2423; 6 U.S.C. 104), as amended by section 1704 of the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 
(Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1797; 6 U.S.C. 104), is 
further amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 104. NATIONAL BIODEFENSE STRATEGY. 
‘‘(a) INTERAGENCY FORUM FOR BIODEFENSE PRE-
PAREDNESS.—The President shall establish a cabinet-level 
interagency forum to be known as the ‘National Bio-
defense Directorate’ (referred to in this section as the ‘Di-
rectorate’). 
‘‘(b) DUTIES
OF DIRECTORATE.—The Directorate 
shall develop— 
‘‘(1) a national biodefense strategy and associ-
ated implementation plan; and 
‘‘(2) a national strategy with respect to coun-
tering 
the 
spread 
of 
misinformation 
and 
disinformation relating to biodefense and associated 
implementation plans. 
‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Directorate shall be 
composed from governmental positions specified in 
paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) 
GOVERNMENTAL
POSITIONS.—Govern-
mental positions specified in this paragraph are the 
following: 
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‘‘(A) The Secretary of Agriculture. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary of Defense. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 
‘‘(E) The Vice President. 
‘‘(F) Other officers of the United States 
Government designated by the President. 
‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 
Directorate shall be the Vice President, or in the ab-
sence of the Vice President, the designee of the Vice 
President. 
‘‘(d) MEETING.— 
‘‘(1) MEETINGS.—The Directorate shall meet 
not less than once every six months or at the call 
of the Chairperson. 
‘‘(2) QUORUM.—A simple majority shall con-
stitute a quorum. 
‘‘(e) EXECUTIVE SECRETARY AND STAFF OF DIREC-
TORATE.— 
‘‘(1) EXECUTIVE SECRETARY.—The Directorate 
shall have an Executive Secretary who shall be— 
‘‘(A) appointed by the Chairperson; and 
‘‘(B) be an employee of the Office of the 
Vice President. 
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‘‘(2) PERSONNEL.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the rules 
prescribed by the Directorate, the Executive 
Secretary may appoint and fix the pay of per-
sonnel as the Executive Secretary considers ap-
propriate. 
‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY
OF
CIVIL
SERVICE 
LAWS.—Personnel appointed to the Directorate 
pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be subject 
to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 
governing appointments in the competitive serv-
ice, and shall be paid in accordance with the 
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of 
chapter 53 of such title relating to classification 
and General Schedule pay rates. 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FED-
ERAL
EMPLOYEES.—Except as provided in para-
graph (4), members of the Directorate who are full- 
time officers or employees of the United States may 
not receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by 
reason of their service on the Directorate. 
‘‘(4) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the 
Directorate shall receive travel expenses, including 
per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 
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applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 
57 of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(5) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Sec-
retary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, Secretary of Agriculture, and each officer of the 
United States appointed to the Directorate pursuant 
to subsection (c) shall detail, on a reimbursable 
basis, one staff member of that department or agen-
cy to the Directorate to assist it in carrying out its 
duties under this Act. 
‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 
the request of the Directorate, the Administrator of Gen-
eral Services shall provide to the Directorate, on a reim-
bursable basis, the administrative support services nec-
essary for the Directorate to carry out its responsibilities 
under this Act. 
‘‘(g) STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN RE-
QUIRED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Directorate shall joint-
ly develop a national biodefense strategy to be 
known as the ‘National Biodefense Strategy’ and as-
sociated implementation plan, which shall— 
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‘‘(A) include a review and assessment of 
biodefense policies, practices, programs and ini-
tiatives; 
‘‘(B) base such review and assessment on 
methods established by the Directorate for the 
collection and analysis of data provided by Fed-
eral, State, and local agencies; and 
‘‘(C) review and, as appropriate, revise the 
strategy every 6 months. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy and associated 
implementation plan required under subsection (a) 
shall include each of the following: 
‘‘(A) An inventory and assessment of all 
existing strategies, plans, policies, laws, and 
interagency agreements related to biodefense, 
including prevention, deterrence, preparedness, 
detection, response, attribution, recovery, and 
mitigation. 
‘‘(B) A description of biological threats, in-
cluding biological warfare, bioterrorism, natu-
rally occurring infectious diseases, and acci-
dental exposures. 
‘‘(C) A description of the current pro-
grams, efforts, or activities of the Federal Gov-
ernment with respect to— 
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‘‘(i) preventing the acquisition, pro-
liferation, and use of a biological weapon; 
‘‘(ii) preventing an accidental or natu-
rally occurring biological outbreak; and 
‘‘(iii) mitigating the effects of a bio-
logical epidemic. 
‘‘(D) A description of the roles and respon-
sibilities of the Executive Agencies, including 
internal and external coordination procedures, 
in identifying and sharing information related 
to, warning of, and protection against, acts of 
terrorism using biological agents and weapons 
and accidental or naturally occurring biological 
outbreaks. 
‘‘(E) An articulation of related or required 
interagency capabilities and whole-of-Govern-
ment activities required to support the National 
Biodefense Strategy. 
‘‘(F) An identification of challenges relat-
ing to disease outbreak prediction and mod-
eling. 
‘‘(G) An assessment relating to the need 
for a National Infectious Disease Forecasting 
Center to— 
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‘‘(i) advance the development and ef-
fective application of Federal outbreak 
models, predictions, and forecasts; and 
‘‘(ii) support the duties of the Direc-
torate pursuant to subsection (b). 
‘‘(H) Recommendations for— 
‘‘(i) strengthening and improving the 
current biodefense capabilities, authorities, 
and command structures of the Federal 
Government; 
‘‘(ii) improving and formalizing inter-
agency coordination and support mecha-
nisms with respect to providing a robust 
national biodefense; and 
‘‘(iii) predicting, modeling, preventing, 
mitigating, 
and 
eliminating 
biological 
threats that may impact the national secu-
rity of the United States. 
‘‘(I) Any other matters the Directorate 
may determine necessary. 
‘‘(h) NATIONAL STRATEGY COMBATING BIODEFENSE 
MISINFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Directorate shall— 
‘‘(A) jointly develop a national strategy 
with respect to combating public health misin-
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formation and disinformation that threatens the 
national security, and associated implementa-
tion plan, including a review and assessment of 
Federal government communications policies, 
practices, programs and initiatives; 
‘‘(B) with respect to developing such strat-
egy and plan, engage stakeholders, including so-
cial media companies, news media organiza-
tions, public health practitioners, and members 
of the academic community; and 
‘‘(C) review and, as appropriate, revise the 
strategy every 6 months. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy and associated 
implementation plan required under paragraph (1) 
shall include each of the following: 
‘‘(A) An inventory and assessment of all 
existing strategies, plans, policies, laws, and 
interagency agreements with respect to Federal 
communications relating to biodefense. 
‘‘(B) A description of the current pro-
grams, efforts, or activities of the United States 
Government with respect to countering the 
spread of misinformation and disinformation re-
lating to biological threats. 
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‘‘(C) A description of the roles and respon-
sibilities of the Executive Agencies, including 
internal and external coordination procedures, 
with respect to— 
‘‘(i) communicating information relat-
ing to biodefense; and 
‘‘(ii) countering the spread of misin-
formation and disinformation relating to 
biodefense. 
‘‘(D) An articulation of related or required 
interagency capabilities and whole-of-Govern-
ment activities required to support the national 
strategy for countering the spread of misin-
formation and disinformation relating to bio-
logical threats. 
‘‘(E) Recommendations with respect to 
predicting, preventing, mitigating, and elimi-
nating the spread of misinformation and 
disinformation relating to biological threats that 
may impact the national security of the United 
States. 
‘‘(F) Recommendations for improving and 
formalizing interagency coordination and sup-
porting processes with respect to providing ro-
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bust Federal communications relating to bio-
defense. 
‘‘(G) Recommendations for public-private 
partnerships between social media companies 
and Federal agencies to counter the spread of 
misinformation and disinformation relating to 
biological threats on social media platforms. 
‘‘(H) Specific and practice-based strategies 
and guidance with respect to Federal and State 
communications relating to biological threats. 
‘‘(I) Any other matters the Directorate 
may determine necessary. 
‘‘(i) REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section and 
annually thereafter, the Directorate shall submit to 
the National Security Council and appropriate con-
gressional committees a report including the strategy 
and associated implementation plans required by 
subsections (f) and (g). 
‘‘(2) FORM.—Each report required under para-
graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 
but may include a classified annex. 
‘‘(j) GAO REVIEW.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date on which the report is submitted pur-
suant to subsection (i), the Comptroller General of 
the United States shall complete a review of such re-
port. 
‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date on which the Comptroller General completes 
the report required under paragraph (1), the Comp-
troller General shall submit to the appropriate con-
gressional committees a report that includes— 
‘‘(A) the identification of gaps in such 
strategies and plans; and 
‘‘(B) recommendations to address such 
gaps. 
‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
‘‘(A) the congressional defense committees; 
‘‘(B) the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate; 
‘‘(C) the Committee on Homeland Security 
of the House of Representatives and the Com-
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mittee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate; and 
‘‘(D) the Committee on Agriculture of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 
Senate. 
‘‘(2) BIODEFENSE.—The term ‘biodefense’ in-
cludes actions to counter biological threats, reduce 
risks, and prepare for, respond to, and recover from 
biological incidents. 
‘‘(3) BIOLOGICAL THREAT.—The term ‘biologi-
cal threat’ includes biological warfare, bioterrorism, 
naturally occurring infectious diseases, and acci-
dental exposures. 
‘‘(4) 
MISINFORMATION.—The 
term 
‘misin-
formation’ means information that is materially in-
correct in the context of scientific information of the 
time. 
‘‘(5) 
DISINFORMATION.—The 
term 
‘disinformation’ means information that is inten-
tionally materially incorrect in the context of sci-
entific information of the time.’’. 
Æ 
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