Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5997) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to codify authority under existing grant guidance authorizing use of Urban Area Security Initiative and State Homeland Security Grant Program funding for enhancing medical preparedness, medical surge capacity, and mass prophylaxis capabilities, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 5997, the Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act, a bipartisan bill which amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make it clear that grant funds under the State Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative may be used to enhance medical preparedness and purchase medical countermeasures.

I introduced H.R. 5997 after a series of hearings on medical countermeasures in the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications. At these hearings, we received testimony from representatives of the emergency response community on the importance of stockpiling medical countermeasures in the event of a WMD attack. This includes pre- deployed medical kits for first responders and their families, similar to those provided to postal workers participating in the national U.S. Postal Medical Countermeasures Dispensing Pilot Program.

The grant guidance for the State Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative currently permits this funding to be used to procure medical countermeasures and for other medical preparedness and medical surge capacity equipment and activities. However, this guidance is developed on an annual basis, and there is no guarantee that these uses will be authorized in the future.

To be clear, this bill does not create a new grant program or authorize new funding. It simply ensures that these activities will remain allowable uses under SHSGP and UASI.

As the WMD Commission noted in its report, Mr. Speaker, ``World at Risk,'' it is more likely than not that there will be a weapon of mass destruction used someplace on Earth by a terrorist group before the end of the year 2013, and it's more likely that this weapon will be biological, rather than nuclear.

The expenditures authorized and codified by the bill we are considering today can make a difference in the protection of the public, including emergency responders, in the event of such an attack, and there should be no doubt that grant funding may be used to support them now and in the future.

As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications, I consistently find myself in awe of our first responders and the sacrifices that they make on behalf of our public. In the wake of events such as Hurricane Sandy, I am committed to ensuring Congress does all that it can to support those brave men and women, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased that this legislation is supported by the Emergency Services Coalition on Medical Preparedness, which works to ensure that we protect the protectors.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Emergency Services Coalition

for Medical Preparedness,

Falls Church, VA, November 19, 2012.

Hon. Gus Bilirakis,

Chairman, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response,

and Communications, Committee on Homeland Security, House

of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Bilirakis: The Emergency Services Coalition

for Medical Preparedness is pleased to support H.R. 5997 and

the proposed amendment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

The need for home and workplaces of medical caches to protect

the emergency services providers in the nation remains high.

Recent reports for the congressionally-chartered WMD

Commission emphasize the continuing threat posed by

biological weapons. Ensuring a resilient emergency services

sector is an imperative for a superior response, a major part

of this planning is the provision of Medkits pre-event to

these professionals.

Emergency services professionals have unique roles, and are

expected to serve and protect even in dangerous

circumstances. Having responsible pre-event protections in

place is necessary to ensure they can carry out this role.

Individual physician-based prescription efforts have provided

protection to hundreds of postal employees and federal

employees, but not the millions of protectors and their

families. Your bill addresses this gap.

We look forward to working with you and your staff in the

passage of the Bill. Thank you for your leadership and

continuing support in ``protecting the protectors.''

Sincerely,

Tim Stephens,

Advisor.

Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Ranking Member, we'll continue to work on getting that bill passed. I promise you. That's my bill, and we worked very hard. As you said, it was marked up in committee, and we'll continue to advocate on behalf, of course, of the MMRS grant program.

Mr. Speaker, I once again urge Members to support this very important bill that ensures medical preparedness activities remain an allowable use under Homeland Security Grant Programs.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to debate H.R. 5997, the ``Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act,'' which amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the use of Urban Area Security Initiative and State Homeland Security Grant Program funding for enhancing medical preparedness, medical surge capacity, and mass prophylaxis capabilities.

Moreover, this would involve the development and maintenance of an initial pharmaceutical stockpile, including medical kits, and diagnostics sufficient to protect first responders, their families, and immediate victims from a chemical or biological event.

As a proud Member of this body and as the Ranking Member on Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee on Transportation, I understand the importance of maintaining an unyielding commitment to keeping the American homeland safe from weapons of mass destruction by increasing our preparedness for dealing with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats, whether they originate from individuals, terrorist organizations, and state sponsors of terror, or horrible accidents.

While much has been done to prepare our first responders for a nuclear, chemical or biological incident in the United States, the healthcare system in this country is not fully

prepared to handle the resulting mass casualties that would likely result from such an attack.

Thousands of lives could potentially be saved if our medical personnel are adequately prepared and trained for such an occurrence.

The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) provides funding to State and local governments to assist in preparing for and responding to mass casualty incidents resulting from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other events.

Using the grants, jurisdictions develop response plans, conduct exercises and training, and acquire medical countermeasures and personal protective equipment for dealing with biological events that occur on a large scale.

As it stands, the MMRS program has not been reauthorized or appropriated funds due to recent budgetary constraints.

MMRS Characteristics include: Integrated medical response system; detailed system response & operations plans; specially trained responders at all levels; specialized response equipment; specialized medical equipment and pharmaceutical cache; enhanced medical transport and treatment capabilities.

MMRS has 12 MMRS Capability Focus Areas, which include the following: Strengthen Medical Surge; strengthen Mass Prophylaxis; strengthen CBRNE Detection, Response, and Decontamination Capabilities; strengthen Interoperable Communication Capabilities; strengthen Information Sharing and Collaboration Capabilities; expand Regional Collaboration; triage and Pre-Hospital Treatment; medical Supplies Management and Distribution; mass Care (Sheltering, Feeding, and Related Services); emergency Public Information and Warning; fatality Management; volunteer Management and Donations.

H.R. 5997 would authorize use of Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) funding toward the enhancement of medical preparedness, medical surgery capacity, and mass prophylaxis capabilities.

This would effectively allow to MMRS program to continue using these funds, which provide important measures such as a pharmaceutical stockpile, medical kits, and diagnostics that will help to protect first responders, their families, and immediate victims from a chemical or biological act of terror or accident.

As Americans, we must ensure that we are adequately prepared for whatever challenges that we face in our Nation; and nowhere is that more true than with the potential for large-scale disasters.

Preparing for large and debilitating disasters has become an inconvenient but necessary facet of modern America, a task that our government has met head on since 9/11. This bill will help to ensure that the resources are there in order to make those preparations.

Mr. Speaker, due to my surgery and recuperation during the week of November 26 through December 2, 2012, I missed five recorded votes during that week. I would like to indicate how I would have voted had I been present for these votes.

On rollcall No. 609, H.R. 5997, the Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act, I would have voted ``yea'' to authorize the use of Urban Area Security Initiative and State Homeland Security Grant Program funding to allow for the local use of these funds to enhance emergency medical preparedness programs such as medical surge capacity and preventing the spread of mass disease. This legislation will help ensure that we have the medical tools and resources needed to protect the public.

On rollcall No. 610, H.R. 915, the Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act, I would have voted ``yea'' to establish within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) program to foster coordinated efforts among federal, state and local border and law enforcement officials to protect cities and communities from crime along our borders. Southern Arizonans are in the direct path of the most serious drug cartel smuggling activity of any region in the nation and are heavily and disproportionately affected by criminal activities along the border. The BEST program will help to improve the safety and security of my constituents.

On rollcall No. 611, H. Res. 821, a rule to provide for consideration of H.R. 6429, the STEM Jobs Act of 2012,1 would have voted ``nay'' and opposed consideration of the legislation in its current form without amendment.

On rollcall No. 612, a Motion to Recommit H.R. 6429, the STEM Jobs Act of 2012, I would have voted ``yea'' to amend the bill to strike the provision that eliminates the Diversity Visa program that makes visas available to people from countries that have low rates of immigration to the United States.

On rollcall No. 613, H.R. 6429, the STEM Jobs Act of 2012, I would have voted ``yea'' to create a STEM Visa program under which foreign students that earn advanced degrees in the high-demand fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) at American universities could remain in our country to work in those fields. The program would provide 55,000 such visas annually. I regret that the legislation takes away the Diversity Visa program in order to add 55,000 visas for STEM graduates. However, finding qualified candidates to fill these positions is a very serious issue in my district, which is home to many high tech companies. These companies are too often unable to find qualified American candidates to work in this industry that is so essential to the growth of our local economy. While my first priority is supporting STEM education and jobs for American students and workers, allowing foreign STEM graduates to work in the U.S. in jobs for which American workers cannot be found will contribute to our economy and global competitiveness.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5997, the Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act, and yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, although I support H.R. 5997, it is not without reservation and concern about the reduced funding this Congress has allocated to important Homeland Security Grant Programs over the past few years. Due to significantly diminished appropriations for the Homeland Security Grant Program, important targeted grant programs such as the Metropolitan Medical Response System were consolidated into larger umbrella grant programs, such as the Urban Area Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program in FY 2012.

I'm concerned that Congress' failure to specify a funding allocation for the Metropolitan Medical Response System sends the message that medical preparedness is no longer a priority.

H.R. 5997 authorizes the use of funding awarded under the Urban Area Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program to enhance medical preparedness, medical surge capacity, and mass distribution of medical countermeasures. All of these activities would have been eligible under H.R. 1411, the Metropolitan Medical Response Systems Program Act of 2011.

H.R. 1411, which would have authorized the Metropolitan Medical Response System, was introduced by Representative Bilirakis and was marked up by the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications last year. I would rather be standing here today in support of H.R. 1411, which would send a clear message that medical preparedness is a priority for this Congress.

That said, I will support H.R. 5997 because I understand that grant resources are limited and that State and local governments must have the flexibility to utilize the scarce resources available to improve medical preparedness.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, despite my reservations regarding this measure, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 5997, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I missed two votes on Tuesday, November 27, 2012. While I was unable to cast recorded votes on legislation considered by the House, I ask that the record reflect my intentions.

On Tuesday, November 27, the House considered the Senate amendment to H.R. 915, the Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act. On rollcall vote No, 609, final passage of H.R. 915 under suspension of the rules, I would have voted ``yes.''

The House also considered H.R. 5997, the Medical Preparedness Allowable Use Act. On rollcall vote No. 610, final passage of H.R. 5997 under suspension of the rules, I would have voted ``yes.''

Further, on November 30, 2012, the House considered H.R. 6429, the STEM Jobs Act. Unfortunately, I failed to cast a vote on final passage and I would like the record to reflect that I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 613, final passage of H.R. 6429.