I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2111 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a Reducing Youth 
Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 4, 2019 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. 
JACKSON
LEE, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HIGGINS
of New York, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DEUTCH, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 
a Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative. 
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 ‘‘Preventing Opportuni-
ties for Teen E-Cigarette and Tobacco Addiction Act’’ or 
the ‘‘PROTECT Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REDUCING YOUTH USE OF E-CIGARETTES INITIA-
TIVE. 
The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert-
ing after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 317U. REDUCING YOUTH USE OF E-CIGARETTES INI-
TIATIVE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, shall carry out an initiative, to be known as the 
Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative, which shall 
include the following: 
‘‘(1) Conducting research, (including by using 
rapid surveillance methods) on use by youth and 
young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging 
tobacco products, including research on— 
‘‘(A) the types of products youth and 
young adults use; 
‘‘(B) patterns of products used by youth 
and young adults, including initiation, fre-
quency of use, use in combination with other to-
bacco products, and use of flavors; 
‘‘(C) the association between the use by 
youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes 
and smoking initiation; 
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‘‘(B) biomarkers of exposure to electronic 
cigarettes and emerging tobacco products and 
resulting health impacts from such exposure. 
‘‘(3) Identifying effective messages to youth and 
young adults, parents, clinicians, health profes-
sionals, and others who work or interact with youth 
and young adults for preventing use of electronic 
cigarettes and emerging tobacco products. 
‘‘(4) Developing and implementing a campaign, 
in coordination with the Surgeon General of the 
Public Health Service, to educate youth and young 
adults, parents, clinicians, health professionals, and 
others about— 
‘‘(A) the rapidly evolving tobacco product 
landscape; and 
‘‘(B) the harms associated with the use by 
youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes 
and other emerging products. 
‘‘(5) Providing funding through grants, cooper-
ative agreements, or contracts to State, territorial, 
Tribal, and local health departments, community or-
ganizations, national and Tribal organizations, or 
State and local educational agencies, as appropriate, 
for preventing and reducing the use by youth and 
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young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging 
tobacco products. 
‘‘(6) Informing the development, implementa-
tion, and evaluation of evidence-based policies to 
prevent the initiation and use of emerging tobacco 
products among youth and young adults. 
‘‘(b) NO DUPLICATION.—The Secretary shall ensure 
that activities under this section do not duplicate other 
activities of the Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices. 
‘‘(c) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce of the House of Representatives, and make 
available to the public on the internet website of the De-
partment of Health and Human Services, a strategy for 
carrying out the Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Ini-
tiative. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro-
priated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 
through 2024.’’. 
Æ 
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