This Week in Congress

House

The House will return on November 13, 2022.

Senate

The Senate will be back in session on November 14, 2022.

National Defense Authorization Act

The Senate was in session on October 11, 2022, to begin the process for consideration of the FY’23 $817 billion defense policy bill. The Senate plans to begin debate on the legislation on November 14.  The text of the legislation can be found here The bill also contains non-defense authorizations as follows:

• Intelligence Reauthorization Act
• Dept. of State Reauthorization Act
• Matters related to Taiwan
• Homeland Security and Government Affairs Matters
• Water Resources Development Act of 2022
• Coast Guard Reauthorization Act
• Oceans and Atmosphere.

Marijuana

President Biden has granted pardons to all those convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law. He also called on HHS Secretary Becerra and Attorney General Garland to “expeditiously” review marijuana’s classification under federal law as a Schedule I narcotic, meaning it’s deemed to have no medical use and a high potential for abuse. The immediate practical impact may be limited because most people in federal prison for cannabis-related offenses aren’t there for minor or nonviolent crimes. But it will help people who have prior records.  It also introduces a more science-based approach to U.S. drug policy, said Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “It is clear that our current marijuana laws have not worked, and that we need a new approach that balances science with criminal justice reform efforts.”

Other Legislation and Happenings Around the Nation

Monkeypox

Monkeypox’s decline has lessons for future disease outbreaks:  A few months ago, monkeypox regularly made headlines as a major new disease outbreak. Then it largely vanished from the news. Since a peak in early August, reported monkeypox cases in the U.S. have fallen more than 85 percent. The rise and fall of monkeypox provide lessons on the spread of diseases — an aspect of public health that experts acknowledge we still know far too little about.  Monkeypox in the U.S. has been contained to a narrow demographic, mostly gay and bisexual men with multiple partners. It was seldom very deadly; there were just 28 confirmed deaths globally out of more than over 70,000 reported cases. Four factors explain monkeypox’s decline: vaccines; gay and bisexual men reduced activities, such as sex with multiple partners; the Pride Month effect (monkeypox began to spread more widely around June, when much of the world celebrated L.G.B.T.Q. Pride. Beyond the parades and rallies, some parties and other festivities involved casual sex; and finally, the virus simply burned out. This year’s outbreak has made officials take monkeypox more seriously. So, if it does come back, the country may be more prepared to deploy vaccines and take other steps to fight it. But success depends on how people react.

The World Health Organization (WHO) prepares for ‘most dangerous’ phase as monkeypox cases top 70,000:  This week, WHO said that the number of cases in the global monkeypox outbreak has now surpassed 70,000 but cautioned that people should not let their guard down despite a decline in new cases. According to the WHO Director, more than 70,000 illnesses and 26 fatalities have been reported to the UN health organization in 2022. As it emphasized that a worldwide decrease in new cases could be the “most dangerous” phase in the outbreak, the WHO reported that case numbers increased last week in some countries in the Americas.

COVID-19

US Extends Public Health Emergency

The US has extended the COVID public health emergency through Jan. 11, a clear demonstration that the Biden administration still views COVID as a crisis.  The emergency, first declared in January 2020 by the Trump administration, has been renewed every 90 days since the pandemic began. The emergency declaration gives federal agencies broad authority to expand certain programs without congressional approval. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid expanded enrollment in Medicaid. HHS also expanded telehealth services and gave hospitals flexibility in how they can deploy staff and beds when a surge of patients stresses capacity.

Low Uptake for Boosters

Hospitalizations in Europe are rising, and Americans aren’t showing up to get their COVID-19 boosters. By the end of last week, the Biden administration expected between 13 and 15 million people, or about 5 percent of the eligible population, would have opted to get the updated Moderna or Pfizer jab ahead of what health officials warn could be another deadly Covid winter. Booster uptake wasn’t great before the Omicron-fighting version came along. Now doctors and advocates say Americans are burned out, tuned out and don’t understand why this one is different. Officials are getting boosted on TV. They’re working with community messengers and pushing out new ads to reach people in long-term care facilities and rural Americans. Privately, however, health officials don’t expect a massive response. That’s partly due to the country’s deep pandemic fatigue and to the lack of an immediate threat of a dangerous new variant that might otherwise motivate people to prioritize the booster.

Boosters for Kids

This week, the FDA authorized the use of Omicron booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer for children as young as 5. The shots are available two months after the two-dose primary series of the mRNA vaccines. Experts also advise waiting for three months after kids have been infected with CoOVID-19 to receive a booster dose.

Syphilis

Across the board, sexually transmitted infections are on a “shocking” upward trajectory, according to public health experts. Preliminary data from 2021 that the CDC released in September shows upticks in cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia — but outpacing them is a disease that the US at one point nearly succeeded in eliminating: syphilis. About a quarter of people with a syphilis infection who don’t get treated have serious complications — including death in around 10 percent of cases. Most concerning is the data on who is getting infected with syphilis: Case rates in women and babies rose almost threefold between 2017 and 2021 — a much larger increase than the rise among men, and larger still than the uptick in other sexually transmitted infections. In that time range, the number of syphilis cases in women rose from two per 100,000 people to seven per 100,000, and the number of infants born with congenital syphilis — not including those who died before birth — increased from 24 to 74 per 100,000. The article can be found here

Congenital syphilis

Rates soar across California as public health funding dwindled prior to the pandemic. California has the sixth-highest rate of congenital syphilis in the country, with rates increasing every year. In 2020, 107 cases per 100,000 live births were reported, a staggering 11-fold increase from a decade prior. That rate far exceeds the California Department of Public Health’s 2020 target to keep congenital syphilis numbers below 9.6 cases per 100,000 live births, a goal it outstripped almost as soon as it was set. Even more shockingly, the syphilis rate among women of childbearing age was 53 times higher than the 2020 goal. The article can be found here.

Ebola

A growing Ebola outbreak in Uganda has prompted the Biden administration to reroute passengers coming to the U.S. who have been in the east African nation. All passengers, including U.S. citizens and residents, who have been in Uganda in the last 21 days will be flown to airports in New York, Newark, Atlanta, Chicago or Washington, D.C, where the CDC and Customs and Border Protection will conduct the screenings. To date, no suspected or confirmed Ebola cases have been reported in the U.S.

Abortion

Indiana:  The Indiana Supreme Court issued an order that will allow abortions to continue in the state while it considers whether new abortion restrictions violate the state’s constitution.

North Dakota:  The North Dakota Supreme Court ordered a lower court judge to reconsider his decision to prevent the state’s abortion ban from taking effect pending the outcome of a clinic’s legal challenge. The state’s only abortion clinic, argues that the state’s constitution grants the right to abortion.

Ohio:  A six-week abortion ban in Ohio has forced people with cancer to travel out of state for abortions that are necessary to continue with life-saving treatment, according to affidavits submitted by abortion providers in the state.