Legislation to Strengthen Nation’s Pandemic Response Efforts Clears Senate Hurdle with Senator Collins’ Strong Support

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) announced that the Prepare for and Responded to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act (PREVENT Pandemics Act) passed the Senate Health Committee by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 20-2. Senator Collins, a member of the Health Committee, advocated for this bipartisan legislation to strengthen the nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response systems. The bill will now be considered by the full Senate.

The PREVENT Pandemics Act, introduced by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Richard Burr (R-NC), the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Health Committee, incorporates ideas from 35 different bills and 41 of their colleagues, including several added during mark-up amendments.

“As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that we use the lessons learned over the last two years to inform and bolster our nation’s pandemic preparedness,” said Senator Collins. “This comprehensive bill includes many of my priorities, including addressing supply chain challenges for both drugs and medical devices; supporting the public health workforce; and expanding access to mental health and substance use disorder services during public health emergencies. I am encouraged by the bipartisan commitment to strengthen our public health and preparedness capacity, which will improve our response to future pandemics.”

The PREVENT Pandemics Act represents nearly a year of Committee work reviewing the nation’s pandemic response and includes critical reforms to improve Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accountability and transparency, support federal leadership and coordination through the establishment of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy at the White House, ensure the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) keeps pace with cutting-edge platform technology, and enhance the nation’s lab safety and security architecture.

Priorities secured by Senator Collins include:

• The Drug Shortages Shelf Life Extension Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Ben Cardin (D-MD) that would direct the FDA to extend the shelf life of prescription drugs in scarce supply. According to the FDA, amending the expiration date of some prescription drugs may alleviate the shortages that the United States currently is facing.

• The Registration of Certain Foreign Establishments Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Gary Peters (D-MI) that would strengthen requirements for foreign manufacturers of medical products that are distributed in the United States to register with the FDA.

• The Securing Uninterrupted Pandemic Preparation of Resources & Therapies (SUPPORT) Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) that would ensure the nation is prepared to address the behavioral health needs that follow natural and human-caused disasters and emergent events, including public health emergencies.

• Bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Bob Casey (D-PA) to expand medical device manufacturer reporting to help mitigate potential shortages.

• The Strengthening the Public Health Workforce Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Tina Smith (D-MN) that would help restore the public health workforce at the state, local, and tribal levels to support the COVID-19 response effort. 

The managers’ amendment to the legislation also includes a number of important provisions that Senator Collins authored to study how we can use federal health care programs to reward domestic drug production; ensure the state stockpile pilot program conforms with domestic preference requirements in the Buy America Act; and establish a new pilot program to help leaders of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gain field experience that will develop their public health and medical preparedness expertise. The managers’ amendment also includes a provision that Senator Collins worked on with Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to establish a new student loan repayment program for infectious disease clinicians.

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