Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Chair, I rise today to speak in support of my amendment, which will allow States to build or maintain their own medical stockpiles and encourage regional coordination of those stockpiles.

Over the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in our Strategic National Stockpile, leading to a shortage of critical drugs, vaccines, and medical supplies. We all remember the scramble among States and the Federal Government for limited supplies of diagnostics, PPE, treatments, and other critical medical countermeasures.

Each State had different priorities and needs: while one needed ventilators, another needed masks. In my home State of Georgia, healthcare providers and patients struggled to access critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment. That is why it is important to not only ensure that the Strategic National Stockpile is robust, but also to provide ways for States to stockpile treatments and products for their specific needs. To be clear, this amendment would supplement, not replace, the Federal Strategic National Stockpile.

This amendment would empower States to build and maintain their own medical stockpiles so they can respond quickly to emerging infectious diseases in the future. That is why I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment before us here today.

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Chair, in response I would just say that this is simply to supplement the National Strategic Stockpiles. It is not to replace them. It is not to do anything but give the States the opportunity to have their own stockpiles. This is not a cookie-cutter- type situation that you have here. Different States have different needs. We all understand that, and this is what that addresses.

Mr. Chair, this is a commonsense bill and commonsense amendment, and I would ask and encourage my colleagues to vote in favor.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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