ASM joined partners in submitting the following request to Congress. Dear Chairman Leahy, Vice Chairman Shelby, Chair Murray and Ranking Member Blunt cc: Chair DeLauro, Ranking Member Granger and Ranking Member Cole: We, the undersigned organizations, respectfully request that you provide $60 million for the Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies bill. The AMD program uses next generation sequencing (NGS) to bring the concept of precision medicine to bear for “precision public health.” AMD gives us new tools to detect disease faster, identify outbreaks sooner, and protect people from emerging and evolving disease threats. It informs vaccine development, helps identify and track antimicrobial resistance and foodborne illness, and informs the development of diagnostics for new, existing and emerging diseases. AMD has played a critical role in the response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, enabling the United States to sequence SARS-CoV-2 within one week of its detection last year. In late spring of 2020, the CDC launched SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES), a national genomics consortium to coordinate sequencing across the U.S among public and private entities. Now, as SARS-CoV-2 variants threaten our progress against the virus, supplemental emergency funding through the American Rescue Plan is boosting AMD capacity and making it possible to stay ahead of the new variants and make data-driven public health decisions. We thank Congress for the significant resources it has provided to the program in the short term.