{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-khanna-colleagues-lead-bipartisan-effort-to-support-taiwans-standing-in-global-health-community", "Cotton, Khanna, Colleagues Lead Bipartisan Effort to Support Taiwan\u2019s Standing in Global Health Community", "2021-11-05", "2021", "2021-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: James Arnold or Mary Collins Atkinson (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 5, 2021\n\nCotton, Khanna, Colleagues Lead Bipartisan Effort to Support Taiwan\u2019s Standing in Global Health Community\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-California) introduced the U.S.-Taiwan Public Health Protection Act to establish a U.S.-Taiwan Infectious Disease Monitoring Center within the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to partner with Taiwan\u2019s Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Representative Michael Waltz (R-Florida) are co-sponsors of the bill. Bill text may be found here.\n\n\u201cBeijing\u2019s efforts to exclude Taiwan from the global health community have had deadly consequences. Our bill will ensure the United States has the resources it needs to monitor health threats emerging in the Indo-Pacific and will allow Taiwan to share its knowledge with the world,\u201d said Cotton.\n\n\u201cFor too long, the United States has been myopically focused on traditional national security issues and it has hurt our ability to promptly respond to new threats like the COVID-19 pandemic. We must learn from countries like Taiwan that grasped the dangers of this pandemic early on and had success in suppressing it,\u201d said Khanna. \u201cBy establishing a U.S.-Taiwan Infectious Disease Monitoring Center, Congress can help prevent future pandemics and ensure important knowledge sharing can take place between the U.S. and Taiwan.\u201d\n\n\u201cTaiwan\u2019s response to the pandemic has been incredibly successful, and it is unacceptable that the Chinese government is excluding them from global efforts to combat infectious diseases,\u201d said Cortez Masto. \u201cThis legislation will allow the U.S. to partner with Taiwan to safely monitor health threats and help prevent future pandemics.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe should not be surprised that the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s genocidal regime has willingly withheld information on the COVID-19 pandemic, causing devastating effects around the world,\u201d said Rubio. \u201cWe need a reliable and transparent partner in the Indo-Pacific that will provide us with accurate information in order to prevent and mitigate future health crises. Taipei has a comparative advantage in global health and is a trustworthy democratic ally and a valued friend. I am glad to support this effort, which will strengthen U.S.-Taiwan relations and benefit global health.\u201d\n\n\u201cTaiwan has been a global leader in monitoring infectious diseases and developed one of the most successful responses in fighting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d said Waltz. \u201cBy establishing a joint disease monitoring center with Taiwan, we can safely monitor the impacts of infectious diseases, share best practices, and develop responses so we can effectively combat the next global pandemic.\u201d\n\nThe bill is supported by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) and Taiwan\u2019s CDC.\n\nThe U.S.-Taiwan Public Health Protection Act would:\n\nEstablish a U.S.-Taiwan Infectious Disease Monitoring Center within the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to partner with Taiwan\u2019s Centers for Disease Control.\n\nThe center would monitor infectious diseases originating in the region, engage in people-to-people contacts with medical and health officials in the region, and provide expertise on health threats to the U.S. and Taiwanese governments.\n\nThe center will be staffed by U.S. government detailees, including at least three Health and Human Services (HHS) infectious disease experts and at least one staffer from other federal departments, and may employ local Taiwanese staff and employees of Taiwan\u2019s Centers for Disease Control (CDC).\n\nRequire a one-year study and report to Congress to determine the Center\u2019s funding and staffing needs and its level of cooperation with Taiwanese health authorities.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-khanna-colleagues-lead-bipartisan-effort-to-support-taiwans-standing-in-global-health-community"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6506859790533781, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}