参议院健康、教育、劳工和养老金委员会的共和党高层周一表示需要做更多的工作以保护美国免受未来的流行病，并提出了一项旨在准备下一个健康危机。
田纳西州共和党参议员拉马尔·亚历山大周一晚上在参议院表示，他打算在立法通过之前，将为未来的大流行做好准备作为参议院的一个重点，他认为现在就应该采取行动，以免人们的注意力从这个问题上转移开冠状病毒。
亚历山大说:“即使是像COVID-19这样重大的事件，记忆也会消退，注意力会迅速转移到下一次危机。”“这使得国会必须在今年就必要的改革采取行动，以便更好地为下一次大流行做好准备。下一次大流行可能在20年后，也可能在明年或下月。我们唯一可以肯定的是，它会到来。”
亚历山大的立法将为各州积累储备提供持续的联邦资金，分配资金用于测试材料和未来疫苗的海上生产，并允许国家战略储备与公司合作维持那里的供应，并在必要时制定计划增加库存。
2020年6月30日，在华盛顿国会山，参议员拉马尔·亚历山大在参议院健康、教育、劳工和养老金委员会听证会上聆听。
这项立法是在联邦政府和州政府努力应对冠状病毒危机在3月和4月席卷了整个国家。在疫情爆发的早期，多个州都在努力获取呼吸机、检测设备和其他相关用品。即使是现在，一些卫生保健工作者也报告说难以获得防护设备。
亚历山大说，该法案将“确保联邦和州储备有足够的防护设备:口罩、防护服和呼吸机，这样我们就不会在这次大流行或下一次大流行期间用完。”
它将每年为各州提供资金，以增加供应量。
该提案还为美国的疫苗和检测生产设施提供资金，旨在解决美国必须依赖外国制造商的担忧。
他说:“我们为什么不确保下次我们的制造工厂不在中国或印度的时候，我们可以用很少的资金做到这一点。”
亚历山大还提议将他的立法纳入即将出台的冠状病毒救助计划，预计参议院将在未来几周内讨论该计划。该提案将耗资150亿美元实施，并将在10年内支付给接受者。
亚历山大认为，国会和白宫在过去20年的失败让本届政府在抗击冠状病毒的努力中措手不及。
亚历山大上个月在一份白皮书中写道:“尽管每一位总统都将根据其所带进政府的人员来以不同的方式处理危机，但国会有责任提供一个基础结构，让一届又一届政府能够在此基础上继续发展，而不是在每次出现新的紧急情况时都建立一个新的结构。”国会通过的法律似乎并没有完全预见到像COVID-19这样的大流行的范围，也没有考虑到需要一个完整的政府。"
民主党人也在最初几个月批评了政府对病毒的反应。在一份由健康教育和劳工委员会资深民主党参议员帕蒂·默里领导的报告中，矛头指向了总统，该报告关注的焦点是未能对病毒实施充分的检测唐纳德·特朗普。
2020年2月25日，DC国会山，参议院少数党领袖参议员查克·舒默(纽约民主党)在美国国会大厦举行的每周一次的参议院民主党政策午餐会后，在新闻发布会上聆听参议员帕蒂·默里的讲话。
报告中写道:“如果联邦政府有称职、一贯的领导，美国本可以避免严重的延误，更好地解决供应短缺问题，让测试能力更快地扩大。”
亚历山大在本月早些时候回应了默里的批评，称是国会的失败导致了准备不足。
声明中写道:“四位总统和几届国会20年来一直试图解决的问题归咎于特朗普总统，并不能让美国人变得更安全。”"民主党人和共和党人应该携手合作，而不是互相指责。"
亚历山大提出这一提议之前，有报道称特朗普政府正寻求在即将出台的共和党冠状病毒救助计划中，逐步取消对冠状病毒检测、接触者追踪、疾病控制和预防中心以及国家卫生研究院的资助。
今年早些时候，据报道，政府的拟议预算还削减了几项旨在预防和防备大流行的联邦努力的资金。
Sen. Lamar Alexander introduces new proposal for pandemic preparedness
The top Senate Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee said Monday thatmore needs to be doneto protect America from future pandemics and introduced a proposal aimed atpreparing forthe nexthealthcrisis.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said on the Senate floor Monday evening that he intends to make preparing for a future pandemic a key focus of the Senate until legislation is passed, arguing that action should be taken now before attention is diverted from thecoronavirus.
"Even with an event as significant as COVID-19, memories fade, attention moves on quickly to the next crisis," Alexander said. "That makes it imperative that Congress act on needed changes this year in order to better prepare for the next pandemic, which might be in 20 years or might be next year or next month. The only thing we know for certain is that it will come."
Alexander's legislation would provide sustained federal funding for states to build up their stockpiles, allocate funds to allow for on-shore production of testing materials and future vaccines and allow the national strategic stockpile to work with companies to maintain supplies there and create plans to boost inventory if necessary.
Sen. Lamar Alexander listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 30, 2020.
The legislation comes after federal and state governments struggled to respond to thecoronaviruscrisis as it overwhelmed the country in March and April. In the early stages of the outbreak, multiple states struggled to access ventilators, testing equipment and other relevant supplies. Even now, some health care workers are reporting struggles to access protective equipment.
The bill would "make sure that federal and state stockpiles have sufficient protective equipment: mask, gowns and ventilators so that we don't run out during this pandemic or the next one," Alexander said.
It would give states funding each year in their effort to build up the supply.
The proposal also provides funding for U.S.-based vaccine and testing manufacturing facilities, aimed at addressing concerns that the country must rely on foreign manufacturers.
"Why don't we make sure that the next time that we have a pandemic that our manufacturing plants aren't in China or India we can do that with a very modest amount of funding," he said.
Alexander also proposed that his legislation be included in the upcoming coronavirus relief package, which is expected to be taken up by the Senate in the coming weeks. The proposal would cost $15 billion to implement and would be paid out to recipients over 10 years.
Alexander has argued that failures by Congress and the White House over the past 20 years caught the current administration flat-footed in its attempts to combat the coronavirus.
"While every president is going to manage a crisis differently based on the personnel they bring with them into government, it is Congress’ responsibility to provide a foundational structure that administration after administration can build on, instead of creating a new structure with each new emergency," Alexander wrote in a white paper last month. "The laws that Congress passed do not seem to have anticipated fully the scope of a pandemic such as COVID-19 and the need for a whole-of-government approach."
Democrats have also been critical of the administration's response to the virus in early months. In a report focusing on failures to implement adequate testing for the virus, led by the staff of Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Health Education and Labor Committee, the finger was pointed at PresidentDonald Trump.
Sen. Patty Murray speaks as Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) listens during a news briefing after the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Feb. 25, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
"Had there been competent, consistent leadership from the federal government, the United States could have avoided critical delays and better addressed supply shortages, allowing testing capacity to expand more rapidly," the report read.
Alexander responded to Murray's criticism earlier this month, arguing that it was a congressional failure that led to the lack of preparedness.
"Blaming President Trump for a problem that four Presidents and several Congresses have tried to solve for twenty years does not make Americans safer," the statement reads. "Instead of pointing fingers, Democrats and Republicans should be working together."
Alexander's proposal comes following reports that the Trump administration is seeking to phase out funding for coronavirus testing, contact tracing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health in a forthcoming GOP coronavirus relief package.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the administration's proposed budget also slashed funding for several federal efforts aimed at pandemic prevention and preparedness.
