[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 36 (Thursday, February 25, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              FUND LOCAL AND STATE PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, in the coming days, the House is 
expected to vote on a $1.9 trillion spending bill that the majority 
claims will help fight the COVID-19 crisis. Despite this massive price 
tag, less than one-half of 1 percent of those dollars in this bill will 
go to fund a local and State public health workforce.
  As a former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I have 
seen firsthand the great work our local public health departments do, 
and I know how necessary they are in this fight against COVID-19. It is 
unthinkable to me that any so-called COVID relief bill will dedicate 
such a miniscule portion of its funding to local public health 
departments, the same departments that are in our community, with us 
every day, working around the clock to defeat this pandemic. In 
contrast, FEMA is allocated $50 billion, and they have no medical 
personnel to dispense vaccines.
  Mr. Speaker, if we are serious about defeating this virus, I urge my 
colleagues to prioritize our public health officials and those on the 
frontline against COVID-19, instead of directing billions of dollars to 
programs and initiatives unrelated to this crisis.
  This funding should go as a passthrough to the CDC and directly to 
noncompetitive, local public health grants.
  In our 99 counties in Iowa, local public health officials are 
intelligent, experienced, and capable to dispense vaccines in a rapid 
and efficient process. They have proven their capabilities by setting 
up drive-through clinics for flu vaccines, and also in the H1N1 
pandemic as well. And given their preparedness training, they have 
worked with our local emergency management associates to do drive-
through testing. These are the same nurses and individuals who live in 
your communities and who have vaccinated your children and have been 
the source of information and calm and support throughout this crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, let's work together to defeat this virus by supporting 
our State and local public health teams by getting them the funding 
they need directly to them at the community level through 
noncompetitive, local public health grants. Acknowledging the 
tremendous work that our local public health workforce does on a daily 
basis and funding their efforts will defeat this virus and get America 
back on its feet.

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