Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to provide $150 million over five years in continued funding for Lyme disease research at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

                During debate on the Kay Hagan Tick Act reauthorization (HR 4348) on the House floor, Smith quoted U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., saying that “‘Lyme disease remains one of the Nation’s fastest-growing vector-borne health threats. More than 476,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, and recent data show emergency room visits for tick bites reached their highest springtime level in nearly a decade.’”

                Smith further explained, “Vector borne diseases are now endemic in regions of the country where they have not historically been present. Disease-laden ticks are now found in all 48 contiguous U.S. states. The problem is exploding—not abating.

                “It is therefore critical that Congress take immediate action to support and sustain ongoing comprehensive efforts to combat these insidious diseases that kill and disable,” continued Smith, the founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Caucus.

                HR 4348—which reauthorizes Smith’s TICK Act (PL 116-94)—will allocate federal monies for the CDC’s regional Centers of Excellence and provide funding for states in regions that have an elevated risk of Lyme or other tick-borne disease outbreaks, enabling them to work in tandem with the federal government to quickly identify and address such outbreaks.

                “HR 4348 supports this whole-of-government assault on Lyme and other vector-borne diseases and again authorizes $50 million over five years for the regional Centers of Excellence, which coordinate with academia and local public health agencies to conduct research on Lyme in their areas and train public health professionals to identify and treat Lyme,” noted Smith.

                “Finally, HR 4348, again, as we did in the original law, authorizes cooperative agreement funding for states and localities—$100 million over five years—to tangibly assist state public health departments and other local entities to support the development and implementation of evidence-based research, interventions, and treatment,” he continued.

                Since 1992, Smith has authored numerous amendments and legislation to improve the lives and prognoses of those suffering from Lyme disease by enhancing and expanding federal tick-borne disease research, awareness, and collaboration.

                Most recently—in February of this year—Smith authored and introduced the LymeX Authorization Act (HR 7482), legislation to codify and authorize $5 million towards the LymeX Accelerator Program (LymeX), a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, which funds prize competitions to advance innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease.

                Moreover, in December of last year, Smith’s amendment to probe whether the Cold War-era Department of War bioweapons program ever used ticks as hosts or delivery mechanisms for biological warfare agents was included within the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was later signed into law (PL 119-60) by President Trump.

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