by Michael McCardel, Jason Whitely Airlines are expected to begin massive layoffs Oct. 1 in what will be another startling jolt to the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic. Fort Worth-based American Airlines, for instance, says it will shed 19,000 jobs. North Texas Congressman Michael Burgess said the economy needs a boost, but he worries about the price tag. “I don’t think that there’s any doubt that there’s going to have to be some type of additional help to the economy,” Burgess said. “But it doesn’t need to be $3 trillion. I don’t think it has to be $2 trillion.” Those broad figu... Read More »
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), a member of the House Rules Committee and Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, outlined in his opening statement, for today’s Health Subcommittee hearing - Health Care Lifeline: The Affordable Care Act and the COVID-19 Pandemic, how in the decade since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Americans have seen the cost of their health care rise and that health care does not have a one-size-fits-all solution. Recently, House Republicans stated in the "Commitment to America” plan, a commi... Read More »
Washington, D.C. – Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR), Health Subcommittee Republican Leader Dr. Michael Burgess (R-TX), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Republican Leader Brett Guthrie (R-KY) sent letters to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D. and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Christopher Wray to request information on how their respective agencies are working to remove foreign influence from biomedical research. “As the largest funder of biomedical research in the world, the NIH research comm... Read More »
Today, Representative Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) praised the unanimous, bipartisan House passage of the bipartisan Strengthening America’s Strategic National Stockpile Act. Rep. Cisneros joined his Republican and Democratic House colleagues to introduce this legislative package, which would reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of critical medical supplies the country needs to fight COVID-19 by making much-needed improvements and updates to America’s Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), and boosting domestic manufacturing of those supplies here in America. “Throughout this pandem... Read More »
September 22, 2020 Dear Friends, National Updates: Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca publicly released their vaccine protocols. Eli Lilly and Company announced proof of concept data from an interim analysis of the BLAZE-1 clinical trial showing a reduced rate of hospitalization for patients treated with the drug. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services(CMS) issued revised guidance providing recommendations on ways nursing homes can safely facilitate both indoor and outdoor visitation during the pandemic. CMS received the final report from the independent Coronavirus Commission for Safety ... Read More »
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), a member of the House Rules Committee and Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, released the following statement after he voted for H.R. 8337, a short-term continuing resolution (CR), to fund the federal government through December 11, 2020. "The most basic responsibility of Congress is to pass a budget,” said Burgess. “During this unprecedented time, it is critical to avoid a costly government shutdown; however, passing a CR does not allow government agencies to plan for the future or make nec... Read More »
by Sarah G. Vilms This week, the House of Representatives is set to consider H.R. 447, the House Clean Energy Package. Over 150 amendments were offered on the package and today, the House Rules Committee will meet today decide which of those amendments to consider on the House floor. Depending on the outcome of the House Rules Committee meeting, the legislation could be considered on the floor as early as tomorrow. Of interest to states and local governments, the legislation would include: $3.5 billion to reauthorize the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant; $225 million for the Ener... Read More »
by Sarah G. Vilms and Jacqueline Orfield On Monday, the White House released its statement of administration policy (SAP) threatening to veto the proposed clean energy package from the House of Representatives (H.R. 4447). Trump Administration policy advisors argued that the legislation would reinstate “big government policies and programs” and “undermine the Administration’s regulatory agenda.” Specifically, the SAP criticizes workforce development provisions in the bill, highlighting that these may override and duplicate efforts at the federal agency level, as well as comments on the overall... Read More »
by Mari Serebrov In a marathon session Sept. 21 in which the U.S. House suspended the rules to vote on more than 50 bills, it passed H.R. 4866, the National Centers of Excellence in Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Act, along with nine other health-related bills. H.R. 4866 would amend the 21st Century Cures Act to direct the FDA to designate national centers of excellence (NCEs) that would work with the agency and the biopharma industry to craft a national framework for continuous manufacturing. The bill also calls for support for additional R&D of the technology, workforce development,... Read More »
Washington, D.C. – America is the engine of innovation. In an op-ed in Modern Healthcare, Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, outlines how COVID-19 has changed the most ordinary tasks such as visiting your doctor. Stated at the start of the piece Burgess says, “For doctor’s visits today, instead of finding a babysitter, looking for a parking spot, and then having to sit in a crowded waiting room, many Americans are now accustomed to being able to “phone it in” for their medical appointments. Each week there are... Read More »
