I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1771
To provide for funding for the top priority action items in the interagency
public health action plan that has been developed in response to the
problem of antimicrobial resistance, to the extent that the activities
involved are within the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and
Human Services.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 9, 2001
Mr. BROWN of Ohio (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. WAX-
MAN, Mr. GANSKE, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. PALLONE, Ms.
DEGETTE, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. FILNER, Ms. LEE,
Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr.
KUCINICH, Mr. TIERNEY, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To provide for funding for the top priority action items
in the interagency public health action plan that has
been developed in response to the problem of anti-
microbial resistance, to the extent that the activities in-
volved are within the jurisdiction of the Department of
Health and Human Services.
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 ‘‘Antibiotic Resistance
Prevention Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The discovery in the 1940s of antimicrobial
drugs, such as penicillin and streptomycin, led to
ground breaking treatment of day-to-day illnesses
and fatal diseases.
(2) Drug-resistant pathogens have developed
because many physicians and other health profes-
sionals have historically overprescribed antimicrobial
drugs.
(3) Antimicrobial resistance can be spurred by
patients seeking antibiotics for viruses rather than
bacterial infections. Antibiotics are effective only for
bacterial infections, not viral infections.
(4) Patients who fail to finish their prescribed
doses of antibiotics leave themselves vulnerable to
certain bacteria, strengthening antibiotic resistance.
(5) Microbes that have increasingly built up re-
sistance to antibiotics include the microbes involved
in pneumonia; ear infections and meningitis; skin,
bone, lung, and bloodstream infections; urinary tract
infections; food borne infections; and infections
transmitted in health care settings.
(6) Many other pathogens are also becoming re-
sistant to conventional treatments, including the
bacteria that cause tuberculosis and gonorrhea; the
fungi that cause yeast infections; and the parasites
that cause malaria.
(7) A substantial but as yet undetermined per-
centage of all antibiotics produced in the United
States are used in animals, with estimates ranging
from 40 to 80 percent. A substantial percentage of
these antibiotics are used nontherapeutically in feed
or in the water of farm animals to make them grow
faster, while only about 20 percent of antibiotic feed
additives are used to treat established infections.
(8) This usage of antibiotics in farm animals,
at levels too low to cure bacterial diseases but high
enough to control them, is creating selective pressure
on bacteria, causing them to develop resistance to
the antibiotics.
(9) Antibiotic resistant bacteria selected in ani-
mals can reach humans and pass their resistance to
bacteria pathogenic to humans or, if pathogenic
themselves, can cause disease that is not easily
treatable, prolonging recovery.
(10) Statistics have shown that antibiotic resist-
ance can cause the total costs of inpatient care to
be more than double the direct costs of such care.
(11) Expenses incurred by hospitals around the
Nation have risen to nearly $1.3 billion per year as
a result of six ordinary types of resistant bacteria.
(12) The Institute of Medicine, the American
Society for Microbiology, the World Health Organi-
zation, the Congressional Office of Technology As-
sessment, and the General Accounting Office each
have found that the Nation should improve surveil-
lance for mounting antimicrobial resistance prob-
lems; prolong the useful life of antimicrobial drugs;
develop new drugs; and utilize other measures, such
as improved vaccines, diagnostics, and infection con-
trol measures, to prevent and control antimicrobial
resistance.
SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES;
FUNDING FOR TOP PRIORITY ACTION ITEMS
UNDER PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION PLAN TO
COMBAT ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of carrying out
the top priority action items designated in the Anti-
microbial Resistance Action Plan, but only to the extent
that the activities involved are within the jurisdiction of
the Department of Health and Human Services (as deter-
mined under Federal laws other than this Act), there are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary for each of the fiscal years 2002 through 2006.
Such authorization is in addition to other authorizations
of appropriations that are available for such purpose.
(b) TOP PRIORITY ACTION ITEMS.—For purposes of
this Act, the term ‘‘top priority action items’’ are action
items designated by number in the Antimicrobial Resist-
ance Action Plan and included (by reference to such num-
bers and to the categories used in such Plan) in the fol-
lowing list:
(1) In the category ‘‘Surveillance’’, the fol-
lowing action items:
(A) Action Item #2, described in the Plan
as follows: ‘‘With partners, design and imple-
ment a national AR surveillance plan that de-
fines national, regional, state, and local surveil-
lance activities and the roles of clinical, ref-
erence, public health, and veterinary labora-
tories. The plan should be consistent with local
and national surveillance methodology and in-
frastructure that currently exist or are being
developed.’’.
(B) Action Item #5, described in the Plan
as follows: ‘‘Develop and implement procedures
for monitoring patterns of antimicrobial drug
use in human medicine, agriculture, veterinary
medicine, and consumer products.’’.
(2) In the category ‘‘Prevention and Control’’,
the following action items:
(A) Action Item #25, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘Conduct a public health edu-
cation campaign to promote appropriate anti-
microbial use as a national health priority.’’.
(B) Action Item #26, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘In collaboration with many
partners, develop and facilitate the implementa-
tion of educational and behavioral interventions
that will assist clinicians in appropriate anti-
microbial prescribing.’’.
(C) Action Item #39, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘Evaluate the effectiveness (in-
cluding cost-effectiveness) of current and novel
infection-control practices for health care and
extended care settings and in the community.
Promote adherence to practices proven to be ef-
fective.’’.
(D) Action Item #58, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘In consultation with stake-
holders, refine and implement the proposed
FDA framework for approving new anti-
microbial drugs for use in food-animal produc-
tion and, when appropriate, for re-evaluating
currently approved veterinary antimicrobial
drugs.’’.
(E) Action Item #63, described in the
Plan 
as 
follows: 
‘‘Support 
demonstration
projects to evaluate comprehensive strategies
that use multiple interventions to promote ap-
propriate drug use and reduce infection rates,
in order to assess how interventions found ef-
fective in research studies can be applied rou-
tinely and most cost-effectively on a large
scale.’’.
(3) In the category ‘‘Research’’, the following
action items:
(A) Action Item #70, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘Provide the research commu-
nity genomics and other powerful technologies
to identify targets in critical areas for the devel-
opment of new rapid diagnostics methodologies,
novel therapeutics, and interventions to prevent
the emergence and spread of resistant patho-
gens.’’.
(B) Action Item #75, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘In consultation with academia
and the private sector, identify and conduct
human clinical studies addressing AR issues of
public health significance that are unlikely to be
studied in the private sector (e.g., novel thera-
pies, new treatment regimens, and other prod-
ucts and practices).’’.
(C) Action Item #76, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘Identify, develop, test, and
evaluate new rapid diagnostic methods for
human and veterinary uses with partners, in-
cluding academia and the private sector. Such
methods should be accurate, affordable, and
easily implemented in routine clinical settings
(e.g., tests for resistance genes, point-of-care
diagnostics for patients with respiratory infec-
tions and syndromes, and diagnostics for drug
resistance in microbial pathogens, including in
nonculture specimens).’’.
(D) Action Item #77, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘Encourage basic and clinical
research in support of the development and ap-
propriate use of vaccines in human and veteri-
nary medicine in partnership with academia
and the private sector.’’.
(4) In the category ‘‘Product Development’’,
the following action items:
(A) Action Item #79, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘Create an Interagency AR
Product Development Working Group to iden-
tify and publicize priority public health needs in
human and animal medicine for new AR prod-
ucts (e.g., innovative drugs, targeted spectrum
antibiotics, point-of-care diagnostics, vaccines
and other biologics, anti-infective medical de-
vices, and disinfectants).’’.
(B) Action Item #80, described in the
Plan as follows: ‘‘Identify ways (e.g. financial
and/or other incentives or investments) to pro-
mote the development and/or appropriate use of
priority AR products, such as novel compounds
and approaches, for human and veterinary med-
icine for which market incentives are inad-
equate.’’.
The 13 action items specified in this subsection all have
top priority under the Plan, regardless of their order on
the list.
(c) ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE ACTION PLAN.—
For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Antimicrobial Resist-
ance Action Plan’’ means the plan that—
(1) is entitled ‘‘A Public Health Action Plan to
Combat Antimicrobial Resistance’’; and
(2) was developed by an interagency Task
Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, created in 1999,
that—
(A) is cochaired by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug
Administration, and the National Institutes of
Health; and
(B) in addition includes—
(i) the Agency for Healthcare Re-
search and Quality and the Health Re-
sources and Services Administration;
(ii) the Health Care Financing Ad-
ministration;
(iii) the Environmental Protection
Agency; and
(iv) the Department of Agriculture,
the Department of Defense, and the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs.