The Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions made a remarkable statement Thursday. It appears that even though the country went into its bunkers, it appeared that for all the efforts the US made in readying itself for a pandemic, it ultimately left the country not adequately prepared for the coronavirus crisis.
Senator Lamar (R-TN) told CNN’s Dana Bush on The Daily KC podcast that his team was not well-prepared, according to CNN:
‘We’re not as prepared as we should have been.’
The senator is walking away from Congress when his term is over. Alexander is leaving himself a little more freedom than most senators have during the Trump administration. As such, he has been considering various ways to prepare for the next Covid-19 redux or:
‘[S]hould it rebound in the fall “or for the next virus, which is surely coming. We need to do it this year while the iron’s hot, while this is on our mind,.’The admission from the veteran GOP senator comes as President Donald Trump had touted the federal government’s handling of the crisis, despite the lack of testing and shortage of medical supplies.’
The first case of Coronavirus was reported in late January. Since then, the Covid-19 virus has attacked every state leading to the grand total of 1.27 million cases and counting. Thus far, and nearly 76 million people have passed away.
Alexander’s committee will hold a May 12 hearing, and Dr. Anthony Fauci will serve as a witness. The doctor is the nation’s top infectious disease expert. Trump blocked Fauci from testifying before the Democratically-led House committee.
Trump claimed Fauci’s appearance would make Trump look like a “set up.” The physician is on the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Other people in Alexander’s circle suggested that the Republicans might “go easy on Fauci:”
‘People know me better than that. Look, I will ask the questions I need to ask. But remember, about half of our members are Democrats and they get to ask questions, too. So I would not say a committee that includes (Senators) Patty Murray, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders is a committee that’s going to go easy. ‘
The hearing comes as the White House coronavirus task force has begun scaling back its meetings and the President said Wednesday he would shift the team’s focus to treatment and vaccine efforts.
Trump announced plans. to defund the task force. Then, he brought it back by popular demand. Alexander liked the idea of ending the task force, because the time it has “taken away from the job:”
‘I think it’s probably a good idea to let the people in charge of the agencies go back to running the agencies that the President, the vice president, resume their roles, and let the task force meet on-call or as it needs to.’
Even though Trump has been trying to open up the nation again, Alexander has remained firm and has urged caution. Conversely, Trump has dragged his foot on providing test kits, giving the impression he did not want the testing to be conducted:
‘Well, I don’t know why it shouldn’t be released. I don’t know anything about it. Tell you the truth. I’ll check into that. But generally, I favor if there’s some good reason for it, I’d like to know what it is. Otherwise, it ought to be released.’
Trump said::
‘Well, I don’t know why it shouldn’t be released. I don’t know anything about it. Tell you the truth. I’ll check into that. But generally, I favor if there’s some good reason for it, I’d like to know what it is. Otherwise, it ought to be released.’
Alexander added:
‘We ought to take $150 billion dollars we’ve already given to states and cities and give the states and cities more flexibility in the spending of that. We ought to start with that and then we ought to see what else needs to be done.’
CNN reported Thursday that the Trump administration doesn’t plan to implement the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s draft recommendations for reopening America. The guidance provided more detailed suggestions beyond the reopening guidelines the administration had released last month, including specific suggestions for schools and churches.
Meanwhile, Congress is negotiating a fourth stimulus package to provide economic relief in response to coronavirus. Democrats have pushed for more funding for states and local governments, but Alexander, like many within his party, feel that Congress should hold off from doling out more money.
The Tennessee Republican also suggested that his home state, which is facing a billion-dollar budget shortfall, should “cut expenses and raise taxes if it needs to do.”
With the Senate back in town this week, Alexander had previously called for expanded testing for lawmakers to protect the people they might infect — particularly before they return back to their states.
Senator Alexander said that he felt safe in the nation’s Capitol:
‘Most everyone I see is wearing a mask, maybe, maybe some were not. I know that senators, even when we see each other, we stay six feet apart. We’re practicing, by and large, the protocols.’
Alexander noted that the Health Committee he chairs needs “millions of\ more tests” in order to safely reopen into the national economy:
‘To test every nursing home, and every prison, everyone in an operating room, and some entire classes and campuses and factories, teams at sports events, and to give those tests more than once, we will need millions more tests than we’re producing today.’
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