SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing America 
From Epidemics Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Due to increasing population and popu-
lation density, human mobility, and ecological 
change, emerging infectious diseases pose a real and 
growing threat to global health security. 
(2) While vaccines can be the most effective 
tools to protect against infectious disease, the ab-
sence of vaccines for a new or emerging infectious 
disease with epidemic potential is a major health se-
curity threat globally, posing catastrophic potential 
human and economic costs. 
(3) The 1918 influenza pandemic infected 
500,000,000 people, or about one-third of the 
world’s 
population 
at 
the 
time, 
and 
killed 
50,000,000 people—more than died in the First 
World War. 
(4) The economic cost of an outbreak can be 
devastating. The estimated global cost today, should 
an outbreak of the scale of the 1918 influenza pan-
demic strike, is 5 percent of global gross domestic 
product.
(5) Even regional outbreaks can have enormous 
human costs and substantially disrupt the global 
economy and cripple regional economies. The 2014 
Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 
11,000 and cost $2,800,000,000 in losses in the af-
fected countries alone. 
(6) The ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak re-
flects the pressing need for quick and effective vac-
cine and countermeasure development. 
(7) While the need for vaccines to address 
emerging epidemic threats is acute, markets to drive 
the necessary development of vaccines to address 
them—a complex and expensive undertaking—are 
very often critically absent. Also absent are mecha-
nisms to ensure access to those vaccines by those 
who need them when they need them. 
(8) To address this global vulnerability and the 
deficit of political commitment, institutional capac-
ity, and funding, in 2017, several countries and pri-
vate partners launched the Coalition for Epidemic 
Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI’s mission 
is to stimulate, finance, and coordinate development 
of vaccines for high-priority, epidemic-potential 
threats in cases where traditional markets do not 
exist or cannot create sufficient demand.
(9) Through funding of partnerships, CEPI 
seeks to bring priority vaccines candidates through 
the end of phase II clinical trials, as well as support 
vaccine platforms that can be rapidly deployed 
against emerging pathogens. 
(10) CEPI has funded multiple partners to de-
velop 
vaccine 
candidates 
against 
the 
novel 
coronavirus, responding to this urgent, global re-
quirement. 
(11) Support for and participation in CEPI is 
an important part of the United States own health 
security and biodefense and is in the national inter-
est, complementing the work of many Federal agen-
cies and providing significant value through global 
partnership and burden-sharing. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR UNITED STATES PARTICIPA-
TION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The United States is hereby au-
thorized to participate in the Coalition for Epidemic Pre-
paredness Innovations. 
(b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—The Administrator for 
the United States Agency for International Development 
is authorized to designate an employee to serve on the In-
vestors Council of the Coalition for Epidemic Prepared-
ness Innovations as a representative of the United States.
(c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi-
dent shall submit to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a report that includes the following: 
(1) The United States planned contributions to 
the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations 
and the mechanisms for United States participation 
in such Coalition. 
(2) The manner and extent to which the United 
States shall participate in the governance of the Co-
alition. 
(3) How participation in the Coalition supports 
relevant United States Government strategies and 
programs in health security and biodefense, to in-
clude— 
(A) the Global Health Security Strategy 
required by section 7058(c)(3) of division K of 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 
(Public Law 115–141); 
(B) the applicable revision of the National 
Biodefense Strategy required by section 1086 of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis-
cal Year 2017 (6 U.S.C. 104); and 
(C) any other relevant decision-making 
process for policy, planning, and spending in
global health security, biodefense, or vaccine 
and medical countermeasures research and de-
velopment. 
(d) UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS.—Amounts au-
thorized to be appropriated under chapters 1 and 10 of 
part I and chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) are authorized to 
be made available for United States contributions to the 
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. 
(e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 
In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 
Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 
2020. 
Attest: 
Clerk.