{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-warren-khanna-and-133-democratic-lawmakers-to-senate-and-house-leadership-we-must-take-bold-and-comprehensive-action-to-prevent-the-next-pandemic", "Murphy, Blumenthal, Warren, Khanna, And 133 Democratic Lawmakers To Senate And House Leadership: We Must Take Bold And Comprehensive Action To Prevent The Next PandemicRead More", "2020-10-23", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTONU.S. Senators\r\nChris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.),\r\nand 133 Senate and House lawmakers in sending a letter\r\nto House and Senate leadership urging them to prioritize the development of\r\ncomprehensive policy plans to prevent and mitigate the impact of future\r\npandemics. In the letter, the lawmakers outline the steps necessary to prevent\r\nfuture pandemics while also noting that Congress must act to provide relief to\r\nAmericans suffering from the current economic downturn and public health\r\nemergency. As the United States continues\r\nto weather the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic, we write to ask that Congress take\r\naction to learn from the mistakes of our nation's preparation and response and\r\nlay the groundwork to prevent and mitigate future pandemics. The current\r\nAdministration's response has exposed serious flaws in the country's ability to\r\ncombat large scale public health challenges, wrote the lawmakers. In\r\naddition to passing a robust package to address the current crisis, we must\r\ntake bold and comprehensive steps now to ensure the nation is better prepared\r\nfor the next pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has\r\nwreaked havoc on communities across the country and has devastated the nation's\r\neconomy. Currently, the United States leads the world with more than eight million confirmed cases\r\nand 220,000 dead, out of over one million worldwide. Millions are out\r\nof work and struggling to make ends meet. It is clear that pandemics are\r\nalready rapidly accelerating: animal-to-human outbreak prevalence grew six-fold from\r\n1980 to 2010, and experts predict they will become even more common in\r\nthe future. It is imperative Congress take bold and comprehensive steps now to\r\nprevent and mitigate future pandemics. Specifically: \r\n Congress must invest in domestic programs, systems, and\r\n     supply chains that will help improve Americans' health outcomes, combat\r\n     the spread of new disease, and ramp up public health capacity during\r\n     global health emergencies. This includes robust investments in state, local, and\r\n     tribal public health departments; improvements to the Strategic National\r\n     Stockpile; and the development of support systems, such as affordable\r\n     housing, that reduce chronic health conditions and boost health\r\n     outcomes.  \r\n Congress must support global public health efforts to\r\n     identify and mitigate the spread of new diseases before they become global\r\n     pandemics.\r\n     This includes ensuring the Administration protects the public by\r\n     fulfilling its international commitments to organizations such as the\r\n     World Health Organization; investing in global surveillance programs, like\r\n     USAID, to identify emerging disease threats; and combating antimicrobial\r\n     resistance.  \r\n Congress must create 250,000 permanent, high-paying\r\n     public health jobs to rebuild our depleted public health workforce and\r\n     ensure the rapid deployment of contact tracers and other support workers\r\n     during future pandemics. These workers should be trained in key public health\r\n     initiatives, such as contact tracing and disease surveillance, and should\r\n     be prepared to deploy to their communities in public health emergencies.\r\n     Congress must ensure these workers have access to health and safety\r\n     protections, can unionize, receive universal paid sick leave and family\r\n     leave, and have access to health insurance and childcare services.  \r\n Congress must address the systemic racism embedded in\r\n     our health care system and pass legislation ensuring that health care\r\n     treatments, pandemic countermeasures, vaccines, and primary disease\r\n     prevention measures are accessible for all. This includes ensuring\r\n     that everyone in America has access to high-quality health care, mental\r\n     health and substance use disorder treatment, and primary disease\r\n     prevention measures; eliminating race and socioeconomic disparities in\r\n     health care access; addressing the social determinants of health; and\r\n     requiring companies that receive federal funding to produce pandemic\r\n     countermeasures offer their products at reasonable prices.  \r\n Congress must halt the environmental degradation\r\n     increasing the likelihood of global pandemics. This includes combating\r\n     climate change, protecting and restoring land and inland water areas to\r\n     their natural state, and preventing dangerous practices contributing to\r\n     the spread of zoonotic diseases with pandemic potential. The letter was signed by Sen.\r\nJeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sen. Angus King (I-Maine.), Sen. Edward J. Markey\r\n(D-Mass.), Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sen.\r\nCory A. Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Bernard Sanders\r\n(I-Vt.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Tina\r\nSmith (D-Minn.), Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sen.\r\nSherrod Brown (D-Ohio.). The letter was\r\nalso signed by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.),\r\nRep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay\r\n(D-Mo.), Rep. Ral M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Rep.\r\nAndy Levin (D-Mich.), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas.), Rep. David N. Cicilline\r\n(D-R.I.), Rep. Adriano Espailla (D-N.Y.), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Rep. Paul\r\nTonko (D-N.Y.), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Rep. Jerrold Nadler\r\n(D-N.Y.), Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Rep. Mark\r\nDeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Rep. Daniel T. Kildee\r\n(D-Mich.), Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Rep.\r\nAyanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), Rep. Judy Chu\r\n(D-Calif.), Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Calif.),\r\nRep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D. Pa.), Rep. Mark Pocan (D- Wis.), Rep. Donna Shalala\r\n(D-Fla.), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio.), Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Rep.\r\nGregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Rep. Alan Lowenthal\r\n(D-Calif.), Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Rep. Nydia M. Velzquez (D-N.Y.), Rep.\r\nSusan Wild (D-Pa.), Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Rep. James P. McGovern\r\n(D-Mass.), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Rep. Joseph D. Morelle\r\n(D-N.Y.), Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), Rep. Henry C. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Jr.,\r\nRep. Brendan F. Boyle (D-Pa.), Rep. William R. Keating (D-Mass.), Rep. Yvette\r\nD. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Rep. Brenda L. Lawrence (D-Mich.), Rep. Jamie Raskin\r\n(D-Md.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), Rep. Joseph\r\nP. Kennedy III (D-Mass.), Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Rep. Juan Vargas\r\n(D-Calif.), Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.),\r\nRep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio.), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Rep. Suzanne\r\nBonamici (D-Ore.), Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Rep. Stephen F. Lynch\r\n(D-Mass.), Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee\r\n(D-Texas.), Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.), Rep. Andr Carson (D-Ind.), Rep. Chellie\r\nPingree (D-Maine.), Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Rep. Henry Cuellar\r\n(D-Texas.), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.),\r\nRep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.),\r\nRep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), Rep. Nanette Diaz\r\nBarragn (D-Calif.), Rep. Al Green (D-Texas.), Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Rep.\r\nTim Ryan (D-Ohio.), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas.), Rep. Donald M. Payne\r\n(D-N.Y.), Jr., Rep. Jess G. \"Chuy\" Garca (D-Ill.), Rep. Karen Bass\r\n(D-Calif.), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Rep.\r\nDavid E. Price (D-N.C.), Rep. Peter A. Defazio (D-Ore.), Rep. Albio Sires\r\n(D-N.J.), Rep. Val B. Demings (D-Fla.), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), Rep.\r\nMike Thompson (D-Calif.), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Rep. Robin L. Kelly\r\n(D-Ill.), Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Ma.), Rep. Alma S. Adams. Ph.D\r\n(D-N.C.), Rep. Jos E. Serrano (D-N.Y.), Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Rep.\r\nBradley S. Schneider (D-Ill.), Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Rep. Katherine Clark\r\n(D-Mass.), Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), Rep. J. Luis Correa (D-Calif.), Rep.\r\nAlcee L. Hastings (D-Fla.), Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Rep. Linda Sanchez\r\n(D-Calif.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr.\r\n(D-Va.), Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Rep.\r\nDerek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Rep. Ami Bera, M.D. (D-Calif.), Rep. Jahana Hayes\r\n(D-Conn.), Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas.), Rep. Ted W. Lieu (D-Calif.), Rep.\r\nAnn Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-Northern\r\nMariana Islands.), Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas.), Rep. Tom Malinowski\r\n(D-N.J.), Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-warren-khanna-and-133-democratic-lawmakers-to-senate-and-house-leadership-we-must-take-bold-and-comprehensive-action-to-prevent-the-next-pandemic"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6618098597973585, "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"}