WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) made the following statement on the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPA) becoming law today.
“I applaud President Trump for signing this common sense, sorely needed legislation into law, and my colleagues Reps. Susan Brooks and Anna Eshoo for spearheading this issue through the Energy and Commerce Committee and through the House. The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act (PAHPA) represents a longstanding bipartisan commitment to strengthening our national security. While this is long overdue, I am glad that our nation’s public health preparedness and response programs are now reauthorized and extended to give our federal, state, and local officials the tools they need to respond quickly and effectively to ongoing threats of all kinds. " said Walden.
Background:
In January, the House passed H.R. 269, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019, authored by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN), by a vote of 401-17. In May, the Senate passed its own version, S. 1379, by voice vote and the House sent this legislation to the President’s desk earlier this month.
In September 2018, the House passed H.R. 6378, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018, also authored by Reps. Brooks and Eshoo, which was not considered by the Senate before the end of the 115th Congress.
