I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 173 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make 

grants and enter into cooperative agreements with entities to expand 

and support activities with respect to the prevention and treatment 

of a covered condition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. DEAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SEAN PATRICK

MALONEY of New York, Ms. MENG, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 

Secretary to make grants and enter into cooperative 

agreements with entities to expand and support activities 

with respect to the prevention and treatment of a covered 

condition, 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 ‘‘COVID–19 Prevention 

5 and Awareness Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COVID–19 PREVENTION AND AWARENESS GRANTS. 

2 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 

3 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 330N. PROGRAM TO PREVENT AND TREAT COVERED 

6 CONDITIONS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

8 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre9 vention, may award grants and enter into cooperative 

10 agreements with covered entities to expand and support 

11 activities with respect to the prevention and treatment of 

12 covered conditions, including— 

13 ‘‘(1) conducting screenings, surveillance, and di14 agnostic testing for covered conditions; 

15 ‘‘(2) providing guidance to individuals on such 

16 prevention and treatment activities; and 

17 ‘‘(3) providing guidance on vaccinations rec18 ommended by the Advisory Committee on Immuniza19 tion Practices established by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking a grant under 

21 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 

22 at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 

23 information as the Secretary may require. 

24 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants or entering into 

25 cooperative agreements under this section, the Secretary 

26 shall give priority to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) federally qualified health centers (as de2 fined in section 330A); 

3 ‘‘(2) community-based organizations; and 

4 ‘‘(3) entities that have an agreement with a fed5 erally-qualified health center. 

6 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—An entity that 

8 receives a grant or enters into a cooperative agree9 ment under this section shall submit to the Sec10 retary a report that includes— 

11 ‘‘(A) a description of each activity carried 

12 out— 

13 ‘‘(i) pursuant to the cooperative 

14 agreement; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) with amounts received through 

16 the grant; and 

17 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

18 each such activity. 

19 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 

20 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 

21 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 

22 the effectiveness of the grants and cooperative agree23 ments entered into under this section. 

24 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—An entity re25 ceiving a grant under this section shall use grant amounts 


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1 to supplement, not supplant, any other Federal, State, and 

2 local funds that would otherwise be expended by such enti3 ty to carry out the activities described in this section. 

4 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) COVERED CONDITION.—The term ‘covered 

6 condition’ means a disease or condition that has 

7 been identified by the Centers for Disease Control 

8 and Prevention to increase, or likely increase, the 

9 risk of mortality from COVID–19 or to increase, or 

10 likely increase, the risk of severe illness from 

11 COVID–19, including the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) Asthma. 

13 ‘‘(B) Cancer. 

14 ‘‘(C) Cerebrovascular disease. 

15 ‘‘(D) Chronic kidney disease. 

16 ‘‘(E) Chronic obstructive pulmonary dis17 ease. 

18 ‘‘(F) Cystic fibrosis. 

19 ‘‘(G) Hypertension or high blood pressure. 

20 ‘‘(H) Liver disease. 

21 ‘‘(I) Neurologic conditions, including de22 mentia. 

23 ‘‘(J) Obesity. 

24 ‘‘(K) Pregnancy. 

25 ‘‘(L) Pulmonary fibrosis. 


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1 ‘‘(M) Serious heart conditions, including 

2 heart failure, coronary artery disease, and car3 diomyopathy. 

4 ‘‘(N) Sickle cell disease. 

5 ‘‘(O) Pulmonary conditions resulting from 

6 tobacco use. 

7 ‘‘(P) Thalassemia. 

8 ‘‘(Q) Tobacco use. 

9 ‘‘(R) Type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus. 

10 ‘‘(S) Weakened immune system, including 

11 from— 

12 ‘‘(i) a solid organ transplant; 

13 ‘‘(ii) a blood or bone marrow trans14 plant; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the human immunodeficiency 

16 virus; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) the use of a corticosteroid or 

18 other immune weakening medicine. 

19 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en20 tity’ includes the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) Federally qualified health center (as 

22 defined in section 330A). 

23 ‘‘(B) Entity that has an agreement with a 

24 federally qualified health center. 

25 ‘‘(C) Community-based organization. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Faith-based organization. 

2 ‘‘(E) Nonprofit organization. 

3 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

4 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro5 priated $2,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2021 

6 through 2022, to remain available until expended. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 330O. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE AWARENESS 

8 OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COVERED 

9 CONDITIONS AND COVID–19. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

11 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre12 vention, may award grants to entities to carry out a cam13 paign to increase awareness of the relationship between— 

14 ‘‘(1) covered conditions; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the increased risk of developing a severe 

16 illness or mortality from COVID–19. 

17 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking a grant under 

18 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 

19 at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 

20 information as the Secretary may require, including a de21 scription of how the entity intends to carry out the activi22 ties specified in subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(c) CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the 

24 campaign under subsection (a), an entity shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) develop and disseminate informational ma2 terial— 

3 ‘‘(A) that is culturally and linguistically 

4 appropriate; 

5 ‘‘(B) targeted toward communities and 

6 populations that are at a high risk of— 

7 ‘‘(i) developing a covered condition; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) contracting COVID–19; 

10 ‘‘(C) that increases awareness of the safety 

11 and effectiveness of a COVID–19 vaccine; and 

12 ‘‘(D) that identifies locations in the com13 munity served by the entity where COVID–19 

14 vaccines are administered; 

15 ‘‘(2) consult with members of such communities 

16 and populations to develop the informational mate17 rial under paragraph (1); and 

18 ‘‘(3) disseminate informational material on 

19 treatments available for covered conditions, includ20 ing, if applicable, treatments provided by the entity. 

21 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec22 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to— 

23 ‘‘(1) federally qualified health centers (as de24 fined in section 330A); 

25 ‘‘(2) community-based organizations; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) entities that have an agreement with a fed2 erally qualified health center. 

3 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—An entity that 

5 receives a grant under this section shall submit to 

6 the Secretary a report that includes— 

7 ‘‘(A) a description of each activity carried 

8 out with amounts received through the grant; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

11 each such activity. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 

13 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 

14 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 

15 the effectiveness of the grants entered into under 

16 this section. 

17 ‘‘(f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—An entity re18 ceiving a grant under this section shall use grant amounts 

19 to supplement, not supplant, any other Federal, State, and 

20 local funds that would otherwise be expended by such enti21 ty to carry out the activities described in this section. 

22 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) COVERED CONDITION.—The term ‘covered 

24 condition’ has the meaning given such term in sec25 tion 330N. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVID–19 VACCINE.—The term ‘COVID– 

2 19 vaccine’ means a vaccine that is intended to pre3 vent, mitigate, or treat the virus that causes 

4 COVID–19 and— 

5 ‘‘(A) is licensed under section 351 of the 

6 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262); or 

7 ‘‘(B) authorized under section 564 of the 

8 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

9 U.S.C. 360bbb–3). 

10 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

11 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro12 priated $120,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2021 

13 through 2022, to remain available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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