Improving Emergency Disease Response Via Housing Act of 2020

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6294.

Back in the early days of COVID-19, the Republicans on the Committee on Financial Services anticipated some of the biggest threats the virus posed and moved to protect those who were most vulnerable. Representative Tipton introduced H.R. 6294 so that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development would be better able to coordinate and target treatment to folks like the elderly and the disabled. We knew that these were going to be the highest risk, most vulnerable populations affected by the pandemic and wanted to make sure States had all the tools they needed to protect these citizens.

Sadly, in some places, we saw the disastrous effect of what happened when local officials failed to act quickly to make sure our seniors were kept safe from the preventable spread of the pandemic. To ensure that we do not repeat such mistakes, H.R. 6294 would allow for data- sharing between HHS and HUD regarding the location of section 202 affordable housing properties while keeping residents' personal information protected.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Tipton for his leadership in this area, and I will miss working with him. This is a commonsense bill to cut through red tape and allow for greater assistance to vulnerable populations.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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