the Coalition 
for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6334

       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 ``Securing America From 
     Epidemics Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) Due to increasing population and population density, 
     human mobility, and ecological change, emerging infectious 
     diseases pose a real and growing threat to global health 
     security.
       (2) While vaccines can be the most effective tools to 
     protect against infectious disease, the absence of vaccines 
     for a new or emerging infectious disease with epidemic 
     potential is a major health security threat globally, posing 
     catastrophic potential human and economic costs.
       (3) The 1918 influenza pandemic infected 500,000,000 
     people, or about one-third of the world's population at the 
     time, and killed 50,000,000 people--more than died in the 
     First World War.
       (4) The economic cost of an outbreak can be devastating. 
     The estimated global cost today, should an outbreak of the 
     scale of the 1918 influenza pandemic strike, is 5 percent of 
     global gross domestic product.
       (5) Even regional outbreaks can have enormous human costs 
     and substantially disrupt the global economy and cripple 
     regional economies. The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa 
     killed more than 11,000 and cost $2,800,000,000 in losses in 
     the affected countries alone.
       (6) The ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak reflects the 
     pressing need for quick and effective vaccine and 
     countermeasure development.
       (7) While the need for vaccines to address emerging 
     epidemic threats is acute, markets to drive the necessary 
     development of vaccines to address them--a complex and 
     expensive undertaking--are very often critically absent. Also 
     absent are mechanisms to ensure access to those vaccines by 
     those who need them when they need them.
       (8) To address this global vulnerability and the deficit of 
     political commitment, institutional capacity, and funding, in 
     2017, several countries and private partners launched the 
     Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). 
     CEPI's mission is to stimulate, finance, and coordinate 
     development of vaccines for high-priority, epidemic-potential 
     threats in cases where traditional markets do not exist or 
     cannot create sufficient demand.
       (9) Through funding of partnerships, CEPI seeks to bring 
     priority vaccines candidates through the end of phase II 
     clinical trials, as well as support vaccine platforms that 
     can be rapidly deployed against emerging pathogens.
       (10) CEPI has funded multiple partners to develop vaccine 
     candidates against the novel coronavirus, responding to this 
     urgent, global requirement.
       (11) Support for and participation in CEPI is an important 
     part of the United States own health security and biodefense 
     and is in the national interest, complementing the work of 
     many Federal agencies and providing significant value through 
     global partnership and burden-sharing.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR UNITED STATES PARTICIPATION.

       (a) In General.--The United States is hereby authorized to 
     participate in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness 
     Innovations.
       (b) Board of Directors.--The Administrator for the United 
     States Agency for International Development is authorized to 
     designate an employee to serve on the Investors Council of 
     the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations as a 
     representative of the United States.
       (c) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit 
     to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
     includes the following:
       (1) The United States planned contributions to the 
     Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the 
     mechanisms for United States participation in such Coalition.
       (2) The manner and extent to which the United States shall 
     participate in the governance of the Coalition.

[[Page H5881]]

       (3) How participation in the Coalition supports relevant 
     United States Government strategies and programs in health 
     security and biodefense, to include--
       (A) the Global Health Security Strategy required by section 
     7058(c)(3) of division K of the Consolidated Appropriations 
     Act, 2018 (Public Law 115-141);
       (B) the applicable revision of the National Biodefense 
     Strategy required by section 1086 of the National Defense 
     Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 104); and
       (C) any other relevant decision-making process for policy, 
     planning, and spending in global health security, biodefense, 
     or vaccine and medical countermeasures research and 
     development.
       (d) United States Contributions.--Amounts authorized to be 
     appropriated under chapters 1 and 10 of part I and chapter 4 
     of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
     2151 et seq.) are authorized to be made available for United 
     States contributions to the Coalition for Epidemic 
     Preparedness Innovations.
       (e) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, 
     the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
       (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Engel) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include in the Record extraneous material on H.R. 6334.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we are in a time of crisis. The coronavirus pandemic has 
devastated our Nation: over 200,000 Americans have died, our economy is 
in shambles, our lives have been turned upside down.
  The virus continues to spread and worsen. Part of this is because 
there had not been the steps taken that we know are needed to protect 
the American people and address this virus head-on.
  There is a clear road map ahead on how to beat this. We need to 
establish a robust contact tracing and testing system and flatten the 
curve by increasing mask wearing and social distancing, all while we 
develop a safe and effective vaccine.
  We have heard some good news over the past few days about some safe 
and effective vaccines. Over the past weeks we have seen this 
encouraging news, and two, in particular, are showing real promise. To 
further develop, produce and distribute vaccines, we need to work with 
our partners around the world and harness the resources of the 
government's multilateral organizations, public health experts, and the 
private sector.
  We are not satisfied--I am not satisfied--with what has been done so 
far. I am glad that we are going back to the World Health Organization 
and will reboot our coordination with countries around the world. We 
cannot go this alone. This is a worldwide pandemic, and we need to work 
with all the other countries to defeat it head-on.
  This bill puts us on the right track to do just that. Mr. Bera's 
Securing America from Epidemics Act would allow the United States to 
participate in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a 
public-private partnership to speed up vaccine development for 
infectious diseases like COVID-19 and Ebola.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a good measure that would put our country in a 
stronger position to respond to the coronavirus and future pandemics. I 
am proud to support it and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Securing America from 
Epidemics Act.
  I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Dr. Bera, for introducing 
this bill--and I co-introduced it--for his work to address this 
important issue.
  COVID-19 has shown that pandemics know no borders and that the United 
States must be prepared to respond to disease outbreaks around the 
world. This bill authorizes the United States to participate in the 
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, an alliance of 
countries and private partners that are financing and coordinating the 
development of new vaccines for infectious diseases. These are the 
emerging diseases that they are studying so that we are prepared for 
them.

                              {time}  1245

  In addition to COVID-19, CEPI has developed a list of priority 
diseases with epidemic potential, including viruses that cause Middle 
East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS. By leveraging contributions from 
member states with expertise and funding by private partners, CEPI 
seeks to develop vaccines before the disease outbreak occurs.
  CEPI estimates that COVID-19 could cost the global economy $4.1 
trillion, or close to 5 percent of global GDP.
  Of course, the impact of viruses like COVID-19 is not just measured 
in the disruption of economic stability in nations around the world, 
but also, unfortunately, in the lives lost.
  Developing vaccines and treatments for emerging infectious diseases 
is not just an issue of individual health but of national security. Our 
committee has worked together on many pieces of legislation in response 
to COVID-19. The SAFE Act is another example of this bipartisan effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues who believe we must do all we 
can to prevent another pandemic like COVID-19 from emerging in the 
future to support this legislation, as it is a critical component to 
that effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Bera), author of this important bill, the chair of the 
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation.
  Mr. BERA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Engel for his leadership and 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bipartisan measure, H.R. 
6334, the Securing America From Epidemics, or SAFE Act. This 
legislation, which I introduced alongside my friend, Congressman Ted 
Yoho, would authorize U.S. participation in the Coalition for Epidemic 
Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI.
  CEPI was created in the aftermath of the 2015 West Africa Ebola 
epidemic. Its founders understood that due to factors like climate 
change, overcrowding, malnutrition, and the proximity of people living 
next to animals, the world would see deadly epidemics more and more 
frequently. The most effective countermeasures to these epidemics are 
vaccines.
  CEPI sought to fund vaccines for several pathogens like MERS that 
could potentially explode into pandemics. And it sought to help develop 
universal vaccine platform technologies that could be adapted to 
quickly address emerging outbreaks. The individuals in CEPI could not 
have predicted the current COVID-19 pandemic, but they knew it was just 
a matter of time until we would see something like this.
  Since the start of the pandemic, CEPI has devoted major funding to 
nine vaccine candidates to defeat COVID-19. In January of this year, 
CEPI was one of the first investors in Moderna, providing catalytic 
funding to spur additional research and development. That early funding 
has paid off. It looks like Moderna's Phase 3 trials have been 
successful.
  CEPI's early investment in Moderna is a reminder of the critical role 
CEPI plays and will continue to play: investing in smaller companies to 
boost their capacity, so that larger players and actors can help scale 
and bring those vaccines to market. This is what happened with Moderna 
and may happen with other vaccine candidates.
  USAID recently announced the collaboration with CEPI, funding $20 
million over 5 years to combat noncoronavirus priority diseases, like 
Lassa fever and Ebola, but we need to do more. By authorizing U.S. 
participation in CEPI, this bill will enable the United States to 
firmly claim a seat at CEPI's table, shape its priorities and 
governance, and allow Congress to provide contributions to the 
organization.

[[Page H5882]]

  U.S. participation in CEPI was one of the recommendations of the 
final report issued nearly a year ago at the Center for Strategic and 
International Studies Commission on Strengthening America's Health 
Security. It was prescient in its recommendations, and I am proud to 
have served as a commissioner. We knew then that the next epidemic or 
pandemic was around the corner. It is here with us now, but it will not 
be the last one.
  We need to be a full and active participant in CEPI's work. By 
working through organizations like CEPI to develop new vaccine 
technologies, we will ensure the world is far more ready for the next 
pandemic.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Yoho and all the cosponsors of this 
important legislation, as well as the work that the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs staff, like Katy Crosby, and my own staff, like Ryan 
Uyehara, did to bring this legislation to the House floor.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure and call on 
the Senate to pass it as well.
  Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I once again thank Representative Bera for 
his work on this important legislation. The U.S. international 
community and the private sector must continue to work together to 
develop the tools we need in response to emerging infectious diseases.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this legislation, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to once again thank Mr. Bera for 
his leadership and hard work on this legislation that everyone should 
support, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6334, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________