Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Pandemic and All- Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act, also known as PAHPA.

It is a good thing we are here to vote on this bill today, but the work on this issue has been going on for a while.

We held reauthorization hearings in the Energy and Commerce Committee in June of last year and were able to pass the bill through the committee and out of the House shortly thereafter.

We again passed PAHPA in January, which has continued to be championed by my good friend Mrs. Brooks of Indiana.

PAHPA is important legislation that will improve our Nation's public health, medical preparedness, and response capabilities for emergencies. Whether it is a natural disaster, an accidental catastrophe, or a deliberate act of terror, it is the contents of this bill that will keep Americans safe.

This bill will upgrade our preparedness by boosting our domestic biological surveillance systems and help upgrade our medical countermeasures.

This bill also takes a particular look at how we address antimicrobial resistance so we can help protect future generations from the threat of widespread pandemic.

Living on the Georgia coast, my district understands the threat of natural disasters in the form of hurricanes all too well. This bill improves our disaster response coordination, so we minimize the human toll of these deadly storms.

Since funding expired on September 30th of last year, the House has voted multiple times to reauthorize PAHPA. I look forward to President Trump signing this vital, lifesaving legislation into law.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source