Lowey, DeLauro Statement on Next Week’s COVID-19 Appropriations Hearing

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY) and Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement on next week’s Appropriations Committee hearing:

“Congress and the American public deserve a clear-eyed view of the path forward for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the short-term, that entails what our federal government is doing on surveillance, testing, contact tracing, quarantining, social distancing, and the production and distribution of personal protective equipment. Over the medium-term, we need to understand the viability of therapeutics and vaccines in development, their dissemination, and how the influenza season could affect the ongoing pandemic in the Fall. And over the long-term, we need ensure lasting investments in our public health infrastructure are made instead of reacting to public health crises when they arise. The people of this country deserve a federal government that is up-to-date, modernized, and prepared to protect lives.”

“We look forward to the hearing next week with Dr. Tom Frieden, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and one of the world’s foremost public health experts.”