II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4391 

To authorize a public service announcement campaign on the efficacy of 

cloth face coverings in reducing the spread of COVID–19, to authorize 

a program to provide cloth face coverings to any individual in the 

United States who requests one free of charge, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2020 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize a public service announcement campaign on 

the efficacy of cloth face coverings in reducing the spread 

of COVID–19, to authorize a program to provide cloth 

face coverings to any individual in the United States 

who requests one free of charge, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Masks Work Act of 

5 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The SARS–CoV–2 virus has killed over 

2 150,000 individuals in the United States and in3 fected more than 4,000,000 others. 

4 (2) The measures taken to contain the virus, in5 cluding social distancing and stay at home orders, 

6 have resulted in a significant economic disruption, 

7 causing tens of millions of individuals to lose jobs 

8 and income. 

9 (3) Scientific experts have warned of the danger 

10 of a second wave of infections striking the United 

11 States in fall and winter. 

12 (4) Scientific experts within the United States 

13 Government and elsewhere have strongly advised in14 dividuals to wear cloth face coverings as a means to 

15 slow the spread of COVID–19 and have stated that 

16 wearing cloth face coverings may reduce the spread 

17 of respiratory droplets that may carry the disease. 

18 (5) There is a growing body of scientific re19 search indicating that high levels of cloth face cov20 ering adoption by a population can reduce trans21 mission of the virus, and may prevent asymptomatic 

22 or presymptomatic carriers from unknowingly infect23 ing others. 

24 (6) One scientific model estimated that if 80 

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ering use, transmission would be 1 1 ⁄12 what it would 

2 be in a population without wearing cloth face cov3 erings. Another newly released study conducted with 

4 animals found that certain face coverings reduced 

5 transmission of COVID–19 by 75 percent. 

6 (7) Nations in Southeast Asia with high levels 

7 of cloth face covering wearing have been more effec8 tive than others in reducing the spread of COVID– 

9 19, and have experienced comparably fewer infec10 tions and deaths as a result. 

11 (8) A recent study from the University of 

12 Iowa’s College of Public Health suggests that the 15 

13 States and the District of Columbia, having man14 dated wearing face coverings in public between April 

15 8, 2020, and May 15, 2020, averted as many as 

16 230,000 to 450,000 COVID–19 cases. 

17 (9) Many individuals have heeded the calls of 

18 public health experts to wear cloth face coverings 

19 and have made major sacrifices in other aspects of 

20 their life in order to control the spread of the virus. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that — 

23 (1) following the consensus advice of public 

24 health experts to wear face coverings can meaning25 fully reduce transmission rates for COVID–19, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:16 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4391.IS S4391

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1 sulting in fewer deaths, fewer individuals made seri2 ously ill, and less economic disruption; 

3 (2) individuals should wear appropriate face 

4 coverings in accordance with public health guidance, 

5 including in situations where social distancing is dif6 ficult or impossible, particularly in indoors environ7 ments, both to protect themselves and to protect 

8 older individuals or others with health conditions 

9 that increase the risks of serious illness due to 

10 COVID–19; and 

11 (3) leaders across the political spectrum should 

12 model behaviors recommended by public health ex13 perts by wearing face coverings appropriately and 

14 encouraging those around them to do the same. 

15 SEC. 4. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT CAMPAIGN. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Centers for 

17 Disease Control and Prevention (in this section referred 

18 to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall carry out a linguistically and 

19 culturally competent public service announcement cam20 paign on television, radio, the internet, and digital plat21 forms, and in print publications, informing the public on— 

22 (1) the efficacy of cloth face coverings; and 

23 (2) why cloth face coverings are recommended 

24 by public health experts to reduce the spread of 

25 COVID–19. 


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1 (b) AUDIENCE.—In carrying out the campaign under 

2 subsection (a), the Director shall ensure that public serv3 ice announcements reach as many individuals as possible 

4 with scientifically accurate messages about cloth face cov5 erings. 

6 (c) ACCESSIBILITY.—The Director shall ensure that 

7 public service announcements are provided in formats suit8 able for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, 

9 blind, and people who cannot rely on speech to be heard 

10 and understood, including the following: 

11 (1) American Sign Language. 

12 (2) Large print. 

13 (3) Braille. 

14 (4) Fully accessible websites. 

15 (5) Captioned videos. 

16 (d) LANGUAGE.—The Director shall ensure that pub17 lic service announcements under this section are provided 

18 in languages in addition to English, including— 

19 (1) the languages recommended in the Depart20 ment of Homeland Security’s Language Access Plan 

21 issued on October 1, 2016, and any succeeding plan; 

22 (2) Native American languages that are official 

23 State languages that have not less than 1,000 

24 speakers, and any other Native American language 

25 with not less than 10,000 speakers; and 


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1 (3) territorial languages that are official lan2 guages. 

3 (e) ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES OR FORMATS.—The Di4 rector shall ensure that public service announcements 

5 under this section are developed in additional languages 

6 or formats as needed to meet specific State or local needs 

7 as requested by a State governor or department of health. 

8 (f) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—In carrying out the 

9 campaign under subsection (a), the Director may, subject 

10 to the availability of appropriations, award grants to, and 

11 enter into contracts with, public and private entities (in12 cluding nonprofit organizations). 

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

14 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

15 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2020 and 

16 2021, to remain available until expended. 

17 SEC. 5. CLOTH FACE COVERINGS FOR ALL. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap19 propriations, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

20 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry 

21 out a program, in partnership with other Federal agencies, 

22 to provide cloth face coverings to any individual in the 

23 United States who requests such coverings free of charge 

24 by United States mail and through other means, such as 


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1 distribution at COVID–19 testing sites, as determined ap2 propriate by the Secretary. 

3 (b) REQUESTS.—In carrying out this section, the 

4 Secretary shall establish procedures allowing individuals 

5 to request up to three cloth face coverings per person in 

6 their household through the internet, by mail, or by phone 

7 (including text messaging). 

8 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall consult 

9 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

10 Prevention, the Director of the National Institutes of 

11 Health, and the heads of other agencies as appropriate 

12 regarding the design and selection of cloth face coverings 

13 to be provided under this section. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

15 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

16 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2020 and 

17 2021, to remain available until expended. 

18 SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH RESEARCH ON 

19 CLOTH FACE COVERING EFFICACY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In21 stitutes of Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Di22 rector’’) shall conduct or support research on the efficacy 

23 of cloth face coverings, face shields, and other facial cov24 erings to reduce the spread of COVID–19. 


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1 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Research under this section 

2 may include— 

3 (1) research on the effect of wearing cloth face 

4 coverings on the spread of SARS–CoV–2 and 

5 COVID–19; 

6 (2) research on the situations for which cloth 

7 face coverings are scientifically indicated; 

8 (3) research on the most effective materials or 

9 designs of cloth face coverings; and 

10 (4) other topics as the Director determines ap11 propriate. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

13 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

14 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2022, 

15 to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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