Protecting American Families and Servicemembers from Anthrax Act

H.R. 2707, the Protecting American Families and Servicemembers from Anthrax Act, requires a rapid, cross-agency effort to modernize how the United States prepares for and counters the threat of anthrax. Within 180 days of enactment, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (through the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response) and Defense (through the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs) must develop a detailed 10-year strategy to sustain stockpiles of anthrax countermeasures. This includes replenishing stockpiles in the Strategic National Stockpile and in Department of Defense stocks, with an emphasis on ensuring a steady, reliable supply for civilians, servicemembers, and dependents on military installations. The bill also calls for collaboration with manufacturers to maintain supply and innovation. The act requires an initial classified report to Congress within 180 days outlining the threat from weaponized anthrax and other threat streams, current federal programs addressing the strategy (besides existing multi-year budgets and countermeasure investments), and efforts to ensure countermeasures are available for military dependents abroad. It mandates annual updates to Congress, and it allows for a classified report with an unclassified annex. The term “anthrax countermeasure” includes FDA-approved or authorized drugs, devices, or biological products (including antitoxins and prophylactics).