{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2721", "Trahan\u2019s Bipartisan Pandemic Prevention Program Becomes Law", "2022-12-29", "2022", "2022-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Lori Trahan", "T000482", "trahan.house.gov", "trahan", "https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "LOWELL, MA \u2013 Last week, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee\u2019s Health Subcommittee and Co-Founder of the bipartisan Pandemic Preparedness Caucus, secured passage of a pilot program designed by her bipartisan Bolstering Infectious Outbreaks (BIO) Preparedness Workforce Act. Signed into law by President Joe Biden on Friday, the program will strengthen the bio-preparedness and infectious disease workforce that has proven critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\n\u201cThere is simply no excuse for us to get caught flat-footed by another COVID-19 scale pandemic. We must apply the lessons learned over the past two and a half years now to ensure we\u2019re better prepared to prevent another infectious disease outbreak in the future,\u201d said Congresswoman Trahan. \u201cThat starts with investing in the experts who got us through the COVID: our bio-preparedness and infectious disease workers. Without critical investments to strengthen the pipeline of these experts, we risk leaving ourselves vulnerable to the next pandemic. The BIO Preparedness Workforce Pilot Program is a critical step in ensuring these critical positions are fully staffed and ready to respond to the next public health threat.\u201d\n\nThe program based off Trahan\u2019s BIO Preparedness Workforce Act will help strengthen the pipeline of bio-preparedness and infectious disease professionals by establishing a new loan repayment program for health care professionals who spend at least half of their time engaged in bio-preparedness and response activities or providing infectious diseases care. Further, the program aims to increase the number of underrepresented minority individuals serving as bio-preparedness or infectious diseases physicians.\n\n\u201cRep. Trahan\u2019s outstanding leadership makes an extraordinary difference to the frontline infectious diseases workforce,\u201d said Carlos del Rio, MD, President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and Professor at Emory University School of Medicine. \u201cThe BIO Preparedness Workforce Pilot Program\u2014which she authored and successfully attached to the omnibus bill\u2014will enable us to recruit the workforce we need to be better prepared for future outbreaks and pandemics and to launch more equitable and effective responses to infectious diseases.\u201d\n\nAdditional supporting Organizations of the Bolstering Infectious Outbreaks (BIO) Preparedness Workforce Act include: the AIDS Institute, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, American Dental Association, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, American Society for Microbiology, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, HIV Medicine Association, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, National Rural Health Association, Society for Health Care Epidemiology of America, Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists, University of Wisconsin Health System, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Vivent Health, Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin Medical Society.\n\nTrahan first introduced the BIO Preparedness Workforce Act with Congressman David B. McKinley (R-WV-01) in October 2021. The bipartisan program was included as part of the year-end omnibus package that was signed into law by President Biden late last week.\n\nMore information on the BIO Preparedness Workforce Act can be accessed HERE. A digital copy of the legislation can be accessed HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-06T14:24:52Z", "2026-04-06T15:54:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2721"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7771390955895185, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}