[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1903 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1903
To establish an interagency One Health Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 19, 2019
Ms. Smith (for herself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an interagency One Health Program, 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 ``Advancing Emergency Preparedness
Through One Health Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The term ``One Health'' reflects the interconnectedness
of human health, animal health, and the environment. As
technology and population growth facilitates increased
interaction of human settlements with wildlife habitats and as
international travel and trade increases, the interface between
these elements will also continue to rise.
(2) When zoonotic diseases spillover to humans, there are
often enormous health and economic costs. The World Bank
estimates that, between 1997 and 2009, the global costs from
six zoonotic outbreaks exceeded $80,000,000,000 and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are
annually 2,500,000,000 cases of zoonotic infections globally,
resulting in 2,700,000 deaths.
(3) There are also immense effects on the agriculture
sector. In 2014 and 2015, a high pathogenic avian influenza
(HPAI) outbreak in the United States led to the cull of nearly
50,000,000 birds, and imposed up to approximately
$3,300,000,000 in losses for poultry and egg farmers, animal
feed producers, baked good production, and other related
industries.
(4) Public health preparedness depends on agriculture in a
variety of ways. For example, a wide range of vaccines,
including those for influenza, yellow fever, rabies, and
measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), are primarily cultivated in
poultry eggs. Egg shortages resulting from zoonotic disease
outbreaks could impose serious risks to vaccine manufacturing
efforts.
(5) It is estimated that approximately 80 percent of
potential pathogens likely to be used in bioterrorism or
biowarfare are common zoonotic pathogens.
(6) While existing Federal Government initiatives related
to One Health span multiple agencies, including the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention One Health office and the
Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Services' One Health Coordination Center, additional
interagency coordination is necessary to help better prevent,
prepare for, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks.
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY ONE HEALTH PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the
Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this Act as the
``Secretaries''), in coordination with the United States Agency for
International Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior, the
Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, and other
departments and agencies as appropriate, shall develop, publish, and
submit to Congress a national One Health Framework (referred to in this
Act as the ``framework'') for coordinated Federal Activities under the
One Health Program.
(b) National One Health Framework.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries, in cooperation with the
United States Agency for International Development, the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of the Interior, the Department of
Defense, the Department of Commerce, and other departments and
agencies as appropriate, shall develop, publish, and submit to
Congress a One Health Framework (referred to in this section as
the ``framework'') for coordinated Federal activities under the
One Health Program.
(2) Contents of framework.--The framework described in
paragraph (1) shall describe existing efforts and contain
recommendations for building upon and complementing the
activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the Department of
Agriculture, the United States Agency for International
Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National
Institutes of Health, the Department of Homeland Security, the
Department of the Interior, the Department of the Interior, and
other departments and agencies, as appropriate, and shall--
(A) assess, identify, and describe, as appropriate,
existing activities of Federal agencies and departments
under the One Health Program and consider whether all
relevant agencies are adequately represented;
(B) for the 10-year period beginning in the year
the framework is submitted, establish specific Federal
goals and priorities that most effectively advance--
(i) scientific understanding of the
connections between human, animal, and
environmental health;
(ii) coordination and collaboration between
agencies involved in the framework including
sharing data and information, engaging in joint
fieldwork, and engaging in joint laboratory
studies related to One Health;
(iii) identification of priority zoonotic
diseases and priority areas of study;
(iv) surveillance of priority zoonotic
diseases and their transmission between animals
and humans;
(v) prevention of priority zoonotic
diseases and their transmission between animals
and humans;
(vi) protocol development to improve joint
outbreak response to and recovery from zoonotic
disease outbreaks in animals and humans; and
(vii) workforce development to prevent and
respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks in
animals and humans;
(C) describe specific activities required to
achieve the goals and priorities described in
subparagraph (B), and propose a timeline for achieving
these goals;
(D) identify and expand partnerships, as
appropriate, among Federal agencies, States, Indian
tribes, academic institutions, nongovernmental
organizations, and private entities in order to develop
new approaches for reducing hazards to human and animal
health and to strengthen understanding of the value of
an integrated approach under the One Health Program to
addressing public health threats in a manner that
prevents duplication;
(E) identify best practices related to State and
local-level research coordination, field activities,
and disease outbreak preparedness, response, and
recovery related to One Health; and
(F) provide recommendations to Congress regarding
additional action or legislation that may be required
to assist in establishing the One Health Program.
(3) Addendum.--Not later than 3 years after the creation of
the framework, the Secretary, in coordination with the agencies
described in paragraph (1), shall submit to Congress an
addendum to the framework that describes the progress made in
advancing the activities described in the framework.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary.
SEC. 4. GAO REPORT.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the submission of the
addendum under section 3(b)(3), the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to Congress a report that--
(1) details existing collaborative efforts between the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug
Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the United
States Agency for International Development, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health, the
Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the
Interior, and other departments and agencies to prevent and
respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks in animals and humans;
and
(2) contains an evaluation of the framework and the
specific activities requested to achieve the framework.
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