United States HR 471: PAUSE Act of 2021

Bill Text

I 
117THCONGRESS 
1
STSESSION 
H. R. 471 
To  prohibit  the  Secretary  of  Health  and  Human  Services  from  lessening  
the  stringency  of,  and  to  prohibit  the  Secretary  of  Homeland  Security  
from   ceasing   or   lessening   implementation   of,   the   COVID–19   border   
health  provisions  through  the  end  of  the  COVID–19  pandemic,  and  
for other purposes. 
IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  
JANUARY25, 2021 
Ms.   H
ERRELL(for   herself,   Mr.   STEUBE,   Mr.   BIGGS,   Mr.   OWENS,   Mr.   
B
URCHETT,  Mrs.  GREENEof  Georgia,  Mrs.  HARSHBARGER,  Mr.  BISHOP 
of  North  Carolina,  Mr.  C.  S
COTTFRANKLINof  Florida,  Mr.  MOOREof 
Alabama,  Mr.  C
ALVERT,  Mr.  FALLON,  Mr.  CARL,  Mrs.  BOEBERT,  Mr.  
A
RRINGTON,  Mr.  GOODof  Virginia,  Mrs.  MILLER-MEEKS,  Mrs.  HINSON, 
Mr.  W
ILSONof  South  Carolina,  Mr.  BROOKS,  Mrs.  MILLERof  Illinois,  
Mr.   S
ESSIONS,   Mr.   GOHMERT,   Mr.   GOSAR,   Mr.   GAETZ,   and   Mr.   
C
AWTHORN)  introduced  the  following  bill;  which  was  referred  to  the  Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
A  BILL  
To  prohibit  the  Secretary  of  Health  and  Human  Services  
from  lessening  the  stringency  of,  and  to  prohibit  the  
Secretary  of  Homeland  Security  from  ceasing  or  less-
ening  implementation  of,  the  COVID–19  border  health  
provisions  through  the  end  of  the  COVID–19  pandemic,  
and for other purposes. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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•HR  471  IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This  Act  may  be  cited  as  the  ‘‘Protecting  Americans  2
from  Unnecessary  Spread  upon  Entry  from  COVID–19  3
Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PAUSE Act of 2021’’. 4
SEC.  2.  MAINTAINING  THE  STRINGENCY  OF  COVID–19  BOR-5
DER   HEALTH   PROVISIONS   THROUGH   THE   6
END OF THE PANDEMIC. 7
(a)  HHS.—The  Secretary  of  Health  and  Human  8
Services  shall  not  remove,  or  lessen  the  stringency  of,  the  9
COVID–19 border health provisions unless and until— 10
(1)  the  public  health  emergency  declared  for  11
COVID–19  under  section  319  of  the  Public  Health  12
Service  Act  (42  U.S.C.  247d),  including  renewals  13
thereof, is no longer in effect; 14
(2)  the  public  health  emergencies  declared  for  15
COVID–19  by  all  States,  including  renewals  thereof,  16
are no longer in effect; and 17
(3)   the   Director   of   the   Centers   for   Disease   18
Control  and  Prevention  reduces  the  travelers’  health  19
risk  level  for  introducing,  transmitting,  and  spread-20
ing  COVID–19  in  or  from  Canada  and  Mexico  to  21
Level 1. 22
(b) H
OMELANDSECURITY.—The Secretary of Home-23
land Security shall not cease or lessen the implementation 24
of  the  COVID–19  border  health  provisions  unless  and  25
until each of the conditions listed in subsection (a) is met. 26
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•HR  471  IH
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘COVID– 1
19 border health provisions’’ means the restrictions estab-2
lished  under  part  G  of  title  III  of  the  Public  Health  Serv-3
ice Act (42 U.S.C. 264 et seq.; relating to quarantine and 4
inspection)  to  prevent  the  introduction,  transmission,  or  5
spread  of  COVID–19  from  one  or  more  foreign  countries  6
into  the  United  States,  including  the  order  titled  ‘‘Order  7
under Section 362 & 365 of the Public Health Service Act 8
(42  U.S.C.  §§  265,  268):  Order  Suspending  the  Right  To  9
Introduce Certain Persons from Countries Where a Quar-10
antinable Communicable Disease Exists’’ issued by the Di-11
rector  of  the  Centers  for  Disease  Control  and  Prevention  12
on October 13, 2020. 13
Æ 
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