U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), ranking member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, urged subcommittee chairwoman U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) to hold a hearing on the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) that examines initiatives aimed at improving the stockpile.
“… COVID-19 has demonstrated that the SNS and the entire U.S. medical supply chain were not able to adequately respond to a pandemic event,” Rep. Burgess wrote in a May 8 letter sent to Rep. Eshoo.
Therefore, wrote the congressman, the House Energy and Commerce Committee should heed concerns it has learned regarding the delegation of the SNS to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and that states are not properly allocating supplies within the state, according to his letter.
The committee also has heard concerns that states must compete with one another and/or the federal government to buy supplies from the SNS, which has limited resources, Rep. Burgess wrote.
“The stockpile was never designed to be a first response tool for commercially available products, nor was it intended to fully supply the entirety of the United States in the event of a nationwide pandemic,” wrote Rep. Burgess, “and the current COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated these limitations.”
The congressman also said that it’s critical for the committee to evaluate the mission and capabilities of the SNS, review lessons learned from the pandemic, and “expeditiously consider” bipartisan legislation to strengthen the SNS “so that it can more effectively assist state and local partners in the ongoing response to the pandemic, as well as future public health emergencies.”
Specifically, Rep. Burgess urged the chairwoman to hold a hearing to consider three bipartisan bills: the Stockpiling for America’s Future Endeavors (SAFE) Act, H.R. 6516; the Stockpile Inventory Modernization (SIM) Act, H.R. 6517; and the Medical Supplies for Pandemics Act, H.R. 6531.
“As the committee of jurisdiction over the SNS, the Committee on Energy and Commerce must lead in examining the lessons learned and using that information to advance important legislation that will strengthen the SNS so that the nation is better prepared to respond to the next widespread emergency that significantly disrupts the medical supply chain,” wrote Rep. Burgess.