I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5794 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance the national strategy 
for combating and eliminating tuberculosis, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2018 
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. ENGEL, 
and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance the 
national strategy for combating and eliminating tuber-
culosis, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Comprehensive TB 
Elimination Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR COMBATING AND ELIMI-
NATING TUBERCULOSIS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 317E of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–6) is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this 
subsection, the Secretary may give priority to award-
ing grants to State health departments proposing to 
focus on the prevention, control, and elimination of 
tuberculosis in high-risk populations, including for-
eign-born, homeless, incarcerated, HIV-tuberculosis 
coinfected, and medically underserved populations.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) in subparagraph (C), by redesig-
nating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) 
and (II), respectively, and adjusting the 
margins accordingly; and 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(A) through (F) as clauses (i) through (vi), 
respectively, and adjusting the margins ac-
cordingly; 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(1) 
through (8) as subparagraphs (A) through (H), 
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respectively, and adjusting the margins accord-
ingly; 
(C) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘With re-
spect to’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to’’; and 
(D) by striking subparagraph (B), as so 
redesignated, and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) Research, investigations, experiments, 
demonstrations, and studies in the health 
sciences that are related to— 
‘‘(i) the development of new thera-
peutics, 
including 
vaccines 
and 
anti-
microbial drugs, to prevent and treat tu-
berculosis; 
‘‘(ii) novel therapeutics for special 
populations, 
including 
pediatric 
popu-
lations, immunosuppressed individuals, and 
pregnant women; 
‘‘(iii) the development or testing of 
medical diagnostics to detect tuberculosis; 
‘‘(iv) public health interventions to ad-
dress the epidemiology, mechanisms, and 
pathogenesis of tuberculosis, such as di-
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rectly observed therapy and non-pharma-
ceutical intervention; 
‘‘(v) methods to enhance detection 
and response to outbreaks of tuberculosis, 
including multidrug resistant tuberculosis; 
and 
‘‘(vi) other relevant research areas.’’; 
(E) in subparagraph (C), as so redesig-
nated— 
(i) by redesignating clause (vi), as so 
redesignated, as clause (vii); 
(ii) in clause (v), as so redesignated, 
by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting ‘‘;’’; and 
(iii) by inserting after clause (v), as so 
redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(vi) the intensification of efforts to 
prevent, detect, and treat latent tuber-
culosis; and’’; 
(F) in subparagraph (D), as so redesig-
nated, by inserting before the period the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, including public awareness campaigns 
and development of educational, risk, and 
media communications.’’; 
(G) in subparagraph (F), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘paragraphs (1) through 
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(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) through 
(D)’’; and 
(H) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) SELECTION.—In carrying out the activities 
described in paragraph (1), the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) is encouraged to give priority to pro-
grammatically relevant research so that new 
tools can be utilized in public health practice; 
and 
‘‘(B) may seek input from the Biomedical 
Advanced Research and Development Authority 
in identifying novel candidates to utilize in the 
efforts under this subsection to prevent, diag-
nose, and control tuberculosis.’’; 
(3) by redesignating subsections (c) through (h) 
as subsections (d) through (i), respectively; 
(4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing— 
‘‘(c) GRANTS FOR COORDINATION OF PROGRAMS AND 
SERVICES FOR PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREAT-
MENT.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Administrator of the Health Resources and Serv-
ices Administration, may award grants to State and 
local governments and Federally qualified health 
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centers for coordinating the programs and services 
of such States, governments, and centers to ensure 
timely and appropriate prevention, risk-based screen-
ing, diagnosis, and treatment of latent and active tu-
berculosis. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘Federally qualified health center’ has the meaning 
given to such term in section 1861(aa) of the Social 
Security Act.’’; 
(5) in subsections (d), (e), and (f), as so redes-
ignated, by striking ‘‘(a) or (b)’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘(a), (b), or (c)’’; 
(6) in subsection (g)(4), as so redesignated, by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—The Sec-
retary is encouraged to make the reports under 
subparagraph (A), or other publications rel-
evant to domestic tuberculosis surveillance, pub-
licly available on the Internet website of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 
disseminate such information to stakeholders.’’; 
(7) in subsection (h), as so redesignated— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘research into new 
tools under subsection (b)(2)’’ and insert-
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ing ‘‘the research, investigations, experi-
ments, demonstrations, and studies in 
health science under subsection (b)(1)(B)’’; 
and 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘ensuring access to 
the products developed as a result of such 
research, investigations, experiments, dem-
onstrations, and studies and’’ after ‘‘advice 
regarding’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(D) and (E) as subparagraphs (E) and 
(F), respectively; and 
(ii) by inserting after subparagraph 
(C) the following: 
‘‘(D) members of the Biomedical Advanced 
Research and Development Authority;’’; and 
(8) in subsection (i)(1)(A), as so redesignated, 
by striking ‘‘$200,000,000’’ and all that follows 
through the period and inserting ‘‘$142,200,000 for 
fiscal year 2018, $195,700,000 for fiscal year 2019, 
$225,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, $236,250,000 for 
fiscal year 2021, $248,062,500 for fiscal year 2022, 
and $260,465,625 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 
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(b) 
NIH 
TUBERCULOSIS
ACTIVITIES.—Section 
424C(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
285b–7c(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(1) enhancing basic, clinical, and operational 
research on tuberculosis, including with respect to— 
‘‘(A) drug-resistant tuberculosis; 
‘‘(B) infection with tuberculosis and la-
tency and progression of tuberculosis; and 
‘‘(C) pediatric tuberculosis;’’. 
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall issue a report on the coordination of efforts in the 
United States to— 
(1) prevent, control, and eliminate tuberculosis; 
and 
(2) implement the activities under section 317E 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b– 
6), as amended by this Act, and the National Action 
Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuber-
culosis, issued in December 2015. 
Æ 
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