I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7025 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to certain 

public health laboratories to assist such laboratories in meeting the 

cost of acquiring high-throughput diagnostic equipment, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 27, 2020 

Mr. BUCSHON 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 grants 

to certain public health laboratories to assist such laboratories in meeting the cost of acquiring high-throughput 

diagnostic equipment, 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 ‘‘Diagnostic Testing for 

5 Public Health Labs Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES TO 

2 ACQUIRE HIGH-THROUGHPUT DIAGNOSTIC 

3 EQUIPMENT. 

4 Section 2821 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 300hh–31) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub7 section (c); 

8 (2) in subsection (c), as so redesignated— 

9 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

10 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re11 spectively, and moving the margin of each such 

12 redesignated subparagraph 2 ems to the right; 

13 and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘There are authorized to 

15 be appropriated to carry out this section’’ and 

16 inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

18 appropriated to carry out subsection (a)’’; 

19 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol20 lowing new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(b) GRANTS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES

22 TO ACQUIRE HIGH-THROUGHPUT DIAGNOSTIC EQUIP23 MENT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through 

25 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

26 Prevention, shall award grants to eligible entities to 


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1 assist such entities in purchasing high-throughput 

2 diagnostic equipment and related supplies. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

4 under paragraph (1), an entity shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) be— 

6 ‘‘(i) a State, local, or Tribal public 

7 health laboratory; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a laboratory within a public 

9 health laboratory network coordinated or 

10 managed by the Centers for Disease Con11 trol and Prevention; 

12 ‘‘(iii) a laboratory not described in 

13 clause (i) or (ii) that the Secretary deter14 mines (at the Secretary’s discretion) pro15 vides population-based testing for the pre16 vention and control of infectious, commu17 nicable, genetic, or chronic diseases; or 

18 ‘‘(iv) a consortium of 2 or more enti19 ties described in any of clauses (i) through 

20 (iii); and 

21 ‘‘(B) submit to the Secretary an applica22 tion at such time, in such manner, and con23 taining such information as the Secretary may 

24 reasonably require. 


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1 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received 

2 through a grant under this subsection shall be used 

3 to purchase high-throughput diagnostic equipment 

4 and such materials as are necessary to administer, 

5 store, and process applicable tests, including diag6 nostic and serological tests. 

7 ‘‘(4) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a 

8 grant under paragraph (1) may not exceed 

9 $2,000,000, except in the case of eligible entity de10 scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(iv). 

11 ‘‘(5) HIGH-THROUGHPUT DIAGNOSTIC EQUIP12 MENT DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘high13 throughput diagnostic equipment’ means legally14 marketed equipment and supplies capable of per15 forming multichannel analysis for use in clinical lab16 oratory diagnostic testing.’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end of subsection (c), as 

18 redesignated, the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of 

21 carrying out subsection (b), there is authorized 

22 to be appropriated $250,000,000 for fiscal year 

23 2020, to remain available until expended. 

24 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

25 amount made available to carry out subsection 


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1 (b) for any fiscal year, the Secretary may not 

2 use more than 5 percent of such amount for the 

3 expenses of administering subsection (b).’’. 

Æ 


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