Bronx U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres is re-introducing legislation aimed at improving the federal government’s response to public health emergencies, Spectrum News NY1 has learned.

The bill was initially inspired by concerns over the government’s handling of COVID-19 and mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. Torres is reintroducing it in this session of Congress as the U.S. grapples with outbreaks of the bird flu and measles.

“We are catastrophically underprepared for bird flu and for a whole host of public health emergencies,” Torres said in an interview.

Torres’s bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a department-wide after-action review program to “identify and implement solutions for issues found following any response” by HHS to a public health emergency, incorporating analysis from across the department’s various agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The review would also include people from outside the department.

The legislation also would require HHS to implement a communication strategy that identifies at-risk populations and ensures outreach is targeted and accessible.

Torres introduced similar legislation last Congress but it did not receive a vote.

“HHS is on the front lines of responding to public health emergencies. We need an agency that has coordination and communication, because without coordination and communication, we have no capacity for rapid response,” Torres said. “And when you're in a public health emergency, every second counts.”

Last April, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report detailing how the various agencies at HHS do not have a department-wide strategy “to identify and resolve recurring emergency response challenges.”

“This has contributed to the recurrence of those challenges during the mpox emergency and raises concerns for HHS’s ability to lead and respond to future emergencies,” the report states.

The report also cites problems at HHS the GAO has identified during the COVID-19 outbreak and other health emergencies. These shortcomings include ineffective communication with the public, hurdles to providing testing and antivirals, and obstacles for local governments looking to share their health data.

The current HHS Secretary is Robert Kennedy Jr., a leading vaccine skeptic. Torres called him “the worst possible leader” for the federal agency.

Torres initially called on the GAO to investigate back in 2022.