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Union Calendar No. 424 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4701 

[Report No. 113–573] 

To provide for scientific frameworks with respect to vector-borne diseases. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2014 

Mr. GIBSON (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. SMITH of New 

Jersey, Mr. WOLF, and Mr. BARLETTA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mr. WELCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Mr. POSEY, Mr. WITTMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ESTY, Mr. LANCE, 

Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BARROW of Georgia, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 

CONNOLLY, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, and Mr. MAFFEI

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 21, 2014] 


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A BILL 

To provide for scientific frameworks with respect to vectorborne diseases. 


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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 ‘‘Tick-Borne Disease Re5 search Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LYME DISEASE AND OTHER TICK-BORNE DISEASES. 

7 Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

9 new part: 

10 ‘‘PART W—LYME DISEASE AND OTHER TICK11 BORNE DISEASES 

12 ‘‘SEC. 399OO. RESEARCH. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct or 

14 support epidemiological, basic, translational, and clinical 

15 research regarding Lyme disease and other tick-borne dis16 eases. 

17 ‘‘(b) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall ensure 

18 that each biennial report under section 403 includes infor19 mation on actions undertaken by the National Institutes 

20 of Health to carry out subsection (a) with respect to Lyme 

21 disease and other tick-borne diseases, including an assess22 ment of the progress made in improving the outcomes of 

23 Lyme disease and such other tick-borne diseases. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–1. WORKING GROUP. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

3 a permanent working group, to be known as the Interagency 

4 Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (in this sec5 tion and section 399OO–2 referred to as the ‘Working 

6 Group’), to review all efforts within the Department of 

7 Health and Human Services concerning Lyme disease and 

8 other tick-borne diseases to ensure interagency coordination, 

9 minimize overlap, and examine research priorities. 

10 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Working Group shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) not later than 24 months after the date of 

12 enactment of this part, and every 24 months there13 after, develop or update a summary of— 

14 ‘‘(A) ongoing Lyme disease and other tick15 borne disease research related to causes, preven16 tion, treatment, surveillance, diagnosis, duration 

17 of illness, intervention, and access to services and 

18 supports for individuals with Lyme disease or 

19 other tick-borne diseases; 

20 ‘‘(B) advances made pursuant to such re21 search; 

22 ‘‘(C) the engagement of the Department of 

23 Health and Human Services with persons that 

24 participate at the public meetings required by 

25 paragraph (5); and 


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1 ‘‘(D) the comments received by the Working 

2 Group at such public meetings and the Sec3 retary’s response to such comments; 

4 ‘‘(2) ensure that a broad spectrum of scientific 

5 viewpoints is represented in each such summary; 

6 ‘‘(3) monitor Federal activities with respect to 

7 Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases; 

8 ‘‘(4) make recommendations to the Secretary re9 garding any appropriate changes to such activities; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(5) ensure public input by holding annual pub12 lic meetings that address scientific advances, research 

13 questions, surveillance activities, and emerging 

14 strains in species of pathogenic organisms. 

15 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group shall be 

17 composed of a total of 14 members as follows: 

18 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—Seven Federal 

19 members, consisting of one or more representa20 tives of each of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the Office of the Assistant Sec22 retary for Health; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the Food and Drug Administra24 tion; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the Centers for Disease Control 

2 and Prevention; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the National Institutes of Health; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(v) such other agencies and offices of 

6 the Department of Health and Human 

7 Services as the Secretary determines appro8 priate. 

9 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL PUBLIC MEMBERS.— 

10 Seven non-Federal public members, consisting of 

11 representatives of the following categories: 

12 ‘‘(i) Physicians and other medical pro13 viders with experience in diagnosing and 

14 treating Lyme disease and other tick-borne 

15 diseases. 

16 ‘‘(ii) Scientists or researchers with ex17 pertise. 

18 ‘‘(iii) Patients and their family mem19 bers. 

20 ‘‘(iv) Nonprofit organizations that ad21 vocate for patients with respect to Lyme 

22 disease and other tick-borne diseases. 

23 ‘‘(v) Other individuals whose expertise 

24 is determined by the Secretary to be beneVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:43 Sep 08, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4701.RH H4701

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1 ficial to the functioning of the Working 

2 Group. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—The members of the Work4 ing Group shall be appointed by the Secretary, except 

5 that of the non-Federal public members under para6 graph (1)(B)— 

7 ‘‘(A) one shall be appointed by the Speaker 

8 of the House of Representatives; and 

9 ‘‘(B) one shall be appointed by the Majority 

10 Leader of the Senate. 

11 ‘‘(3) DIVERSITY OF SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVES.— 

12 In making appointments under paragraph (2), the 

13 Secretary, the Speaker of the House of Representa14 tives, and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall en15 sure that the non-Federal public members of the 

16 Working Group represent a diversity of scientific per17 spectives. 

18 ‘‘(4) TERMS.—The non-Federal public members 

19 of the Working Group shall each be appointed to serve 

20 a 4-year term and may be reappointed at the end of 

21 such term. 

22 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—The Working Group shall meet as 

23 often as necessary, as determined by the Secretary, but not 

24 less than twice each year. 


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1 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.—Not later than 24 months after the 

2 date of enactment of this part, and every 24 months there3 after, the Working Group— 

4 ‘‘(1) shall submit a report on its activities, in5 cluding an up-to-date summary under subsection 

6 (b)(1) and any recommendations under subsection 

7 (b)(4), to the Secretary, the Committee on Energy and 

8 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the 

9 Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pen10 sions of the Senate; 

11 ‘‘(2) shall make each such report publicly avail12 able on the website of the Department of Health and 

13 Human Services; and 

14 ‘‘(3) shall allow any member of the Working 

15 Group to include in any such report minority views. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–2. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

17 ‘‘Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

18 of this section, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary 

19 shall submit to the Congress a strategic plan, informed by 

20 the most recent summary under section 399OO–1(b)(1), for 

21 the conduct and support of Lyme disease and tick-borne dis22 ease research, including— 

23 ‘‘(1) proposed budgetary requirements; 

24 ‘‘(2) a plan for improving outcomes of Lyme dis25 ease and other tick-borne diseases, including progress 


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1 related to chronic or persistent symptoms and chronic 

2 or persistent infection and co-infections; 

3 ‘‘(3) a plan for improving diagnosis, treatment, 

4 and prevention; 

5 ‘‘(4) appropriate benchmarks to measure 

6 progress on achieving the improvements described in 

7 paragraphs (2) and (3); and 

8 ‘‘(5) a plan to disseminate each summary under 

9 section 399OO–1(b)(1) and other relevant information 

10 developed by the Working Group to the public, includ11 ing health care providers, public health departments, 

12 and other relevant medical groups.’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to provide for 

research with respect to Lyme disease and other tickborne diseases, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 424 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4701 

[Report No. 113–573] 

A BILL 

To provide for scientific frameworks with respect to 

vector-borne diseases. 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:43 Sep 08, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H4701.RH H4701

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