[House Report 117-532]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                    {    Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                    {    117-532

======================================================================
 
   RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT TO PROVIDE CERTAIN 
DOCUMENTS IN THE PRESIDENT'S POSSESSION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
                      RELATING TO COVID-19 FUNDING

                                _______
                                

 September 29, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Pallone, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, submitted the 
                               following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1263]

    The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred 
the resolution (H. Res. 1263) of inquiry directing the 
President to provide certain documents in the President's 
possession to the House of Representatives relating to COVID-19 
funding, having considered the same, report unfavorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the resolution not be 
agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................2
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Committee Hearings...............................................3
 IV. Committee Consideration..........................................3
  V. Committee Votes..................................................3
 VI. Oversight Findings...............................................6
VII. New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures6
VIII.Federal Mandates Statement.......................................6

 IX. Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............6
  X. Duplication of Federal Programs..................................6
 XI. Committee Cost Estimate..........................................6
XII. Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff Benefits......6
XIII.Advisory Committee Statement.....................................6

XIV. Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................7
 XV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................7
XVI. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............7
XVII. Minority Views..................................................8

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    H. Res. 1263 directs the President to, not later than 14 
days after the adoption of the resolution, furnish to the House 
of Representatives copies of any document or communication in 
the President's possession that refers or relates to: (1) the 
data, modeling, and projections used by the President to 
develop the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) supplemental 
funding request in the spring of 2022 (including COVID-19 
funding that was available, and not obligated or expended, as 
of developing such request, any projections related to the 
number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations associated with 
such request, and any projections for the number of COVID-19 
tests, vaccines, and therapeutics to be paid for by the Federal 
Government); (2) an accounting of funds that were made 
available by the American Rescue Plan Act and have not been 
obligated or expended; and (3) an accounting of funds obligated 
or expended by the executive branch for COVID-19 at-home test 
kits.

                II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, became law 
on February 24, 2021. The American Rescue Plan brought direct 
economic relief to American families and businesses struggling 
due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. With respect to 
health care, the American Rescue plan significantly lowered 
and, in some cases, eliminated health insurance premiums for 
low- and middle-income families. A record breaking 14.5 million 
consumers signed up for health insurance through HealthCare.gov 
and state-based marketplaces during the 2022 open enrollment 
period.\1\ Additionally, more than 90 percent of people 
enrolling through HealthCare.gov received financial assistance, 
and 4 out of 5 found plans that cost less than $10 per month. 
The American Rescue Plan also funded a national vaccination 
program. Currently, 68 percent of the U.S. population is fully 
vaccinated.\2\
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    \1\U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, What Happens to 
Premiums if the Extra Help from the American Rescue Plan Expires? (June 
22, 2022) (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/06/22/fact-sheet-what-
happens-premiums-if-extra-help-american-rescue-plan-expires.html).
    \2\Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker 
(https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-people-
fully-percent-total) (accessed Sep. 22, 2022).
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    On January 19, 2022, the Administration launched 
COVIDTests.gov so that Americans could have free at-home COVID-
19 tests shipped directly to their homes.\3\ More than 600 
million tests have been distributed through this program.\4\
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    \3\The White House, Fact Sheet: The Biden Administration to Begin 
Distributing At-Home, Rapid COVID-19 Test to Americans for Free (Jan. 
14, 2022) (press release).
    \4\U.S. to Suspend Free COVID-19 Test Orders Next Week, Reuters 
(Aug. 29, 2022).
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    While COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are 
significantly lower than they were at the beginning of 2022,\5\ 
nearly 3,000 Americans still die each week from COVID-19.\6\ 
Given the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, in March 2022 the 
Administration requested that Congress provide $22.5 billion in 
additional funding to support the nation's response to COVID-
19.\7\ The Administration provided Congress, and this 
Committee, with detailed justifications and bipartisan 
briefings on its supplemental funding request. Funding would be 
used to, for example, procure vaccines effective against new 
variants, develop next-generation vaccines and therapeutics, 
purchase personal protective equipment for the Strategic 
National Stockpile, support testing and programs for the 
uninsured, and fund new research activities. Congressional 
Republicans rejected the Administration's request for 
supplemental funding to support ongoing COVID-19 response 
efforts.\8\
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    \5\Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID Data Tracker 
(https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/
#trends_dailydeaths_select_00) (accessed Sep. 22, 2022).
    \6\Hundreds of Americans Will Die from COVID Today, The Atlantic 
(Sep. 16, 2022).
    \7\Letter from Shalanda D. Young, Acting Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget, to Speak of the House Nancy Pelosi (Mar. 2, 
2022).
    \8\Senate GOP Opposes Biden Request for Covid, Monkeypox Funds, 
Bloomberg (Sep. 7, 2022).
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    The Department of Health and Human Services maintains a 
public website providing data on COVID-19 funding provided 
through the American Rescue Plan and other laws.\9\ Information 
about pandemic relief spending has also been made available 
through USASpending.gov, press statements, and briefings 
provided to bipartisan Members of Congress and staff. The 
Administration has also provided regular updates and 
information to Congress on the accounting of funds that were 
made available by the ARP and funds that have not yet been 
expended or obligated. Additionally, the Administration has 
made a number of public announcements on funding for COVID-19 
at home test kits.10}11 The documents and 
information requested in H. Res. 1263 have been made available 
to both Congress and to the public. Given the information 
sought has been provided already and the many good faith 
efforts to be transparent, the Committee ordered H. Res. 1263 
reported to the House adversely.
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    \9\HHS Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS), 
HHS COVID-19 Funding Overview (https://taggs.hhs.gov/Coronavirus/
Overview) (accessed Sep. 22, 2022).
    \10\The White House, COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health 
Officials (Oct. 6, 2021) (press briefing).
    \11\U.S. Department of Defense, DOD Awards Contracts to Purchase 
COVID-19 Antigen Over-the-Counter Test Kits in Support of POTUS' One 
Billion Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests (Feb. 18, 2022) (press release).
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                        III. COMMITTEE HEARINGS

    The Committee on Energy and Commerce has not held a hearing 
on H. Res. 1263.

                      IV. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    H. Res. 1263 was introduced on July 26, 2022, by 
Representative Bucshon (R-IN) and was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce. Subsequently, on July 27, 2022, the 
resolution was referred to the Subcommittee on Health. The 
resolution was discharged from the Subcommittee on Health on 
September 21, 2022.
    On September 21, 2022, the Committee met in open markup 
session and ordered H. Res. 1263, without amendment, adversely 
reported to the House by a recorded vote of 30 yeas and 24 
nays.

                           V. COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list each record vote 
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. The 
Committee advises that there was one record vote taken on H. 
Res. 1263, including a motion by Mr. Pallone ordering H. Res. 
1263 adversely reported to the House, without amendment. The 
motion on unfavorably reporting the resolution was approved by 
a record vote of 30 yeas to 24 nays. The following are the 
record votes taken during Committee consideration, including 
the names of those members voting for and against:


	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                         VI. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 2(b)(1) 
of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
oversight findings and recommendations of the Committee are 
reflected in the descriptive portion of the report.

 VII. NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    Pursuant to 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the 
estimate of new budget authority, entitlement authority, or tax 
expenditures or revenues contained in the cost estimate 
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974.
    The Committee has requested but not received from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office a statement as to 
whether this bill contains any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.

                    VIII. FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act.

       IX. STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general 
performance goal or objective of this legislation is to direct 
the President to provide certain documents in the President's 
possession to the House of Representatives relating to COVID-19 
funding.

                   X. DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII, no provision of H. 
Res. 1263 is known to be duplicative of another Federal 
program, including any program that was included in a report to 
Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 or the 
most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

                      XI. COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII, the Committee 
adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

    XII. EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF BENEFITS

    Pursuant to clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI, the 
Committee finds that H. Res. 1263 contains no earmarks, limited 
tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits.

                   XIII. ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committee within the meaning of section 5(b) of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act was created by this 
legislation.

                XIV. APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

           XV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

    H. Res. 1263 directs the President to, not later than 14 
days after the adoption of the resolution, furnish to the House 
of Representatives copies of any document or communication in 
the President's possession that refers or relates to: (1) the 
data, modeling, and projections used by the President to 
develop the COVID-19 supplemental funding request in the spring 
of 2022 (including COVID-19 funding that was available, and not 
obligated or expended, as of developing such request, any 
projections related to the number of COVID-19 cases and 
hospitalizations associated with such request, and any 
projections for the number of COVID-19 tests, vaccines, and 
therapeutics to be paid for by the Federal Government); (2) an 
accounting of funds that were made available by the American 
Rescue Plan Act and have not been obligated or expended; and 
(3) an accounting of funds obligated or expended by the 
executive branch for COVID-19 at-home test kits.

       XVI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    There are no changes to existing law made by the bill H. 
Res. 1263.

                          XVII. MINORITY VIEWS

    Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans maintain that the 
Biden Administration's accounting of how it spent trillions of 
dollars in past COVID-19 relief funding has been woefully 
inadequate. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 
United States Congress has passed five bipartisan COVID-19 
relief bills totaling more than three trillion dollars.\1\ In 
addition, Democrats in Congress rammed through a nearly $2 
trillion spending bill known as the ``American Rescue Plan Act 
of 2021,''\2\ through a partisan reconciliation process. Less 
than nine percent of the bill's spending actually went to 
fighting the virus.\3\ Much of the rest of the spending went 
towards wasteful initiatives that sent prices soaring, robbing 
families of their hard-earned wages. Examples of ridiculous 
waste in the $2 trillion spending bill that fueled the 
inflation crisis include millions of dollars that went to 
things like a ski resorts, a luxury hotel development, a bird 
sanctuary, a golf course, horse racing, and pickleball 
courts.\4\ Thanks to this reckless spending, the American 
people are suffering from record-high inflation that has 
outpaced inflation in other developed countries.\5\
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    \1\Nicholas Wu and Javier Zarracina, All of the COVID-19 stimulus 
bills, visualized, USA Today (March 17, 2021), available at https://
www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2021/03/11/covid-19-stimulus-how-much-
do-coronavirus-relief-bills-cost/4602942001/.
    \2\Public Law 117-2.
    \3\House Budget Committee Republicans, Smith Marks One-Year 
Anniversary of American Rescue Plan, Slamming Biden WH for Billions in 
Taxpayer Waste, Failed Economic Policies, and 40-Year High Inflation, 
Press Release (March 11, 2022), available at https://republicans-
budget.house.gov/press-release/smith-marks-one-year-anniversary-of-
american-rescue-plan-slamming-biden-wh-for-billions-in-taxpayer-waste-
failed-economic-policies-and-40-year-high-inflation/.
    \4\U.S. Representative Jason Smith, Smith Opening Statement: House 
Budget Committee Hearing on the American Rescue Plan, House Budget 
Committee (June 14, 2022), available at https://republicans-
budget.house.gov/speeches-statements/smith-opening-statement-house-
budget-committee-hearing-on-the-american-rescue-plan/.
    \5\Oscar Jorda, Celeste Liu, Fernanda Nechio, and Fabian Rivera-
Reyes, Why Is U.S. Inflation Higher than in Other Countries?, Research 
from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (March 28, 2022), 
available at https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/
economic-letter/2022/march/why-is-us-inflation-higher-than-in-other-
countries/.
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    And yet, the Biden Administration continues to ask for 
more, despite these record levels of inflation and billions of 
unspent dollars in relief funds. In March of 2022, the Biden 
Administration asked Congress for billions in new supplemental 
funding for the COVID-19 response, threatening that lack of new 
spending would ``set us back in this fight, leave us less 
prepared, and cost us more lives'' if Congress didn't act.\6\ 
Congress prudently called the Administration's bluff and did 
not provide additional money, forcing the Administration to be 
more fiscally responsible and reprioritize existing funding. In 
September, the Office of Management and Budget again requested 
$22.4 billion to maintain COVID-19 response and preparation 
efforts.\7\ Again, Congress told the Executive Branch to 
repurpose funds left over from earlier pandemic relief packages 
and begin transitioning the costs of certain initiatives, such 
as coverage of vaccines and therapeutics, to the private sector 
or general public. While the White House has complained that 
this reallocation would negatively impact the progress made in 
fighting the virus, the overall reduction in COVID cases, 
hospitalizations, and deaths suggests otherwise. The World 
Health Organization recently stated that ``the end is in 
sight'' for the pandemic, as global deaths hit the lowest they 
have been since 2020.\8\ The World Health Organization is 
right--although the United States will likely see an uptick in 
cases this fall and winter when Americans head indoors, the 
combination of vaccines, therapeutics, natural immunity, 
individual common sense and personal risk assessment, have put 
the nation on the path to normalcy. Indeed, even President 
Biden agrees, recently stating in an interview on 60 Minutes 
that while the country still has ``a problem'' with COVID-19, 
``the pandemic is over.''\9\
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    \6\The White House, FACT SHEET: Consequences of Lack of Funding for 
Efforts to Combat COVID-19 if Congress Does Not Act, Press Release 
(March 15, 2022), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-
room/statements-releases/2022/03/15/fact-sheet-consequences-of-lack-of-
funding-for-efforts-to-combat-covid-19-if-congress-does-not-act/.
    \7\Dave Muoio, GOP lawmakers throw cold water on White House's 
latest $26B COVID, monkeypox ask, Fierce Healthcare (September 8, 
2022), available at https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/biden-
administration-asks-congress-include-over-26b-covid-monkeypox-fy23-
budget-stopgap.
    \8\Manas Mishra, End of COVID pandemic is `in sight' -WHO chief, 
Reuters (September 14, 2022), available at https://www.reuters.com/
business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-chief-says-end-sight-covid-19-
pandemic-2022-14/.
    \9\Scott Pelley, President Joe Biden: The 2022 60 Minutes 
Interview, CBS News (September 18, 2022), available at https://
www.cbsnews.com/news/president-joe-biden-60-minutes-interview-
transcript-2022-18/.
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    Given that the President says the pandemic is over, Energy 
and Commerce Committee Republicans are bewildered by Democrats' 
continual asks for COVID-19 response funding, with no 
meaningful justification of need, while refusing to start the 
process of winding down the public health emergency. This is 
particularly vexing, because if the need was so great, 
Democrats could have included additional funding in the 
deceptively named ``Inflation Reduction Act,''\10\ another 
partisan reconciliation that will fail to reduce inflation and 
further increase prices. To date, the Republicans in both the 
House and Senate have been unable get a sufficient accounting 
of exactly how the Biden administration has spent federal 
dollars on so-called COVID-19 relief initiatives. This 
Resolution of Inquiry requests that the President of the United 
States furnish all documents or communication in his possession 
related to: data, modeling, and projections used by the 
Administration to develop the recent supplemental funding 
requests; an accounting of funds that were made available by 
the American Rescue Plan Act that have not been obligated or 
expended; and an accounting of funds obligated or expended by 
the executive branch for COVID-19 at-home test kits. The 
Administration has been flush with cash for COVID-19, and the 
American people deserve to know how their precious taxpayer 
dollars have been spent.

    \10\Public Law 117-169.
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                                    Cathy McMorris Rodgers,
               Republican Leader, Committee on Energy and Commerce.

                                  [all]