H.R. 1561 · 119th Congress

ALERT Communities Act

Introduced on Feb 25, 2025 by Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30). One cosponsor. Latest action (Jul 21, 2026): Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 48 - 0.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Feb 25, 2025
Cosponsors
1
1 from the other party
Policy area
Health
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. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To require research with respect to fentanyl and xylazine test strips, to authorize the use of grant funds for such test strips, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Congressional oversight
  • Drug trafficking and controlled substances
  • First responders and emergency personnel
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Medical research
  • Medical tests and diagnostic methods
  • Research administration and funding

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Feb 25, 2025). Public domain.

Advancing Lifesaving Efforts with Rapid Test strips for Communities Act or the ALERT Communities Act

This bill establishes programs and requirements to advance the development and usage of test strips that detect the presence of certain hazardous drugs (e.g., fentanyl, xylazine).

Currently, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides grants to government entities to train and provide authorized equipment to first responders and other relevant personnel for emergency treatment of opioid overdoses. The bill expands these grants to include rapid response test strips for detecting the presence of fentanyl, xylazine, and other synthetic opioids or emerging substances in people or within other drugs.

Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish guidance and standards for test strip manufacturers to support the development, evaluation, and authorization of test strips.

Also, HHS must conduct a study and report to Congress on how the availability and usage of test strips and similar equipment impacts the frequency of overdoses and participation in substance use disorder treatment.

Sponsor and cosponsors

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

Jasmine CrockettD-TX-30Sponsor

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. Feb 25, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Feb 25, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Feb 25, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  4. Feb 25, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Health.
  5. Jun 25, 2026 · HouseSubcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  6. Jun 25, 2026 · HouseForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
  7. Jul 20, 2026 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  8. Jul 21, 2026 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  9. Jul 21, 2026 · HouseOrdered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 48 - 0.

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.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. American Medical Association1 report
    $5.1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION$371K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  2. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists1 report
    $260K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEALTH-SYSTEM PHARMACISTS INC$350.5K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  3. Southeast Georgia Hospital System1 report
    $24K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2026.

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 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 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 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 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.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.