Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) today announced a subcommittee hearing titled “Preparing for and Responding to Future Public Health Security Threats.” 

Chairs Rodgers and Guthrie released the following statement: 

“America’s public health security is a critical part of our national security, which requires our government to be equipped to respond to all types of hazards, whether deliberate, accidental, or natural. Reauthorizing these important biodefense and public health preparedness programs will require us to consider lessons learned from the government’s immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also be forward thinking about the next possible threat—whether it’s chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, a cyberattack, or another emerging infectious disease. Doing so will require bipartisan cooperation and work, which we look forward to continuing in this hearing.” 

Subcommittee on Health hearing titled “Preparing for and Responding to Future Public Health Security Threats.” 

WHAT: A subcommittee hearing to discuss how the federal government can better prepare for and respond to future public health security threats. 

DATE: Thursday, May 11, 2023 

TIME: 10:00 AM EDT 

LOCATION: 2322 Rayburn House Office Building 

WITNESSES:  

Panel I: 

• The Honorable Dawn O’Connell, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Department of Health and Human Services  
• Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
• The Honorable Robert M. Califf, M.D., Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration  

Panel II: 

• Dr. Tom Inglesby, Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Bloomberg School of Public Health 
• Dr. Randall Lutter, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute 
• Mr. Erik Decker, Chair, Cybersecurity Working Group, Health Sector Coordinating Council  
• Dr. Mary Denigan-Macauley, PhD, Director, Health Care and Public Health & Private Markets, U.S. Government Accountability Office  

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: The hearing is the official start of the legislative process for reauthorizing certain key programs and authorities originally established in the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) ahead of their September 30, 2023, expiration date. 

PAHPA was first signed into law in 2006, and reauthorized in 2013 and 2019, with the goal to improve the nation’s health security and advance U.S. public health and medical preparedness and response capabilities for emergencies, whether deliberate, accidental, or natural. This legislation established and enhanced many of the federal government’s biodefense and pandemic preparedness programs, including the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE), the National Health Security Strategy (NHSS), the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreements, and the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP).

This notice is at the direction of the Chair. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live streamed online at https://energycommerce.house.gov/. If you have any questions concerning the hearing, please contact Jolie Brochin with the Committee staff at Jolie.Brochin@mail.house.gov. If you have any press-related questions, please contact Christopher Krepich at Christopher.Krepich@mail.house.gov.