Findings; sense of Congress

(a) Findings Congress finds as follows: (1) The COVID–19 pandemic revealed the need to better organize pathogen defense of the people of the United States. (2) The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence concluded that COVID–19 scientific advancements, notably accelerated by the application of artificial intelligence, in addition to many other existing science and technology initiatives in the United States, should be used to build a comprehensive, operational, and integrated biodefense program that functions like a shield against manmade and non-manmade pathogens. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) an initiative such as Operation Warp Speed should not be required for the next pandemic; (2) there is a requirement for a pandemic preparedness and response program that would negate the need for a future Operation Warp Speed-like program or a declaration of a public health emergency under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d); and (3) the program established under section 3 would operationalize artificial intelligence and a system-of-systems integration across the interagency and private sector, under the direction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.