Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today as a Senator as well as a physician. I want to do this to reassure the American people that we are doing everything possible to combat and contain the coronavirus. According to Johns Hopkins University, a well-known medical institution, we here in the United States are the most prepared Nation on the face of the Earth to protect ourselves in terms of preparation for an infectious disease like the coronavirus.

Nevertheless, this virus is a global concern and is a problem with pandemic potential. We know the outbreak started in China. It goes without saying that we are deeply saddened by the loss of life there, as well as here and around the world. We are concerned about those currently suffering from the virus. Our focus continues to be on protecting the health and the well-being and the safety of the American people. That is where we need to focus.

Notably, President Trump's early travel restrictions on China have actually helped slow the spread of the virus. He has since expanded these restrictions. The President, I believe, has acted swiftly, boldly, and decisively to contain the virus and to keep Americans safe. Still, this country is not a hermetically sealed bubble. It will never be--can't be. We are likely to see more cases here in the days and weeks ahead.

We all must be prepared, and we must stay vigilant. Be assured, the Trump administration is fully engaged in responding to this virus. The United States has the best public health system in the world, and we have a plan in place to combat the coronavirus. Our public health experts are working to identify and isolate the virus, as well as to produce a vaccine.

The fastest you can ever produce a vaccine is several years. We seem to be moving faster than that with regard to coronavirus. We have seen development, but even though it is moving faster than ever, it will still take a minimum of a year and 6 months to have a vaccine available and produced at a level that could actually impact the population of the country. Since it is a new virus, a new vaccine needs to be developed. The Vice President said over the weekend that we expect to have a vaccine available sometime next year, and I agree.

Meanwhile, our strategy for testing, for isolation, and for quarantines right now is helping to lower the risks. Years ago, we created an infectious disease rapid response team. The goal was to make sure that we were ready if the time would come, and the time has now come. Test kits are becoming more widely available for States and communities. We heard today over the noon hour that they are expecting to have enough test kits available around the country so that, over the next week, we can test a million people. We are going to continue to use every available tool we can in this fight.

The White House has created a Coronavirus Task Force led by Vice President Pence. The effort is headed by top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. I had a chance to visit with a number of them today, specifically the infectious disease group through the NIH. We have had a number of briefings through the Centers for Disease Control. We recently had a briefing by Dr. Anne Schuchat, the head of the Centers for Disease Control in the area helping with our efforts on coronavirus. As she has said, ``Our aggressive containment strategy here in the United States has been working and is responsible for the low level of cases that we have so far.'' Officials at the CDC and the National Institutes of Health are coordinating with other Federal officials, and they tend to be working around the clock.

The administration is making sure that State and local officials have all of the resources they need to respond. Dr. Schuchat said that our healthcare system, our businesses, our communities, and our schools all have action plans.

Senators have had a number of briefings from officials at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. They are working on ways to identify the virus and test for the virus and ways to treat people who are infected by the virus. They are working on quarantines and on a vaccine. That is what they should be doing. This is a massive, nationwide undertaking.

At every meeting--and I have been going to meetings on this since it was first noted around the beginning of the year. We know about the issue in China. People now know about the doctor who tried to get the word out to the world--who was the first to notice this specific new virus, the coronavirus. He was reprimanded by the Chinese for trying to do what he learned to do as a doctor, which was to share medical knowledge and information to try to get ahead of a disease that is progressing. He was reprimanded by the Chinese Government, and he has subsequently died of the disease.

There are a number of us--and it is bipartisan--who would go as Senators to briefings. We have been going to briefings since the time of the impeachment. We would have impeachment in the afternoon and discussions about coronavirus in the morning. There has been a focus on this probably longer than most members around the country had been focused on it. At every meeting, we would ask the members of the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health: Do you have the funds you need for the things you need to do right now? At all of those meetings, they said: Yes, we have all we need.

Now things have changed. They say they need additional funds, and they are right. We agree they need more funds for testing, treatment, and vaccine development. It is appropriate that Congress appropriate that money. Congress must act quickly and decisively in passing a bipartisan emergency funding bill. Both parties agree this effort has to be fully funded. We know the initial numbers discussed were only a starting point. We don't know what the total number is going to be, but the team is going to continue to have all the funds they need to deal with this disease.

I find it very disturbing to see Democrats, especially those running for President, politicizing the issue. This is a headline in yesterday's New York Times: ``Democrats Hit Trump On Virus.'' They are talking about the Presidential candidates running for President, attacking President Trump on the virus.

The coronavirus is a deadly disease. It is not a political tool to try to tar and feather President Trump. We need to be working on this together. This should not be about Democratic candidates trying to defeat President Trump but about defeating the coronavirus. That is what we ought to be focusing on.

As a doctor, my focus is on the health of the American people. My advice for those who may be watching is the same commonsense advice you would take if you were saying ``I want to avoid getting the flu during flu season,'' and it is flu season as well. Cover your mouth when you cough. Wash your hands frequently. If you are sick, stay home. Those are the kinds of commonsense things people can do at home, not just to prevent the flu but also to protect themselves against the coronavirus.

There is no reason for lots of anxiety or for panic. As a nation, we are in the right position to deal with the challenge we face. This administration will continue to do everything in its power to keep America and Americans safe. Now it is time for Congress to do its part--to pass the emergency legislation and get it to the President's desk.

Thankfully, we are the most prepared Nation to face this challenge. We have harnessed all of the American energy and ingenuity and expertise we need for this fight. The key is for all of us to remain engaged and to remain vigilant. As a doctor, I am confident that we will be able to succeed together.

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