look forward to serving as a resource for the committee during the reauthorization of pahpa. i'm happy to understand questions and i thank you for inviting me here today. >> thank you for the testimony. stephen, the floor is yours. >> good morning. chairman burke, ranking member casey comet established members and staff of the health committee. i am doctor steve -- head of medicine at the children's hospital in chicago and professor of pediatrics at the northwestern university feinberg school of medicine. i am the chair of the american academy of pediatrics disaster preparedness advisory council and on behalf of the 66,000 members of the aap, thank you for holding today's hearing and for inviting me. ... in the last reauthorization's three authorizations. those changes that help to make the needs of children in much higher priority in emergency planning response. as we heard last week from cdc and fda leadership these changes have a distinct role in ensuring our health care system is better prepared to meet the needs of all americans including of course children during and af

despite representing the p in pahpa, authorized funding has not been included in the legislation. funding for critical activities such as stockpiling, advanced research and development has been episodic since 2009. emergency supplemental funds provided during the 2005 and 2009 pandemics are now fully exhausted. having a program authorized by congress would provide a clear signal to the private sector that the u.s. is committed to preparing against pandemic threats in the future. the most recent five-year budget outline $630 million. we believe in annual authorization level of the least $535 million is needed to support hhs's most critical activities. regarding predictable mcm funding, over the last 12 years, this enterprise has improved our nation's security and while bar da has improved of its industry partners, government must provide more certainty in the process. procurement funding provided by the project special was her fund , the national stockpile and b arda's program provides market certainty. because there is no commercial market, companies can only rely on the commitmen