Murray Wins Increased Investments for Medical Research, Public Health, and Global Health Security

Statement

Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the increased funding for medical research, public health preparedness, and global health security which she fought to include in the end-of-year spending bill which passed the Senate today.

"This pandemic has underscored just how important it is we make sustained investments to keep our country and the world prepared for whatever public health threats may emerge. We know diseases aren't stopped by borders or wishful thinking--they are stopped by medical discoveries, by the hard work of public health experts, and by global collaboration to quickly identify and stop emerging threats.

"I'm glad we were able to increase funding for programs that are critical to these efforts for the year ahead. However, the work of ensuring we are prepared for public health emergencies is never done. Public health infrastructure saves lives--and the better funded and prepared our public health system is before a crisis, the more lives it will be able to save during one. That's why I'm also going to continue pushing to pass a bill that provides dedicated, annual funding to build our public health infrastructure."

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