Torres Adds Appropriations Provision Reinstating White House Pandemic Office
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) added a provision and funding to the must-pass FY 21 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill to reinstate the National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefence, which coordinated the United States' response to pandemics until President Trump disbanded it in 2018.
Rep. Torres released the following statement:
"Of all the fateful decisions President Trump has made that endangered American lives, none have proven deadlier than his decision to systematically dismantle our pandemic response," Rep. Torres said. "We had an epidemiologist embedded with the Chinese CDC; we had 47 Americans staffing our own CDC office in Beijing; we had an office at the NSC dedicated to preparing for disease outbreak – we had all of this, and President Trump dissolved the offices and disregarded their guidance. Now, with more than 138,000 Americans dead and counting from this global pandemic, and the worst response results in the entire world, the least we can do is start rebuilding all of the infrastructure that could have kept us safe in the first place."
###