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ing regulatory obstacles that impede the adoption of 
new medical technology and pharmaceuticals. 
SEC. 515. POLICY STATEMENT ON PUBLIC HEALTH PRE-
PAREDNESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) The Constitution requires the Federal Gov-
ernment to provide for the common defense. As 
such, the Nation must prioritize its ability to re-
spond rapidly and effectively to a public health crisis 
or bioterrorism threat. 
(2) There is a persistent threat of bioterrorism 
against American lives. 
(3) Naturally-occurring public health threats 
can spread through the transmission of commu-
nicable diseases during international trade and trav-
el. 
(4) As of April 3, 2016, the World Health Or-
ganization reported nearly 29,000 cases of the Ebola 
virus worldwide, including 4 instances in the U.S. 
(5) As of July 12, 2017, the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the 
current Zika epidemic resulted in over 5,000 cases 
of the Zika virus within the United States, with 
nearly 37,000 more cases reported in U.S. terri-
tories. 
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(6) Preventing the spread of disease to Ameri-
cans requires halting threats before they breach the 
U.S. border. 
(7) The United States is a leader in global pub-
lic health assistance and orchestrates international 
responses to health crises. 
(b) POLICY ON PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS.— 
It is the policy of this concurrent resolution that— 
(1) the House should continue to fund activities 
of the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and 
the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development 
Authority to develop and stockpile medical counter-
measures to infectious diseases and chemical, bio-
logical, radiological, and nuclear agents; 
(2) the House should, within available budg-
etary resources, provide continued support for re-
search, prevention, and public health preparedness 
programs; 
(3) the Federal Government should encourage 
private-sector development of critical vaccines and 
other medical countermeasures to emerging public 
health threats; and 
(4) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of 
State should collaborate on global health prepared-
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ness initiatives to prevent overlap and promote re-
sponsible stewardship of taxpayer resources. 
SEC. 516. POLICY STATEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) More than 60 million retirees, individuals 
with disabilities, and survivors depend on Social Se-
curity. Since enactment, Social Security has served 
as a vital leg of the ‘‘three-legged stool’’ of retire-
ment security, which includes employer provided 
pensions as well as personal savings. 
(2) Lower-income Americans rely on Social Se-
curity for a larger proportion of their retirement in-
come. Therefore, reforms should take into consider-
ation the need to protect lower income Americans’ 
retirement security. 
(3) The Social Security Trustees Report has re-
peatedly recommended that Social Security’s long- 
term financial challenges be addressed soon. The fi-
nancial condition of Social Security and the threat 
to seniors and those receiving Social Security dis-
ability benefits becomes more pronounced each year 
without reform. For example— 
(A) in 2028, the Disability Insurance 
Trust Fund will be exhausted and program rev-
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enues will be unable to pay scheduled benefits; 
and 
(B) with the exhaustion of both the Dis-
ability Insurance Trust Fund and the Old-Age 
and Survivors and Disability Trust Fund in 
2035, benefits will be cut by as much as 25 
percent across the board, devastating those cur-
rently in or near retirement and those who rely 
on Social Security the most. 
(4) The recession and continued low economic 
growth have exacerbated the looming fiscal crisis 
facing Social Security. The most recent Congres-
sional Budget Office (CBO) projections find that So-
cial Security will run cash deficits of more than $1.3 
trillion over the next 10 years. 
(5) The Disability Insurance program provides 
an essential income safety net for those with disabil-
ities and their families. According to CBO, between 
1970 and 2015 the number of disabled workers and 
their dependent family members receiving disability 
benefits has increased by more than 300 percent 
from 2.7 million to over 10.9 million. This increase 
is not due strictly to population growth or decreases 
in health. CBO also attributes program growth to 
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changes in demographics and the composition of the 
labor force as well as Federal policies. 
(6) In the past, Social Security has been re-
formed on a bipartisan basis, most notably by the 
‘‘Greenspan Commission’’, which helped address So-
cial Security shortfalls for more than a generation. 
(7) Americans deserve action by the President 
and Congress to preserve and strengthen Social Se-
curity to ensure that Social Security remains a crit-
ical part of the safety net. 
(b) POLICY ON SOCIAL SECURITY.—It is the policy 
of this concurrent resolution that the House should work 
in a bipartisan manner to make Social Security solvent 
on a sustainable basis. This concurrent resolution as-
sumes, under a reform trigger, that— 
(1) if in any year the Board of Trustees of the 
Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 
Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
Fund annual Trustees Report determines that the 
75-year actuarial balance of the Social Security 
Trust Funds is in deficit, and the annual balance of 
the Social Security Trust Funds in the 75th year is 
in deficit, the Board of Trustees should, no later 
than September 30 of the same calendar year, sub-
mit to the President recommendations for statutory 
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(C) improve fairness for participants; 
(D) reduce the burden on and provide cer-
tainty for future generations; and 
(E) secure the future of the Disability In-
surance program while addressing the needs of 
those with disabilities today and improving the 
determination process. 
(c) POLICY ON DISABILITY INSURANCE.—It is the 
policy of this concurrent resolution that the House should 
consider legislation on a bipartisan basis to reform the 
Disability Insurance program prior to its insolvency in 
2028 and should not raid the Social Security retirement 
system without reforms to the Disability Insurance sys-
tem. This concurrent resolution assumes reform that— 
(1) promotes opportunity for those trying to re-
turn to work; 
(2) ensures benefits continue to be paid to indi-
viduals with disabilities and their family members 
who rely on them; 
(3) prevents a 7 percent across-the-board ben-
efit cut; and 
(4) improves the Disability Insurance program. 
(d) POLICY ON SOCIAL SECURITY SOLVENCY.—It is 
the policy of this concurrent resolution that any legislation 
the House considers to improve the solvency of the Dis-
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ability Insurance Trust Fund must also improve the long- 
term solvency of the combined Old Age and Survivors Dis-
ability Insurance Trust Fund. 
SEC. 517. POLICY STATEMENT ON MEDICAID WORK RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) Medicaid is a Federal-State program that 
provides health care coverage for impoverished 
Americans. 
(2) Medicaid serves four major population cat-
egories: the elderly, the blind and disabled, children, 
and adults. 
(3) The Congressional Budget Office projects 
the average monthly enrollment in Medicaid for fis-
cal year 2018 to be 78 million people. 
(4) Of this 78 million people, 27 million – more 
than one third of the enrollees – are non-elderly, 
non-disabled adults. 
(5) 
Medicaid 
continues 
to 
grow 
at 
an 
unsustainable rate, and will cost approximately one 
trillion dollars per year within the decade, between 
Federal and State spending. 
(6) Congress has a responsibility to preserve 
limited Medicaid resources for America’s most vul-
nerable – those who cannot provide for themselves. 
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(7) Forbes reported last year on a first-of-its- 
kind study conducted by the Foundation for Govern-
ment Accountability. It analyzed data from the State 
of Kansas, which demonstrates that work require-
ments have led to greater employment, higher in-
comes, and less poverty. 
(8) The State of Maine implemented work re-
quirements in 2014, and saw incomes rise for able- 
bodied welfare recipients by an average of 114 per-
cent within a year. 
(9) Work is a valuable source of human dignity, 
and work requirements help lift Americans out of 
poverty by incentivizing self-reliance. 
(b) POLICY ON MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS.— 
It is the policy of this concurrent resolution that— 
(1) Congress should enact legislation that en-
courages 
able-bodied, 
non-elderly, 
non-pregnant 
adults without dependents to work, actively seek 
work, participate in a job-training program, or do 
community service, in order to receive Medicaid; 
(2) Medicaid work requirements legislation 
could include 30 hours per week of work, of which 
20 of those hours should be spent in the core activi-
ties of: public or private sector employment, work 
experience, on-the-job training, job-search or job- 
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readiness assistance program participation, commu-
nity service, or vocational training and education; 
(3) States should be given flexibility to deter-
mine the parameters of qualifying program partici-
pation and work-equivalent experience; 
(4) States should perform regular case checks 
to ensure taxpayer dollars are appropriately spent; 
and 
(5) the Government Accountability Office or the 
Department of Health and Human Services Inspec-
tor General should conduct annual audits of State 
Medicaid programs to ensure proper reporting and 
prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. 
SEC. 518. POLICY STATEMENT ON WELFARE REFORM AND 
SUPPLEMENTAL 
NUTRITION 
ASSISTANCE 
PROGRAM WORK REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program (SNAP) has grown from 17 
million Americans in 2001 to 44 million in 2016. 
(2) The work support role of SNAP has de-
clined, and the program increasingly serves as a re-
placement to work. 
(3) Work requirements were key to the success 
of the Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor-
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tunity Act (Public Law 104–193), which led to a 
two-thirds reduction in welfare caseloads, a reduc-
tion in child poverty, and an increase in work par-
ticipation. The successful 1996 welfare reform law 
provides a model for improving work requirements in 
other anti-poverty programs. 
(b) POLICY ON WELFARE REFORM AND SNAP WORK 
REQUIREMENTS.—It is the policy of this concurrent reso-
lution that— 
(1) the welfare system should reward work, pro-
vide tools to escape poverty, and expect work-capable 
adults to work or prepare for work in exchange for 
welfare benefits; and 
(2) SNAP should be reformed to improve work 
requirements to help more people escape poverty and 
move up the economic ladder. 
SEC. 519. POLICY STATEMENT ON STATE FLEXIBILITY IN 
SUPPLEMENTAL 
NUTRITION 
ASSISTANCE 
PROGRAM. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) Spending on Supplemental Nutrition Assist-
ance Program (SNAP) has almost quadrupled since 
2001. 
(2) Various factors are driving this growth, but 
one major reason is that while States have the re-
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