Dear Director Mulvaney:
We write to express concern regarding the Trump Administration’s previous attempts to cut funding for infectious disease and pandemic preparedness and response and to urge you to fully fund such efforts in your fiscal year 2021 proposed budget, as the world addresses the current outbreak of novel Coronavirus. As of today, the virus has infected over 28,000 individuals, causing over 500 fatalities across the globe. Here in the United States, the total number of infections has increased to 12 individuals in six states, including two human-to-human transmissions. It is vital that the federal government has the resources available to respond to this growing threat and protect the American people.
The Trump Administration has repeatedly proposed budget cuts to the offices that spearhead emerging infectious disease and pandemic preparedness and response. The President’s fiscal year 2020 budget would have cut over $4.5 billion to select offices that combat pandemics, a reduction of nearly 20% from fiscal year 2019 levels. Such reductions, if proposed in the upcoming fiscal year 2021 budget and enacted, would severely limit the federal government’s capacity to respond to emerging viral and biological threats, as well as to contain and minimize the spread of the current novel Coronavirus outbreak. Just last week, the Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress that it may need to reallocate over $136 million to be able to continue response efforts to the novel Coronavirus, indicating the current response demands additional resources.
As we have learned from past public health crises such as the Ebola, SARS, and H1N1 outbreaks, pandemics require an aggressive, coordinated response across the federal government. In light of the current novel Coronavirus outbreak and the persistent threat of global pandemics, we urge you to fully fund infectious disease and pandemic preparedness and response efforts in your fiscal year 2021 proposed budget. A failure to do so would not only be a danger to the health and welfare of all Americans, but also a threat to our national security.
Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
