H.R. 8610 · 117th Congress

Health Security and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act

Introduced on Jul 29, 2022 by Val Butler Demings (D-FL-10). 4 cosponsors, 1 of them from another party. Latest action (Dec 20, 2022): Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 469.

Stage
Reported by committee
Introduced
Jul 29, 2022
Cosponsors
4
1 from the other party
Policy area
Emergency Management
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Office of Health Security, make technical corrections to the authorization of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, establish a Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Advisory Committee, establish a departmental biodefense strategy, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Arms control and nonproliferation
  • Chemical and biological weapons
  • Congressional oversight
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Emergency medical services and trauma care
  • Emergency planning and evacuation
  • Executive agency funding and structure
  • Federal officials
  • Federal-Indian relations
  • Health personnel
  • Intergovernmental relations
  • Nuclear weapons
  • State and local government operations
  • Terrorism
  • Urban and suburban affairs and development

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Reported to House, Part I, Dec 20, 2022). Public domain.

Health Security and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act

This bill makes changes to the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) office of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and provides statutory authority for and expands DHS's Office of Health Security (OHS).

Specifically, the bill

  • establishes the new OHS to advise DHS on medical, public health, and workforce safety matters;
  • sets forth the responsibilities of the Chief Medical Officer and a Privacy Officer in OHS;
  • repeals the terminating date for the CWMD office and sets forth the responsibilities of that office, including efforts to counter chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, as well as other emerging terrorism threats;
  • requires DHS to report to Congress regarding the Securing the Cities program (which seeks to reduce the risk of a successful deployment of radiological or nuclear weapons against major metropolitan areas in the United States);
  • establishes a CWMD Advisory Council; and
  • requires a biodefense review and issuance of a DHS biodefense strategy.

The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on efforts of the CWMD office to prioritize its programs and activities to safeguard against CBRN threats and on other activities of that office.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Val Butler DemingsD-FL-10Sponsor

Democrats · 3

Republicans · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jul 29, 2022Introduced in House
  2. Jul 29, 2022Introduced in House
  3. Jul 29, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Jul 29, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Aug 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.
  6. Aug 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Oversight, Management, and Accountability.
  7. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  8. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  9. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseSubcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Discharged.
  10. Sep 14, 2022 · HouseSubcommittee on Oversight, Management, and Accountability Discharged.
  11. Dec 20, 2022Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Homeland Security. H. Rept. 117-650, Part I.
  12. Dec 20, 2022 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Homeland Security. H. Rept. 117-650, Part I.
  13. Dec 20, 2022Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged.
  14. Dec 20, 2022 · HouseCommittee on Energy and Commerce discharged.
  15. Dec 20, 2022 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 469.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.