Senate panel advances pandemic preparedness bill meant to strengthen biosecurity

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, or PAHPA, with the latest version informed by the failures in the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We did learn some tough lessons," Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said in his opening statements during the bipartisan markup. "We're updating the playbook."

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The 107-page bill seeks to increase accountability for various government entities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, and increase data transparency and collection.

Cassidy noted that although the executive public health agencies failed in coordination efforts during the pandemic, congressional oversight is the key to fixing those problems. "Ultimately, we're the ones responsible," he said.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said one of the bill's most important provisions is streamlining the data-sharing process between government agencies and private entities, which was severely lacking, in his estimation, during the pandemic.

"You'd think maybe the CDC would have good data, but they didn't," Romney said, lamenting that Johns Hopkins was his primary source for information during the pandemic rather than the government's leading source for disease information.

"The better we share [data] the better we will be prepared," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) highlighted the bill's provisions targeting biosecurity in research and development, including increasing funding for the creation and maintenance of bio-contaminant laboratories for research within the United States. Casey said the research and development environment "must evolve in how we manage those pathogens."

The bill also strengthens the Strategic National Stockpile of medical supplies and holds the Food and Drug Administration more accountable to market demands for items such as personal protective equipment and medications in order to prepare for emergencies.

Significant debate surrounded Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) unsuccessful amendment to strengthen the language regarding prohibiting the funding of gain-of-function research. Paul said that such research, which helps predict virus spread, is not necessary with the rapid speed of developing mRNA vaccines that can address novel crises as they develop.

Paul and several Republican committee members also said that, although the White House has stopped funding the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which many have been associated with the development of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, there is no limitation to funding for gain-of-function research in China or countries hostile to the U.S.

"We need to stop funding [gain of function] but especially with our adversaries," Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) said.

Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said although he did not support Paul's amendment because he was "concerned that we would be jeopardizing international cooperation," he would be interested in pursuing different legislation limiting funding for gain-of-function research because of the "importance" of the issue. The amendment narrowly failed.

Paul also proposed an amendment to the bill that would break up the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases into three smaller institutes in order to minimize the agency's power. The amendment was not supported by Sanders or Cassidy.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) amendment to make the CDC director a Senate-confirmed position starting immediately upon passage also did not obtain committee approval.

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Tuberville said the amendment would bring the language of an already passed provision that requires the CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate starting in 2025 more in line with the original intention of the bipartisan action of the committee.

"Americans have truly lost so much faith in the CDC as an institution, and one of the best things we can do to set us up to defeat a future pandemic is to give Americans a voice when it comes to leadership of such an important agency," Tuberville said.