Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following yesterday:
Murray and colleagues sent a letter to the Trump Administration demanding it submit an emergency supplemental funding request for novel coronavirus response
The Trump Administration
has yet to submit an emergency supplemental request to Congress
regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak
President Trump’s recent budget proposal suggested cuts to key public health and preparedness programs
Senators:
“Based on the global escalation of cases and the increasing demands on
federal, state and local public health agencies, we are concerned that
HHS has not requested additional resources.”
WASHINGTON, DC –
Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the
Senate Appropriations Committee and the top Democrat on the Senate
health committee, along with 25 of her Democratic Senate colleagues,
sent a letter to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) Alex Azar and Director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) Mick Mulvaney expressing their concern over the Trump
Administration’s failure so far to outline what additional resources it
needs to respond to the rapidly developing coronavirus outbreak. The
letter comes after earlier this week the Trump Administration released
its new budget proposal, which suggested cutting public health and preparedness programs that help protect against global health threats.
“We remain deeply concerned with the
rapidly evolving 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)… While we appreciate
the critical work happening at the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) and government-wide to respond to this emergency, the
Administration has not been forthcoming about how much funding will be
needed to respond to the outbreak,” wrote the Senators
“Based on the global escalation of
cases and the increasing demands on federal, state and local public
health agencies, we are concerned that HHS has not requested additional
resources. We have heard the growing concerns from states and local
public health departments about their escalating costs associated with
travel screening, isolation and quarantine, staffing, contracts, goods
and services, and equipment for the response… We strongly urge the
Administration to transmit an emergency supplemental request that
ensures it can and will fully reimburse states for the costs they are
incurring as part of this response – including costs associated with the
enactment of travel screening and quarantine policies laid out by the
Federal government,” the letter continued.
The letter was also signed by Senators
Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris
Murphy (D-CT), Robert Menendez (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker
(D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Doug Jones (D-AL), Elizabeth Warren
(D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH),
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kirsten Gillibrand
(D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kamala Harris
(D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Brian Schatz (D-HI),
Bob Casey (D-PA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Tim Kaine (D-VA).
A copy of the letter can be found HERE and below:
February 14, 2020
The Honorable Mick Mulvaney
Director
Director
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20503
The Honorable Alex M. Azar II
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, D.C. 20201
Dear Director Mulvaney and Secretary Azar:
We remain deeply concerned with the
rapidly evolving 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). As of today, the
virus has infected over 64,000 people and resulted in over 1,300
fatalities across the globe. Here in the United States, the total
number of infections stands at 15 and the risk to the general public
remains low, but public health experts expect additional cases will
occur. Just this week, World Health Organization Director-General,
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the virus is not only a serious
emergency for China, but a very grave threat for the rest of the world.
While we appreciate the critical work
happening at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and
government-wide to respond to this emergency, the Administration has not
been forthcoming about how much funding will be needed to respond to
the outbreak. Despite several requests for the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) to transmit an emergency supplemental request to Congress
to ensure the strongest response possible, HHS and OMB officials
continue to assert that there are already sufficient resources
available, while providing few details on current or projected spending,
and leaving states and localities with questions on if and when they
will be reimbursed for the significant costs they are incurring,
including to implement Federal policies. Meanwhile, on February 2, 2020,
Secretary Azar notified the Committees on Appropriations of HHS’s
intention to use its transfer and reprogramming authority to reallocate
up to $136 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), and
HHS’s Office of Global Affairs to support ongoing emergency response
activities, suggesting the need for more resources. While we understand
the need for flexibility to respond to this emergency, pulling funding
from other critical programs within HHS is not the solution. Based on
the global escalation of cases and the increasing demands on federal,
state and local public health agencies, we are concerned that HHS has
not requested additional resources.
We have heard the growing concerns from
states and local public health departments about their escalating costs
associated with travel screening, isolation and quarantine, staffing,
contracts, goods and services, and equipment for the response. The
federal government instituted the screening, isolation, and quarantine
policy and should therefore be responsible for the considerable expenses
states and localities are incurring, including to implement the policy.
We also understand there are questions about how HHS will cover the
significant costs associated with phase II and III clinical trials to
test vaccines that could provide protection against the virus, and that
there are questions about whether the production capacity at the
Department’s Holly Springs vaccine manufacturing facility is adequate.
Finally, it is troubling that the President’s newly released Budget
proposes to cut public health programs that are critical to preventing
and containing the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19,
including almost $100 million from crucial CDC global health
investments, and $35 million from the CDC’s Infectious Disease Rapid
Response Reserve Fund, which has served as the primary source of funding
for responding to COVID-19. These budget cuts risk undermining the
agency’s ability to access immediately available funding to initiate an
early and rapid response to emerging pandemic threats like novel
coronavirus when the U.S. is faced with a public health emergency.
It is clear from previous global
infectious disease outbreaks that they require aggressive, coordinated
responses across the federal government. In fact, in a briefing for
Senators on February 12th, Administration officials stated
that we must be prepared for a very large and lengthy public health
response to this virus given how easily it appears to be transmitted.
They also stated that HHS would exhaust existing funding for the
response soon. We strongly urge the Administration to transmit an
emergency supplemental request that ensures it can and will fully
reimburse states for the costs they are incurring as part of this
response – including costs associated with the enactment of travel
screening and quarantine policies laid out by the Federal government.
The supplemental request should also provide funding to replenish the
Infectious Disease Rapid Response Reserve Fund since it is likely that
Congress will not complete work on the fiscal year 2021 until after the
election, leaving the Fund potentially perilously short of money should
another public health emergency develop during the year.
We also request responses to the following questions:
· Which
contributing programs within each of the HHS Operating Divisions will be
providing transfer funding related to the Secretary’s $136 million
transfer for the coronavirus response?
· How
much funding and what activities will be reimbursed to state and local
public health departments for their costs incurred in responding to
potential and confirmed coronavirus cases?
· What
is a reasonable amount of federal funding that will be required for
phase II and III clinical trials to test vaccines that could provide
protection against COVID-19? What is a reasonable amount of federal
funding that would be required to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine within
an 18 month time period?
Sincerely,
