Whereas hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and the incidence of liver disease caused by such viruses have become urgent problems of a global proportion; Whereas, worldwide, an estimated— (1) 1,340,000 people die each year due to hepatitis; (2) 257,000,000 people live with chronic hepatitis B; (3) 887,000 people die each year mostly due to a liver-related illness caused by hepatitis B; (4) 71,000,000 people are chronically infected with hepatitis C; and (5) 399,000 people die each year due to a liver-related illness caused by hepatitis C; Whereas, in the United States, an estimated— (1) 5,700,000 people are infected with hepatitis B or hepatitis C; (2) 2,200,000 people are chronically infected with hepatitis B; and (3) 3,500,000 people are chronically infected with hepatitis C; Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this preamble as the CDC ) estimates that, in 2016, there were 20,900 new acute hepatitis B infections and 41,200 new acute hepatitis C infections in the United States; Whereas the CDC has found significant increases in the amount of new hepatitis cases in the United States since 2010, including a 3.5-fold increase between 2010 and 2016 in reported cases of acute hepatitis C infections; Whereas chronic viral hepatitis claims thousands of lives each year in the United States, with an estimated 18,153 deaths due to hepatitis C in 2016; Whereas, between 2015 and 2020, there is estimated to be $136,000,000,000 in hepatitis C drug spending from all payers, and government payers would fund $61,000,000,000, an estimated 45 percent of such spending; Whereas an estimated 80 percent of people with acute hepatitis C do not have any symptoms; Whereas African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Latinos, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, gay and bisexual men, and people who inject drugs intravenously have higher rates of chronic viral hepatitis infections in the United States than other groups of people