(1) Each year approximately 9,000,000 people 
become ill with active tuberculosis (TB), an airborne 
infectious disease, and it is estimated that 1,500,000 
of those people die, making TB the second leading 
global infectious disease killer. 
(2) There is a global underinvestment in quality 
TB control, and in the research and development of 
new drugs, diagnostics and a vaccine, as well as in 
the relationship between TB and HIV/AIDS. 
(3) The increasing occurrence of multi-drug re-
sistant (‘‘MDR’’) TB, including extensively drug re-
sistant (‘‘XDR’’) TB which is resistant to at least 
two of the recommended first-line drugs and the rec-
ommended second-line medications, is a serious and 
emerging global health problem. 
(4) Cases of TB are reported annually in every 
State within the United States, with a total of 9,582 
cases of active TB reported in the United States in 
2013. 
(5) In addition to those with active TB, an esti-
mated 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 people in the United 
States are infected with the TB bacteria. 
(6) Drug-resistant TB poses a particular chal-
lenge to domestic TB control due to the high costs 
of treatment and intensive health care resources re-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:56 Dec 19, 2014
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5835.IH
H5835
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
quired. Treatment costs for MDR TB range from 
$100,000 to $300,000, which can cause a serious 
strain on State public health budgets. 
(7) In 2013, the United States experienced seri-
ous shortages of first- and second-line TB drugs and 
biologics, including isoniazid, the first-line TB drug, 
and tubersol, the biologic used in TB skin tests. 
(8) New tools are urgently needed to more ef-
fectively prevent, diagnose, and treat TB. Within the 
last 40 years, only one new TB drug has been devel-
oped and approved in the United States, and the 
treatment regimen for MDR TB remains excessively 
lengthy, toxic, and difficult for patients to tolerate. 
The existing vaccine, which is not used in the United 
States, confers no protection to adolescents and 
adults, protecting only against pulmonary TB in in-
fants and children. 
(9) The expertise in identifying, treating, and 
preventing TB is within the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention and the United States public 
health system. The identification and preventive 
treatment of the millions of people in the United 
States with TB infection, representing the reservoir 
of future active TB cases, is a key component of the 
strategy to eliminate TB in the United States. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:56 Dec 19, 2014
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5835.IH
H5835
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 3. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. 
Clause (i) of section 506D(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 356d(a)(1)(B)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) plans for enhanced interagency 
and intra-agency coordination, communica-
tion, and decisionmaking, including by en-
suring coordination between the task force 
established under this section and the Fed-
eral Tuberculosis Task Force under section 
317E(g) of the Public Health Service Act 
in the development and implementation of 
strategies and systems to prevent and miti-
gate shortages of drugs used in connection 
with tuberculosis;’’. 
SEC. 4. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVEN-
TION; HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES 
ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) PRIORITIZING PROGRAMS FOR HIGH-RISK POPU-
LATIONS, INCLUDING FOREIGN-BORN, HOMELESS, AND 
UNINSURED POPULATIONS.—Subsection (a) of section 
317E of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b– 
6) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary’’; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:56 Dec 19, 2014
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5835.IH
H5835
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this 
subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to 
awarding grants to State health departments pro-
posing to focus on the prevention, control, and elimi-
nation of tuberculosis in high-risk populations, in-
cluding foreign-born, homeless, and uninsured popu-
lations.’’. 
(b) GRANTS FOR COORDINATION OF PROGRAMS AND 
SERVICES FOR PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREAT-
MENT.— 
(1) GRANTS.—Section 317E of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–6) is amend-
ed— 
(A) 
by 
redesignating 
subsections 
(c) 
through (h) as subsections (d) through (i), re-
spectively; and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 
following: 
‘‘(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 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:56 Dec 19, 2014
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5835.IH
H5835
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
local governments and Federally qualified health 
centers for coordinating the programs and services 
of such governments and centers to ensure timely 
and appropriate prevention, diagnosis, and treat-
ment of tuberculosis. 
‘‘(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.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING CHANGES.—Section 317E of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–6) 
is amended— 
(A) in subsections (d), (e)(1), (e)(3)(A), 
and (f)(1), as redesignated, by striking ‘‘sub-
section (a) or (b)’’ each place it appears and in-
serting ‘‘subsection (a), (b), or (c)’’; and 
(B) in subsection (e)(3)(A), as redesig-
nated, by inserting ‘‘(subject to subsection 
(a)(2))’’ after ‘‘highest priority’’. 
(c) FEDERAL TUBERCULOSIS TASK FORCE.—Para-
graph (1) of section 317E(h) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–6(g)), as redesignated, is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The Federal Tuberculosis Task 
Force (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Task 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:56 Dec 19, 2014
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5835.IH
H5835
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS