Washington, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) released the following statement after the House Energy and Commerce Committee concluded its reconciliation markup for COVID relief.
“I remain disappointed with the Majority for choosing hyper-partisanship over trust. As I told Chairman Pallone many times, Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee are serious about working with them for targeted relief to crush this virus, improve the health and wellness of our communities, send children back to school, and get people back to work. Our members proved that by bringing more than a hundred thoughtful policies to the table even though the Majority shut down regular order.
“Rather than unify around these common goals, Democrats blocked every single Republican amendment we offered-even after praising many of them or supporting the same solutions in the past. This markup was more about playing politics and scoring points when so many Americans are in despair. It’s unacceptable. We are still waiting for the Majority to share how many jobs their reconciliation bill will create, how many vaccines it will get into people’s arms, or how quickly we can reopen schools. It doesn’t help the recovery effort when accountability is lacking and when trust is broken."
Committee Republicans offered a number of proposals. However, Democrats blocked:
* More funding to the National Institutes of Health.
* Creating a more ambitious plan to distribute 2 million vaccines to people a day in the administration’s first 100 days.
* More transparency on how vaccines are allocated.
* Dedicated funding to vaccinate more teachers.
* More testing to get people back to work.
* Prioritized FDA funds to develop better therapies and treatments to COVID-19.
* Sending more funding to states to help combat the opioid crisis, another health epidemic made worse by COVID-19.
* More relief for health care providers through the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund.
* Directing funds away from Planned Parenthood to support suicide prevention for children and adolescents.
* Sending mental health support to workers losing their jobs during this pandemic because of President Biden’s policies like canceling the Keystone XL pipeline.
* Stopping taxpayer funding for abortion in healthcare funding.
* Bringing accountability to states like New York for covering up nursing home COVID-19 deaths.
* Certainty to improve maternity health coverage and expanding telehealth for children.
* Expanding rural broadband.
* Directing funds for technology in schools and libraries.
* Protecting American jobs and low energy prices.
* Stopping President Biden from canceling the Keystone XL pipeline.
