Urging the Administration to Facilitate Assistance in Response to the Devastating Impact of Covid-19 in India

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding. I want to thank my colleague and co-chair of the House Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, Mr. Chabot, for joining with me in introducing this resolution.

Mr. Chabot and I introduced this resolution recognizing the devastating impact that COVID-19 has had on India and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives about the need to provide the maximum possible assistance to India.

The House has a long, bipartisan record of supporting and strengthening the relationship between the United States, the world's oldest democracy, and India, the world's largest democracy.

I also want to thank Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul for working with us on this important resolution, and thank my colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee for passing this resolution unanimously.

The COVID-19 outbreak in India requires a global response. We know that the COVID epidemic is not limited by international borders, and the pandemic will not end anywhere until it ends everywhere, as the chairman pointed out.

This is particularly true with regard to variants and we are aware of the delta variant that is now spreading.

Until we can vaccinate the world, there will be millions, billions of opportunities for this virus to infect; where it infects, it replicates; where it replicates, it mutates and poses the risk of developing a strain that, unlike the strains we have dealt with so far, evades the vaccines that we have developed.

We have been working in a bipartisan manner to address the devastating effects of this second COVID-19 wave in India. Official testing results indicate that India has seen more than 340,000 daily infections and over 4,000 daily deaths. But many public health officials believe these numbers understate the matter, and that perhaps upwards of 2 million people a day have been infected in India.

Of course, we have seen a slight abatement in those horrific numbers, but the problem remains.

I want to thank the Biden administration and commend them for organizing so many parts of the U.S. Government, the CDC, HHS, USAID, the State Department, in getting materials to India that will help vaccine production, provide rapid COVID testing and, most importantly, oxygen support, particularly, oxygen concentrators and, of course, PPE to help save lives.

This resolution is part of the ongoing effort of the India Caucus to help India at this time of need. Earlier this year, we sent a bipartisan request to the President requesting that we increase our assistance to India in battling COVID-19, particularly focusing on the raw materials necessary to manufacture vaccines and oxygen concentration equipment.

By early May, the United States had provided over $100 million worth of medical supplies, including that oxygen support, and PPE, rapid diagnostic tests, and therapeutics.

USAID also facilitated the delivery of 440 oxygen cylinders and concentrators to India, generously donated by the State of California.

We should recognize the substantial support of the American public. In response to India's crisis, the Indian-American community has contributed significantly to the effort; individuals, along with the private sector, continue to do so.

Indian-American companies, such as Prime Healthcare, are working to assist efforts, not only to deliver necessary medical supplies, but also ensure that they reach the people most in need. And the U.S.-India Business Council has worked to coordinate a coalition of corporations, nonprofits, and individuals to deliver thousands of ventilators and oxygen concentrators to India.

This resolution stands with the people of India as they collectively work to stem the spread of COVID-19, urges the administration to facilitate private and in-kind medical supply donations, and urges the delivery of urgently needed supplies to India.

This resolution recognizes the importance of work by the U.S. Government and of Indian Americans in the private sector.

There is no doubt that the U.S.-India relationship is growing closer, and that our assistance to India, to help overcome this terrible COVID wave, is a critical part of building that relationship.

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