Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense set to inform federally proposed COVID-19 commission

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is poised to assist a national COVID-19 commission that would be created under legislation introduced earlier this month.

Specifically, recommendations and pandemic plans issued by the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense would be reviewed and evaluated by a national commission established under the proposed COVID-19 Commission Act, H.R. 6455, a Democrat-led bill unveiled on April 3.

“Our commission stands ready to inform the work of this and other proposed commissions and to provide our findings and recommendations to all congressional oversight activities,” said Dr. Asha George, executive director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.

George noted that the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense has done “exhaustive research” and made detailed recommendations to Congress and the administration addressing biological events in its 2015 National Blueprint for Biodefense.

“Congress does not need to start from scratch when determining what happened with COVID-19,” said George.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) sponsored H.R. 6455, which has 25 Democratic cosponsors, to establish the independent, bipartisan, congressionally chartered National Commission Regarding the 2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID–19 Pandemic.

The national commission would be tasked with producing a full and complete accounting of the nation’s preparedness and response to the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), according to Rep. Thompson, who is chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, and who also authored the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.

If enacted, the national commission authorized under H.R. 6455 would be modeled after the 9/11 Commission and would be charged with identifying and examining lessons learned from the COVID-19 response and producing a public report with recommendations to improve preparedness, response and recovery from future pandemics.

“While we don’t yet know the full impact the coronavirus will have on the nation, already more Americans have been killed by the virus than died in the September 11, 2001 attacks,” Rep. Thompson said earlier this month.

After those attacks, according to the congressman, the 9/11 Commission made recommendations that drove massive reforms to how intelligence is shared and how the government is organized to counter terrorist threats.

“It is clear that we, as a nation, are at another inflection point,” Thompson said. “Americans today will again demand a full accounting of how prepared we were and how we responded to this global public health emergency. Americans will need answers on how our government can work better to prevent a similar crisis from happening again. This legislation we are introducing is the first step towards getting this done for the American people.”

If enacted, H.R. 6455 also would require the national commission to “review and evaluate recommendations and pandemic plans issued by the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense and other nonpartisan entities regarding health security, pandemic preparedness, response, or recovery,” according to the text of the legislation.

“We appreciate the [House Homeland Security] Committee’s recognition of the importance and value of our work,” said George.

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is also set to host a virtual meeting on May 8, 2-4 p.m. (EST), entitled COVID-19: Forewarned But Not Forearmed, to gain a better understanding about the ongoing response, national and global readiness, and implications for strengthening U.S. defense against the next biological threat.