Hudson Public Health Preparedness Bills Pass Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC) today released the following statement after his pieces of legislation—H.R. 4421, the Preparing for All Hazards and Pathogens Reauthorization Act and H.R. 4420, the Preparedness and Response Reauthorization Act—passed in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 

“Over the past few years, our nation has learned there are improvements to be made moving forward to enhance our level of preparedness for future Public Health Emergencies,” said Rep. Hudson. “My goal throughout our discussions this year has been to keep this legislation focused on the issues directly related to pandemic preparedness and include real reforms resulting in lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve worked hard to improve programs that strengthen our nation’s preparedness, proper communication and transparency from these agencies and necessary oversight from Congress. It has been an honor to lead this critical legislation through our Committee, and I look forward to bringing it to the floor of the House of Representatives.”

Rep. Hudson’s two pieces of legislation that passed in the Energy and Commerce Committee includes: 

• H.R. 4421, the Preparing for All Hazards and Pathogens Reauthorization Act, will reauthorize and strengthen certain programs under the Public Health Service Act with respect to public health security and all-hazards preparedness and response related to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. 
   
• H.R. 4420, the Preparedness and Response Reauthorization Act, will reauthorize and improve certain programs under the Public Health Service Act with respect to public health security and all-hazards preparedness and response related to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection. 

PAHPA was first signed into law in 2006, “to improve the Nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response capabilities for emergencies, whether deliberate, accidental, or natural.” This legislation authorized many of the federal government’s biodefense and pandemic preparedness programs, including the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), the National Health Security Strategy, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Today’s House Energy and Commerce full committee markup considered 15 pieces of legislation recently approved by the Subcommittee on Health. Watch the full committee markup here. 

The Energy and Commerce Committee is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee. Rep. Hudson has been a member of the committee since 2013, and serves on the Health Subcommittee.