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The Honorable Robert Aderholt Chair Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515	The Honorable Rosa DeLauro Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito Chair Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510	The Honorable Tammy Baldwin Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chair Aderholt, Ranking Member DeLauro, Chair Capito and Ranking Member Baldwin:

We, the undersigned organizations request that you provide at least $50 million for the Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) program and $120 million for the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies bill.

Established by Congress in FY2014, the AMD program works with universities and federal and state health laboratories across the country to bring greater accuracy, speed and consistency to the detection and tracking of dangerous and disruptive infectious disease outbreaks. In addition to public-private partnerships that have been leveraged to address sequencing dangerous pathogens, the program also forged innovative partnerships with public health agencies and academic laboratories in 5 states through new Pathogen Genomics Centers of Excellence. These centers ensure our public health system benefits from cutting-edge science and technology driven by research institutions well-connected to public health. An appropriation of $50 million in FY2026 would assist our work in the detecting and response to infectious diseases, health-care-associated infections, foodborne illnesses and cases of antimicrobial resistance that threaten public health.

Wastewater surveillance is a powerful and cost-effective public health tool that provides early warning of infectious disease outbreaks without requiring individuals to be symptomatic or tested for infection. Established through the 2020 CARES Act and expanded through supplemental funding from Congress, NWSS has proven its value to track a range of infectious disease threats including seasonal flu, RSV, mpox and the H5N1 avian flu. NWSS delivers critical data to both rural and urban communities, enabling local leaders to make informed decisions to predict and address outbreaks and protect public health. Without a dedicated base funding of at least $120 million for FY2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be unable to maintain NWSS’ existing surveillance capacity, let alone seek to expand to unserved areas and communities. Losing this valuable tool will severely limit our ability to detect emerging pathogens and delay response to future outbreaks, placing the health of Americans at risk.
 
It is of utmost importance to prepare for and rapidly respond to future pandemics and other high-consequence biological threats to protect the health of Americans. Funding and support for the Advanced Molecular Detection program and the National Wastewater Surveillance System at the CDC assists in the detection, prevention and rapid response to outbreaks. Combining the power of next-generation genomic sequencing to study pathogens with passive surveillance of infectious diseases through wastewater served by municipal collection systems will help to improve our nation's public health response by quickly identifying emerging pathogens and disease hotspots in communities.

We appreciate the Subcommittee's support for public health, and we respectfully request that you fund the work of the AMD program at $50 million and NWSS at $120 million during the FY26 appropriations process. Thank you for considering this request.

Sincerely,

AdvaMedDx
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Medical Technologists American Society for Microbiology
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine Association for Molecular Pathology
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
Biophysical Society Blueprint Biosecurity Clear Labs
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Entomological Society of America
Families Fighting Flu Gerontological Society of America
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Rice University
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Society for Public Health Education
Trust for America's Health University of Wisconsin - Madison