1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Strategies to Address Antibiotic Resistance Act or the STAAR Act . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to human health worldwide, necessitating increased prevention efforts, antimicrobial stewardship programs and surveillance programs, and research and development of new antibiotics and rapid diagnostics. (2) Since the discovery of antibiotic drugs, these powerful drugs have saved millions of lives and allowed for incredible medical progress. However, antibiotic resistance is accelerated by over- and inappropriate use of antibiotic drugs by which bacteria, through mutation and other mechanisms, can develop resistance to antibiotic drugs. (3) Antibiotic-resistant infections significantly complicate a wide variety of complex medical services, including chemotherapy to treat cancer, solid organ and bone marrow transplants, joint replacements and other surgeries, and care of preterm infants and other immunocompromised individuals. (4) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year in the United States at least 2,000,000 people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die as a result of antibiotic-resistant infections. Many more people die from other conditions that were complicated by an antibiotic-resistant infection. (5) According to a 2015 report from the New England Journal of Medicine, Clostridium difficile infects approximately 500,000 patients in the United States each year, resulting in almost 30,000 deaths and an estimated $4,800,000,000 in excess health care costs each year. Clostridium difficile infections are most common as a result of over-prescribing antibiotics, and antibiotic-resistant strains of Clostridium difficile are on the rise. (6) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that the annual impact of antibiotic‐resistant infections on the United States economy is more than $20,000,000,000 in