,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #hddd  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #cj1      
#bjbj,mr4 ,taylor 7for himself and ,ms4 
,shalala7 introduced the following bill2
 which was referred to the ,committee on
 ,energy and ,commerce  ,a ,,bill  ,to  
direct the ,secretary of ,health and    
,human ,services to enter into an       
agreement with the ,national ,academy of
 ,medicine under which the ,national    
,academy agrees to conduct a one-year   
study assessing the effectiveness of    
current vital statistics reporting and  
data sharing between ,state1 local1 and 
,federal agencies1 and for other        
purposes4  #a4 ,short title2 findings   
7a7 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,vital ,standardization of      
,thoughtful ,administrative ,techniques 
and ,statistics ,act of #bjbj or the    
,vital ,,stats ,act of #bjbj4  7b7      
,findings ,the ,congress makes the      
following findings3 7#a7 ,pandemic and  
highly infectious diseases have the     

ability to rapidly cross international  
and ,state boundaries1 can infect       
millions of individuals in the ,united  
,states1 and have the potential to      
severely disrupt interstate commerce4   
7#b7 ,during the outbreak of            
,,covid-#ai1 the disease substantially  
affected interstate commerce and touched
 all #ej ,states1 the ,district of      
,columbia1 the ,commonwealth of ,puerto 
,rico1 the ,united ,states ,virgin      
,islands1 ,guam1 and the ,commonwealth  
of the ,northern ,mariana ,islands4     
7#c7 ,the ,,covid-#ai pandemic in the   
,united ,states highlights the necessity
 of accurate and timely vital statistics
 and death reporting for a successful   
public health response4  7#d7           
,variations between means and methods of
 vital statistics reporting between     
,state1 local1 and ,federal entities can
 create administrative hurdles1         
including potential backlogs1 and could 
hamper public health response efforts4  
7#e7 ,in order for the ,nation to combat

 future health emergencies1 to improve  
our general understanding of health     
problems in the ,united ,states1 and to 
ensure the sharing of timely1 accurate  
health information1 the ,federal        
,government1 ,state governments1 and    
local units of government must improve  
their means of coordinating and sharing 
health information and vital statistics4
  #b4 ,study on effectiveness of vital  
statistics reporting  7a7 ,in general   
,the ,secretary of ,health and ,human   
,services shall enter into an agreement 
with the ,national ,academy of ,medicine
 under which the ,national ,academy     
agrees to conduct a one-year study      
assessing the effectiveness of current  
vital statistics reporting and data     
sharing between ,state1 local1 and      
,federal agencies and the degree to     
which there is divergence between       
,state1 local1 and ,federal vital       
statistics reporting4  7b7 ,report ,the 
agreement entered into under subsection 
7a7 shall require the ,national ,academy

 of ,medicine to1 not later #a year     
after the date on which the agreement is
 entered into1 to submit to ,congress a 
report containing the findings of the   
study conducted pursuant to such        
subsection4 ,such report shall include  
recommendations with respect to-- 7#a7  
coordination and standardization of     
,state1 local1 and ,federal vital       
statistics reporting methods1 including 
the efficiency1 effectiveness1 and      
transparency of such reporting2 and     
7#b7 the feasibility of setting national
 standards for death reporting and      
collecting vital statistics4