Global Pathogen Surveillance Act of 2007

A bill to provide for global pathogen surveillance and response.

9/11/2007--Reported to Senate without amendment. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Global Pathogen Surveillance Act of 2007 -
(Sec. 4) Prohibits assistance under this Act to an eligible developing country that does not:
(1) permit World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) personnel to investigate infectious disease outbreaks within its borders; and
(2) provide pathogen surveillance data to appropriate U.S. and international agencies and organizations. Authorizes the Secretary of State (Secretary) to waive such prohibition if in the U.S. national interest.
(Sec. 5) Prohibits any participating foreign national from having unsupervised access to specified agents or toxins that may be used in a biological weapon. States that such restriction may not be construed to limit the Secretary of Health and Human Services' ability to prescribe standards for the handling of such agents or toxins.
(Sec. 6) Establishes a public health education and training fellowship program for eligible nationals to pursue:
(1) a master of public health degree with a concentration in epidemiology; or
(2) advanced public health training in epidemiology. Authorizes each fellowship recipient to take courses of study at the CDCP or at an equivalent facility on diagnosis and containment of likely bioterrorism agents. Authorizes the Secretary to permit the participation of a U.S. citizen in the fellowship program if:
(1) in the U.S. national interest to do so; and
(2) the U.S. citizen agrees to complete at least five years of public health employment in an eligible developing country or at an international health organization.
(Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary to support short training courses in-country (not in the United States) for laboratory technicians and other public health personnel in:
(1) laboratory techniques relating to the identification, diagnosis, and tracking of pathogens responsible for possible infectious disease outbreaks; and
(2) syndrome surveillance reporting and rapid analysis of syndrome information using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools.
(Sec. 8) Authorizes the President to furnish assistance to eligible developing countries to purchase and maintain:
(1) public health laboratory equipment necessary to collect, analyze, and identify pathogens which may cause disease outbreaks or may be used as a biological weapon; and
(2) related communications equipment and information technology.
(Sec. 10) Authorizes a federal agency head, upon the request of a U.S. chief of diplomatic mission or an international health organization, and with the Secretary's and the employee's concurrence, to assign to the respective U.S. mission or organization any public health officer or employee of the agency for the purpose of enhancing disease and pathogen surveillance efforts in developing countries.
(Sec. 11) Directs CDCP and the Department of Defense (DOD) to:
(1) increase the number of personnel assigned to their respective laboratories located in eligible developing countries that conduct infectious disease research; and
(2) expand the operations of those laboratories, especially in the implementation of on-site training of foreign nationals and regional outreach efforts.
(Sec. 12) Authorizes:
(1) the President to provide assistance to enhance the surveillance and reporting capabilities for WHO and existing regional and international health networks, and develop new health networks; and
(2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish new country or regional foreign epidemiology training programs in eligible developing countries.
(Sec. 13) Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees respecting program implementation under this Act.
(Sec. 14) Authorizes FY2008-FY2009 appropriations.


... morehide bill summarySee Full Bill Text

Sponsor

• Sen. Joseph Biden [D, DE]
• and 3 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Robert Casey [D, PA]
  • Sen. Charles Hagel [R, NE]
  • Sen. Edward Kennedy [D, MA]
  close

Committees

• Senate Foreign Relations

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.1687

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget (Close help)

OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
June 25, 2007

Show All Actions (7 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Added to calendar on Sep 11, 2007: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 350..
• Sep 11, 2007: Committee on Foreign Relations. Reported by Senator Biden without amendment. With written report No. 110-152.
• Jun 27, 2007: Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
• Jun 27, 2007: Committee on Foreign Relations. Date of scheduled consideration. S-116. 11:15 a.m.
• Jun 25, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
• Jun 25, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8359-8361)
• Introduced on Jun 25, 2007.

---

Related Issue Areas:

• Foreign policy
• Aliens
• Armed forces
• Biological warfare
• 35 more
• Communicable diseases
• Communication in medicine
• Communications
• Defense policy
• Developing countries
• Economic assistance
• Embassies
• Employee training
• Epidemics
• Epidemiology
• Foreign aid
• Geographic information systems
• Health information systems
• Health policy
• Health surveys
• Higher education
• Information technology
• International affairs
• International agencies
• Job training
• Medical care
• Medical education
• Medical laboratories
• Medical research
• Medical supplies
• Medical technology
• Medicine
• Preventive medicine
• Public health personnel
• Scholarships
• Science policy
• Syndromes
• Technology
• Telecommunication
• World health

Data from the Congressional Research Service

Users tracking S.1687 (3) are also tracking:

In the News

We are not currently finding any news articles on this topic using our daily automated search of Google News. However, if you know of a relevant news article to display here, OpenCongress site editors have the ability to add it manually. Simply e-mail us the web address of this page and the web address of your suggested news article: We'll post relevant links as quickly as possible. Also, if this topic is important to you, you could write a letter to the editor -- if a news article refers this specific topic by name, a link to that news article is likely to appear here soon.

Blog Coverage

July 23, 2007 S. 1687, Global Pathogen Surveillance Act of 2007

Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Recent CBO Cost Estimates

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

June 24, 2007 Bill Action: Introduced: S. 1687: A bill to provide for global ...

Sen. Joseph Biden [D-DE] introduced this bill. [This event matched these monitors: Senate Foreign Relations ]

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Senate Foreign Relations -- Monitored by...

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

June 24, 2007 S. 1687, A bill to provide for global pathogen surveillance and ...

S. 1687 would provide for global pathogen surveillance and response....

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: washingtonwatch.com - Welcome to washingtonwatc...

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

See most useful blog posts

Information made available by: