,,ii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #cgba ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,may #ac1 #bjbj,ms4 ,harris 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,booker1 ,ms4 ,warren1 ,mr4 ,bennet1 ,mr4 ,sanders1 ,mr4 ,whitehouse1 ,mr4 ,brown1 ,ms4 ,smith1 ,ms4 ,stabenow1 ,mr4 ,durbin1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 ,mr4 ,peters1 ,ms4 ,hirono1 ,mr4 ,markey1 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 ,mr4 ,jones1 ,ms4 ,klobuchar1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 and ,mr4 ,carper7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions ,a ,,bill ,to provide for the establishment of a ,,covid-#ai ,racial and ,ethnic ,disparities ,task ,force to gather data about disproportionately affected communities and provide recommendations to combat the racial and ethnic disparities in the ,,covid-#ai response4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,,covid-#ai ,racial and ,ethnic ,disparities ,task ,force ,act of #bjbj4 #b4 ,,covid-#ai ,racial and ,ethnic ,disparities ,task ,force 7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,health and ,human ,services 7referred to in this section as the ,secretary7 shall establish an interagency task force1 to be known as the ,,covid-#ai ,racial and ,ethnic ,disparities ,task ,force 7referred to in this section as the task force71 to gather data about disproportionately affected communities and provide recommendations to combat the racial and ethnic disparities in the ,,covid-#ai response throughout the ,united ,states and in response to future public health crises4 7b7 ,membership ,the task force shall be composed of the following3 7#a7 ,the ,secretary of ,health and ,human ,services4 7#b7 ,the ,assistant ,secretary for ,planning and ,evaluation of the ,department of ,health and ,human ,services4 7#c7 ,the ,assistant ,secretary for ,preparedness and ,response of the ,department of ,health and ,human ,services4 7#d7 ,the ,director of the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention4 7#e7 ,the ,director of the ,national ,institutes of ,health4 7#f7 ,the ,commissioner of ,food and ,drugs4 7#g7 ,the ,administrator of the ,federal ,emergency ,management ,agency4 7#h7 ,the ,director of the ,national ,institute on ,minority ,health and ,health ,disparities4 7#i7 ,the ,director of the ,indian ,health ,service4 7#aj7 ,the ,administrator of the ,centers for ,medicare ,medicaid ,services4 7#aa7 ,the ,director of the ,agency for ,healthcare ,research and ,quality4 7#ab7 ,the ,surgeon ,general4 7#ac7 ,the ,administrator of the ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration4 7#ad7 ,the ,director of the ,office of ,minority ,health4 7#ae7 ,the ,secretary of ,housing and ,urban ,development4 7#af7 ,the ,secretary of ,education4 7#ag7 ,the ,secretary of ,labor4 7#ah7 ,the ,secretary of ,defense4 7#ai7 ,the ,secretary of ,transportation4 7#bj7 ,the ,secretary of the ,treasury4 7#ba7 ,the ,administrator of the ,small ,business ,administration4 7#bb7 ,the ,administrator of the ,environmental ,protection ,agency4 7#bc7 ,five health professionals with expertise in addressing racial and ethnic disparities1 with at least one representative from a rural area1 to be appointed by the ,secretary4 7#bd7 ,five policy experts specializing in addressing racial and ethnic disparities in education or racial and ethnic economic inequality to be appointed by the ,secretary4 7#be7 ,six representatives from community-based organizations specializing in providing culturally competent care or services and addressing racial and ethnic disparities1 to be appointed by the ,secretary1 with at least one representative from an urban ,indian organization and one representative from a national organization that represents ,tribal governments with expertise in ,tribal public health4 ,the ,secretary shall take into account regional distribution when appointing such representatives4 7#bf7 ,six ,state1 local1 territorial1 or ,tribal public health officials representing departments of public health1 who shall represent jurisdictions from different regions of the ,united ,states with relatively high concentrations of historically marginalized populations1 to be appointed by the ,secretary1 with at least one territorial representative and one representative of a ,tribal public health department4 7c7 ,administrative provisions 7#a7 ,appointment of non-government members ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 the ,secretary shall appoint all non-government members of the task force within #cj days of the date enactment of this section4 7#b7 ,chairperson ,the ,secretary shall serve as the chairperson of the task force4 ,the ,director of the ,office of ,minority ,health shall serve as the vice chairperson4 7#c7 ,staff ,the task force shall have #aj full-time staff members4 7#d7 ,meetings ,not later than #de days after the date of enactment of this section1 the full task force shall have its first meeting4 ,the task force shall convene at least once a month thereafter4 7#e7 ,subcommittees ,the chairperson and vice chairperson of the task force are authorized to establish subcommittees to consider specific issues related to the broader mission of addressing racial and ethnic disparities4 7d7 ,federal ,emergency ,management ,agency ,resource ,allocation ,reporting and ,recommendations 7#a7 ,weekly reports ,not later than #g days after the task force first meets1 and weekly thereafter1 the task force shall submit to ,congress and the ,federal ,emergency ,management ,agency a report that includes-- 7,a7 a description of ,,covid-#ai patient outcomes1 including cases1 hospitalizations1 patients on ventilation1 mortality1 and vaccination rates 7when available71 disaggregated by race and ethnicity 7where such data is missing1 the task force shall utilize appropriate authorities to improve data collection and use appropriate1 science-based methods for estimating ,,covid-#ai patient outcomes72 7,b7 the identification of communities that lack resources to combat the ,,covid-#ai pandemic1 including personal protective equipment1 ventilators1 hospital beds1 testing kits1 testing supplies1 vaccinations 7when available71 resources to conduct surveillance and contact tracing1 funding1 staffing1 and other resources the task force deems essential as needs arise2 7,c7 the identification of communities where racial and ethnic disparities in ,,covid-#ai infection1 hospitalization1 and death rates are out of proportion to the community's population by a certain threshold1 to be determined by the task force based on available public health data2 7,d7 recommendations about how to best allocate critical ,,covid-#ai resources to-- 7i7 communities with disproportionately high ,,covid-#ai infection1 hospitalization1 and death rates2 7ii7 communities with high social vulnerabilities to ,,covid-#ai infection2 and 7iii7 communities identified in subparagraph 7,c72 7,e7 with respect to communities that are able to reduce racial and ethnic disparities effectively1 a description of best practices involved2 and 7,f7 an update with respect to the response of the ,federal ,emergency ,management ,agency to the task force's previous weeks' recommendations under this section4 7#b7 ,general consultation ,in submitting weekly reports and recommendations under this subsection1 the task force shall consult with and notify ,state1 local1 territorial1 and ,tribal officials and community-based organizations from communities identified as disproportionately impacted by ,,covid-#ai4 7#c7 ,consultation with indian tribes ,in submitting weekly reports and recommendations under this subsection1 the ,director of ,indian ,health ,service shall1 in coordination with the task force1 consult with ,indian ,tribes and ,tribal organizations that are disproportionately affected by ,,covid-#ai on a government to government basis to identify specific needs and recommendations4 7#d7 ,dissemination ,reports under this subsection shall be disseminated to all relevant stakeholders1 including ,state1 local1 territorial1 and ,tribal officials1 and public health departments4 7#e7 ,tribal data ,the task force1 in consultation with ,indian ,tribes and ,tribal organizations1 shall ensure that an ,indian ,tribe consents to any public reporting of health data4 7e7 ,,covid-#ai relief oversight and implementation reports ,not later than #ad days after the task force first meets1 and not later than every #ad days thereafter1 the task force shall submit to ,congress and the relevant ,federal agencies a report that includes-- 7#a7 an examination of funds distributed under ,,covid-#ai-related relief and stimulus laws 7enacted prior to and after the date of enactment of this ,act71 including the ,coronavirus ,preparedness and ,response ,emergency ,supplemental ,appropriations ,act1 #bjbj 7,public ,law #aaf-abc71 the ,families ,first ,coronavirus ,response ,act 7,public ,law #aaf-abg71 the ,coronavirus ,aid1 ,relief1 and ,economic ,security ,act 7,public ,law #aaf-acf71 and the ,paycheck ,protection ,program and ,health ,care ,enhancement ,act 7,public ,law #aaf-aci71 and how that distribution impacted racial and ethnic disparities with respect to the ,,covid-#ai pandemic2 and 7#b7 recommendations to relevant ,federal agencies about how to disburse any undisbursed funding from ,,covid-#ai-related relief and stimulus laws 7enacted prior to and after the date of enactment of this ,act71 including those laws described in paragraph 7#a71 to address racial and ethnic disparities with respect to the ,,covid-#ai pandemic1 including recommendations to-- 7,a7 the ,department of ,health and ,human ,services about disbursement of funds under the ,public ,health and ,social ,service ,emergency ,fund2 7,b7 the ,small ,business ,administration about disbursement of funds under the ,paycheck ,protection ,program and the ,economic ,injury ,disaster ,loan ,program2 and 7,c7 the ,department of ,education about disbursement of funds under the ,education ,stabilization ,fund4 7f7 ,final ,,covid-#ai reports ,not later than #ij days after the date on which the ,president declares the end of the ,,covid-#ai public health emergency first declared by the ,secretary on ,january #ca1 #bjbj1 the task force shall submit the to ,congress a report that-- 7#a7 describes inequities within the health care system1 implicit bias1 structural racism1 and social determinants of health 7including housing1 nutrition1 education1 economic1 and environmental factors7 that contributed to racial and ethnic health disparities with respect to the ,,covid-#ai pandemic and how these factors contributed to such disparities2 7#b7 examines the initial ,federal response to the ,,covid-#ai pandemic and its impact on the racial and ethnic disparities in ,,covid-#ai infection1 hospitalization1 and death rates2 and 7#c7 contains recommendations to combat racial and ethnic disparities in future infectious disease responses1 including future ,,covid-#ai outbreaks4 7g7 ,sunset and successor task force 7#a7 ,sunset ,the task force shall terminate on the date that is #ij days after the date on which the ,president declares the end of the ,,covid-#ai public health emergency first declared by the ,secretary on ,january #ca1 #bjbj4 7#b7 ,successor ,upon the termination of the task force under paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall establish a permanent ,infectious ,disease ,racial and ,ethnic ,disparities ,task ,force based on the membership1 convening1 and reporting requirements recommended by the task force in reports submitted under this section4 7h7 ,authorization of appropriations ,there is authorized to be appropriated1 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section4