[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 164 (Tuesday, September 22, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H4648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     BIODEFENSE MUST BE BIPARTISAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Indiana (Mrs. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in recognition of 
the passage of H.R. 7574, the Strengthening America's Strategic 
National Stockpile Act, which builds on the bipartisan work done by the 
Energy and Commerce Committee on pandemic preparedness issues.
  I am honored to have co-led this bipartisan bill with my colleague 
Congresswoman Slotkin from Michigan. I also thank Ranking Member 
Burgess and Chairwoman Eshoo, who has been a longtime champion on 
biodefense issues, and importantly, the Energy and Commerce Committee 
staff for their tireless bipartisan work on this legislation.
  I think all of us can agree that biodefense must be a bipartisan 
issue. COVID-19 has clearly exposed weaknesses in our Nation's public 
health infrastructure.
  I have spent a good part of my career in Congress focused on 
biodefense and pandemic response legislation.
  I became a U.S. attorney back in 2001, just one month after the 9/11 
attacks on our country. Shortly after that were the anthrax attacks 
here on our Nation's Capitol. In my U.S. Attorney's Office, we actually 
received a hoax anthrax attack, which served as a stark reminder of the 
importance of staying vigilant and the threat that even a single 
individual can pose.

  As former chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on 
Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications, we worked on 
things like Project BioShield.
  When we talk about biodefense, people often think about things more 
commonly known: chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats. 
Pandemic threats though are yet, as we are learning, some of the most 
dangerous threats to everyday Americans.
  Every bit as complex as cyber threats, more of an imminent threat in 
the 21st century than even conventional conflicts, biothreats can come 
from anywhere. Bad actors, malicious organizations or nation-states, 
random industrial accidents, or even an act of nature can be the 
original source. And once events like this begin to unfold, they can be 
extremely hard to predict and respond to.
  That is why I am glad that we continue to focus on this and have been 
proud to have been part of coleading the package, which we hope will 
dramatically improve our Nation's ability to respond to these threats. 
I am very proud that Congress came together to get this done.
  The Strategic National Stockpile is a cornerstone of our Nation's 
biodefense infrastructure. It is responsible for keeping large 
quantities of pharmaceuticals, medical countermeasures, personal 
protective equipment, and other lifesaving products for rapid 
deployment in the event of an emergency.
  This bill builds on the bipartisan work done by the Energy and 
Commerce Committee when last year, in June 2019, the Pandemic All-
Hazards Preparedness Act was reauthorized and signed into law by 
President Trump. Our committee's work has continued to improve our 
Nation's response to pandemic events.
  I commend Ranking Member Walden and Ranking Member Guthrie of the 
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for their incredible work on 
Energy and Commerce Committee's Second Wave Preparedness Project. This 
critical report will serve as the most detailed analysis thus far of 
our Nation's public health response to date, and some of their 
recommendations were in this legislative package.
  The Strengthening America's Strategic National Stockpile Act 
addresses these shortcomings and will improve the ability of the SNS to 
manage and maintain its inventory, empower it to partner with industry 
to reshore some of our most critical manufacturing infrastructure, 
dramatically increase transparency of the stockpile, and create 
innovative new programs to help States create their own stockpiles.
  I thank all the Members of the House for their unanimous support of 
this important legislation because biodefense must be bipartisan to 
keep this country safe.

                          ____________________