[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 28, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E399-E400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              AMERICA'S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP DURING COVID-19

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. GILBERT RAY CISNEROS, JR.

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 2020

  Mr. CISNEROS. Madam Speaker, for the better part of the last century, 
U.S. leadership has been essential to addressing critical global 
challenges. From rebuilding Europe after World War II to building an 
international coalition to respond to the Ebola Outbreak, the United 
States is unique in the world in its ability to build international 
coalitions and marshal resources and support around the world. The 
COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis that necessarily requires a global 
response in order to solve it--and the United States must take up the 
leadership role it has fulfilled for decades to facilitate the 
response.
  COVID-19 knows no borders--quickly spreading across the world in a 
matter of months, accelerated by our inter-connected world. As such, 
while we should extend every effort to arrest the spread in the United 
States, stopping the spread in the United States alone is not enough. 
If we are to truly be able to reopen our economy and engage in global 
trade and participate in the global supply chain, we risk greater 
exposure and transmission of the virus if it continues to spread 
unchecked around the world.
  Fortunately, the United States possesses not only the requisite 
knowledge and expertise in its public health and medical officials, but 
also decades of experience in global health efforts necessary to lead a 
coordinated global response. The United States has done this before. 
Through the State Department, U.S. Agency for International 
Development, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
United States has led efforts to combat the spread of HIV, malaria, 
Ebola, and other infectious diseases. Doing so not only made the 
epicenters of those outbreaks safer, but it also made the United States 
and American citizens safer. As a result, we contributed to an 
environment that enabled the American and global economies to thrive. 
Today, amid the worst global pandemic in at least a century, the United 
States must step back into the leadership role it has held for decades 
and work with the international community to chart a pathway to defeat 
COVID-19.
  We must commit the resources necessary across our global health, 
humanitarian, and economic toolkits to defeat the coronavirus. 
According to the CDC, 70 percent of the world remains underprepared to 
prevent, detect, and respond to a public health emergency. That means 
we must ensure our diplomats and development professionals on the 
frontlines receive the support they need to maintain operations, 
provide for emergency preparedness needs, and protect Americans. After 
committing trillions to relief at home and more than $2 billion in 
emergency funding to support the global COVID-19 response, it is 
understandable that some may be reticent to spend more on the 
international effort. However, as the data suggests that an outbreak in 
a remote village can spread to major cities on all six continents in 
less than 36 hours, that funding is an investment in a safer and more 
prosperous America.
  I thank the Frontline healthcare workers, first responders, military 
servicemembers, and

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other essential personnel who are keeping our society going during an 
unprecedented crisis at home--and I thank the diplomats and development 
professionals around the world that are working to keep us safe. We 
must now honor their dedication and sacrifice by committing the 
resources to them that they will need to stop the spread of this virus 
and re-create an environment that will enable our communities to 
thrive.

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