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, went to the Floor of the House of Representatives today to express his support for additional funding and to request Congress waste no more time in providing support for the American people.

As Prepared for Delivery:

“Our actions today represent a lost opportunity. I am pleased that we are finally going to pass legislation to provide more funding for our small businesses and health care providers. But we should have been preparing for the needs of the American people in January. Instead, the House considered 15 pieces of non-crucial legislation, including five resolutions that do not have the force of law.

Six months before COVID-19 started to spread worldwide Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law, the reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. Yet, Congress has not examined its implementation. We did not do any real time oversight over a problem that was occurring.

Why not?

Well, instead the Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on flavored tobacco, the horseracing industry, and ticket scalping. While these items have a place in our legislative agenda, it is not in the middle of a pandemic.

As a physician and the Republican Leader of the Health Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce, I began calling for action in January. It was not until February 26th that the Energy and Commerce Committee convened on a hearing examining the Health and Human Services budget, where I was one of only 10 Members allowed to ask questions of HHS on their response to the Coronavirus. It was a full two weeks later before Congress considered the first comprehensive response bill. During its consideration at the Rules Committee, I requested a survey of ventilators because we did not even know how many we had available.

Thanks to vital steps taken by the Trump Administration, to this day no patient has been denied a ventilator that needed one. That is a testament to the Administration’s response and puts to shame the Democratic majority’s response.

We are in the middle of working to ensure patient survival while keeping our economy afloat. Now is not the time to authorize a partisan committee to conduct oversight in a manner we know only to be good for the news cycle. Early in this crisis, we lost our opportunity to prepare. Let us waste no more time.

To watch the full speech, click here.

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