[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S44-S45]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, it was 2 years ago this month that I 
stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and was the 
first person to speak about a novel coronavirus, soon to be called 
COVID-19. Two years ago, I had been reading about this virus for 
several weeks, and something in my gut as a physician told me this was 
not going to be a common cold. I chatted with the CDC, and I implored 
them to start doing research on the origins of the virus, asking ``Was 
it from nature or from a laboratory?'' and that we needed to work on 
vaccines, therapeutics, and testing.
  As we all know, the development of an American vaccine, thanks to 
Operation Warp Speed, was successful. As for the testing, we know the 
CDC fumbled it, but the private sector saved us. And therapeutics? Not 
so much. Therapeutics have never been a priority for this 
administration.
  As we return to our Nation's Capital, I would venture to say that 
very few Americans didn't have somebody in their families catch 
Omicron, and my family was no different. We shared the same experience 
as millions of other Americans did. Despite being vaccinated, one of my 
loved ones with underlying healthcare conditions caught the Omicron 
virus. As I saw my loved one start having asthma, wheezing, and become 
short of breath, I did what every spouse would do and said: Well, we 
need to go get tested. We need to talk to a doctor.
  So we drove to several testing sites, and we had the option of 
standing in line for 3 or 4 hours with sick people. If we didn't have 
the Omicron, we certainly would have by the time we left. We called 
around and finally were able to get an appointment the next day for 
testing.
  I am not sure if you have ever seen a person with asthma, but you can 
see the distress in their face as they wheeze, as they become short of 
breath. This is something with which I am all too familiar. I have 
taken care of thousands of women, pregnant women, with asthma. I have 
been in the emergency room with them, having to admit them to the ICU, 
and I knew that was the road that we were headed to.
  I called around, hoping to find some monoclonal antibodies--a place 
where we could go and we could get monoclonal antibodies. Then there is 
this new miracle of biotherapeutics out there. I thought, well, maybe 
we could get those, but none were to be had.
  In watching my wife continue to suffer, I decided, you know, I think 
we need to do some type of telemedicine. So we called a doctor and set 
up a telemedicine visit--someone who had taken care of thousands of 
patients with the coronavirus. We did the appointment, and he 
prescribed Ivermectin for her. After the first tablet, it was a 
miracle. Within an hour, her labored breathing had settled down. By the 
next day, her second dose, she was almost completely better right 
before my eyes.
  Again, I remind everybody it has been 2 years since this pandemic 
started, and we still have limited access to therapeutics. Again, as we 
all know, the Biden administration's approach to this is to put all of 
their eggs in one basket. They believed in a one-size-fits-all 
approach. Vaccine mandates, masks, and testing was their prescription 
to getting us through this pandemic. All of those have had a place, and 
all of them have had some successes, but when a million people in 1 day 
are testing positive, it is not surprising we can't keep up with the 
testing, and that is why we need therapeutics.
  In fact, the Federal Government has allocated over $80 billion for 
testing--$80 billion for testing--and only $15 billion for 
therapeutics. This is simply unacceptable. We are 2 years into this 
pandemic, and we have only spent $15 billion on therapeutics. The Biden 
administration should have already established an Operation-Warp-Speed 
approach to the development, manufacturing, and distribution of 
therapeutics.
  It just always seems like this administration has been a day late and 
a dollar short. For example, in mid-2021, we saw the Delta wave coming. 
We all knew it was coming, and we had real-world evidence in the summer 
of 2021 to suggest that a booster shot would be helpful for seniors and 
at-risk individuals. It was in June of 2020 that I asked the CDC and 
the FDA to consider letting physicians meet with their patients and 
prescribe a booster ahead of

[[Page S45]]

the Delta wave--again, in the summer of 2020.
  Unfortunately, the FDA waited until September 22 to approve the 
booster. Between June and September, more than 11,000 seniors died from 
breakthrough infections, while more than 230,000 people tested 
positive. No doubt, a booster and/or therapeutics could have made a big 
difference in these seniors' lives.
  It is easy to talk about the mistakes we have made with this virus. I 
want to spend a moment talking about solutions, though.
  We need to unleash our community health centers and our county health 
departments in this COVID-19 fight. They have been the backbone of 
vaccination and treatment for communicable diseases for decades.
  Once the Biden administration agrees to prioritize therapeutics, we 
need community health centers and county health departments to take 
over the telemedicine visits with trained nurses and implement 
treatment protocols across the United States.
  In Kansas alone, we have over 200 community health centers and 
clinics funded with Federal dollars, along with over 100 local health 
departments that are accustomed to dealing with infectious diseases on 
a daily basis. These folks can implement these protocols based upon 
triaging at-risk individuals and starting early treatment. This will 
prevent many trips to the ER, as well as hospitalizations. Early 
treatment is what works.
  Finally, and this goes without saying, I trust these nurses to make 
necessary referrals to the emergency room. They can do this. How do I 
know it? I have worked with these nurses for 30 years. I helped 
sponsor--was the medical director for three county health departments 
for almost 30 years. They do an incredible job. They are well equipped 
to handle this effort, but they need the Biden administration to move 
on therapeutics and move fast.
  The medicines you could get for less than $100 can oftentimes prevent 
hospitalizations and ICU visits. We need to give doctors the options of 
using therapeutics, along with steroids, anti-inflammatories, and other 
standard protocols that have been developed by these physicians who 
have treated literally thousands of COVID-19 patients.
  Certainly, if we have better access to monoclonal antibodies or if 
these new miracle antiviral agents were available, we could use them as 
well. But, please, let's empower physicians and these health 
departments and community health centers, these experienced nurses, to 
do their job.
  Time is precious. We cannot afford additional delays. We can't afford 
more confusion, more mixed messaging, and more mixed management. The 
Biden administration must let patients and physicians decide what is 
best in their unique healthcare situation, not somebody who is sitting 
on a throne in Washington, DC, who seldom sees patients in the real 
world.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. I thank the Presiding Officer from Minnesota.