Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the COVID pandemic showed us just how painfully true that is when it comes to public health.

Our public health system is our frontline defense--not only against deadly diseases and pandemics; it also aids in addressing the opioid and fentanyl crisis, preventing chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, protecting our food and water supply, and a lot more.

But despite our public health system's central role in protecting our communities, keeping our families safe and healthy, and preventing major disruptions in our lives, our public health system was sorely underfunded before COVID struck, and it has been seriously overwhelmed ever since. We have--thank goodness--gotten a much better grasp on COVID, but who in their right mind would look at the last few years and think funding public health is probably something we can put on the back burner?

We have to do better. We have to apply the lessons we learned and start thinking ahead now so we are never caught unprepared again. We have to end this cycle of crisis and complacency when it comes to building and maintaining strong public health infrastructure because the simple fact of the matter is public health infrastructure saves lives, and the better funded and prepared our public health system is before a crisis, the more lives we will save during one.

And make no mistake, the question is not whether there will be a new threat; it is: When is the next crisis going to strike? Will we be ready next time?

We cannot afford to treat public health like a one-and-done issue, which is why I am here today reintroducing my bill to provide $4.5 billion in dedicated annual funding to support core public health capabilities at every level so we can protect our public health system from complacency and hostage-taking and drastic cuts.

The Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act would make much- needed investments at the CDC, and, crucially, it would establish a grant program to support health departments all across our country. This funding would meet a wide variety of needs in communities across America. Health departments could use it to make sure they do robust contact tracing and stop outbreaks in their tracks, have adequate lab capacity to address public health threats, and have a surge workforce available in an emergency to save lives.

This funding would empower our public health departments to make sure lifesaving information reaches everyone: people who don't speak English, people with disabilities, or people who don't have access to the internet. It would help officials conduct public awareness campaigns and fight misinformation and get really basic but essential information out, like when and where to find a vaccine clinic.

Public health departments could also use this funding as they update their IT and data systems to help them more quickly identify threats before they become full-blown outbreaks. And it would help us collect more consistent, comprehensive demographic data so we can see and address gaps in our responses and get the resources where they are needed the most.

It would also help our departments hire and train and retain the people they need. That is really important. A recent survey actually showed that nearly half of all our State and local public health workers left their jobs between 2017 and 2020, citing harassment or retirement. Post COVID, public health workers are more burnt out than ever and in dire need of reinforcements. This funding will help provide that and a lot more.

And, critically, this would be dedicated annual funding. That would do so much to help take the possibility of cuts and chaos off the table and put us on track to build the kind of world-class public health system that our communities deserve, the kind our families need to keep them safe.

And here is the thing: Every dollar that we invest now saves us much more in the long run. When we tackle public health threats now--staving off major outbreaks, major disruption--we save in a really big way down the line. We should all know by now we can't take public health for granted. We have seen real momentum and support for this from communities who understand all too well we need a strong public health system at every level.

It is time for Congress to show we get it too. It is time for us to invest in prevention, invest in public health in a serious way, because when we say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, we are talking about stopping the next global pandemic and the next global economic crisis in its tracks, which will save lives and livelihoods.

So let's not make public health funding partisan. I urge my Republican colleagues to support this legislation. If you are skeptical, talk to me. A nominal investment in public health is a major payoff in terms of economic security and keeping our families safe and healthy. It seems like a pretty good deal to me.

I hope we can all work together and pass the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act.

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