Unanimous Consent Request--S. 3372

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I rise today to call up and pass legislation to keep the American people safe.

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States is now over 1,000, including 10 confirmed cases in my home State of Nebraska.

In China, there are over 80,000 cases and over 3,000 people have died. The Hubei Province, which contains the city where the virus originated, has been under lockdown since last January, quarantining an unprecedented 56 million people. Italy, a country of 60 million people, is completely shut down. The World Health Organization has now declared that this outbreak is a pandemic, meaning it will likely spread to all countries on Earth.

Dr. Fauci echoed this yesterday in his testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. We will see more cases, and things will continue to get worse.

As the virus spreads, our healthcare providers and emergency responders are at the forefront of this health crisis. When someone tests positive for this disease, our emergency responders are the first ones there transporting them to the hospital. At the hospitals, medical personnel, doctors, nurses, and technicians are all working around the clock to provide lifesaving care and treat this illness. These people-- our healthcare providers and emergency responders--need access to the proper equipment so they can stay healthy. We can take action right here right now to make sure that that happens.

I introduced this bipartisan bill with the senior Senator from Arizona. It would update our current law to ensure healthcare workers and first responders have access to respiratory protective devices, specifically, standard N95s.

Under current law, the Federal Government can give targeted liability protection to people and entities to make, distribute, and administer certain drugs and protective equipment that are needed in a public health emergency. While surgical N95s are eligible for this protection, standard N95s are not. That doesn't make sense, and it doesn't make sense for two reasons.

First, these devices are the same when it comes to protecting against airborne contaminants like we are dealing with for coronavirus. Second, the CDC has issued guidance listing standard N95s among the recommended products for use in this emergency. That makes it more difficult for the people and entities supplying, distributing, and manufacturing this equipment to do so, and we need to change that.

We need to make sure that these devices are readily available, and this legislation has bipartisan support in this body, and it has bipartisan support in the House. It was introduced by my colleague from Nebraska, Congressman Don Bacon.

The White House supports it. Vice President Pence said on Tuesday this legislation is ``important . . . to ensure that our healthcare workers are properly protected and outfitted.''

I mentioned that this bill has bipartisan support. I want to be clear that our hard-fought progress on this legislation would not have been made if it weren't for the tireless work of my good friend, the senior Senator from Arizona. So I thank her for her efforts and her partnership.

We know that coronavirus is moving fast, and we owe it to America's healthcare providers and our first responders who are fighting to stay ahead of this.

3372 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I ask unanimous consent that the Fischer substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read the third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, this bill is something I think we should all agree upon. Other medical device facilities, manufacturers, currently have this protection when there is a public emergency. They currently enjoy this protection, but this thin band of manufacturers, this thin band that provides these N95s which our healthcare providers need--and I talked to my first responders and firemen who were here this week and told them about this bill, and they said: We need this. We are transporting people to hospitals.

In Omaha, NE, the Omaha Fire Department has picked up flights of American citizens who were flown from China to be at Camp Ashland, a National Guard facility between Lincoln and Omaha, and quarantined there. Fortunately, all were healthy, all were fine.

Omaha also received 15 people from a cruise ship, and all those people were not fine. These first responders, these firemen from Omaha, transported them to a world-renowned facility, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, but they did not have the proper protection because we are arguing over something that other medical device providers currently have protection on during a public health crisis.

I understand that my friends on the other side want to make progress on this issue and on other issues, but that shouldn't stand in the way of getting this done. There is a shortage of respirators, and the U.S. Senate has an opportunity to fix it. We have an opportunity to ensure the American people stay protected and healthy during this public health crisis, but my colleagues on the other side just stopped this from moving forward, and the American people need to understand what just happened here.

As a result of this objection, I get to tell my Omaha firefighters that their safety and the health and safety of our healthcare providers in Nebraska and across this country are at risk.

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