Securing America From Epidemics Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BERA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Engel for his leadership and support.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bipartisan measure, H.R. 6334, the Securing America From Epidemics, or SAFE Act. This legislation, which I introduced alongside my friend, Congressman Ted Yoho, would authorize U.S. participation in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI.

CEPI was created in the aftermath of the 2015 West Africa Ebola epidemic. Its founders understood that due to factors like climate change, overcrowding, malnutrition, and the proximity of people living next to animals, the world would see deadly epidemics more and more frequently. The most effective countermeasures to these epidemics are vaccines.

CEPI sought to fund vaccines for several pathogens like MERS that could potentially explode into pandemics. And it sought to help develop universal vaccine platform technologies that could be adapted to quickly address emerging outbreaks. The individuals in CEPI could not have predicted the current COVID-19 pandemic, but they knew it was just a matter of time until we would see something like this.

Since the start of the pandemic, CEPI has devoted major funding to nine vaccine candidates to defeat COVID-19. In January of this year, CEPI was one of the first investors in Moderna, providing catalytic funding to spur additional research and development. That early funding has paid off. It looks like Moderna's Phase 3 trials have been successful.

CEPI's early investment in Moderna is a reminder of the critical role CEPI plays and will continue to play: investing in smaller companies to boost their capacity, so that larger players and actors can help scale and bring those vaccines to market. This is what happened with Moderna and may happen with other vaccine candidates.

USAID recently announced the collaboration with CEPI, funding $20 million over 5 years to combat noncoronavirus priority diseases, like Lassa fever and Ebola, but we need to do more. By authorizing U.S. participation in CEPI, this bill will enable the United States to firmly claim a seat at CEPI's table, shape its priorities and governance, and allow Congress to provide contributions to the organization.

U.S. participation in CEPI was one of the recommendations of the final report issued nearly a year ago at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security. It was prescient in its recommendations, and I am proud to have served as a commissioner. We knew then that the next epidemic or pandemic was around the corner. It is here with us now, but it will not be the last one.

We need to be a full and active participant in CEPI's work. By working through organizations like CEPI to develop new vaccine technologies, we will ensure the world is far more ready for the next pandemic.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Yoho and all the cosponsors of this important legislation, as well as the work that the Committee on Foreign Affairs staff, like Katy Crosby, and my own staff, like Ryan Uyehara, did to bring this legislation to the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure and call on the Senate to pass it as well.

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