U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) is seeking to hold a hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health to examine concerns on the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
In a letter to Subcommittee Chair Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Burgess made the request, saying the committee has a responsibility to examine how to improve efforts to fight COVID-19 and conduct oversight as resources are being deployed. He added that hearing should evaluate the mission and capabilities of the SNS, review lessons learned from the current crisis, and consider bipartisan legislation to strengthen the SNS for a stronger response to future public health emergencies.
“Since its establishment in 1999 as the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile, the SNS has evolved over the years to respond to a variety of public health emergencies. However, COVID19 has demonstrated that the SNS and the entire U.S. medical supply chain were not able to adequately respond to a pandemic event,” Burgess wrote in the letter to Eshoo. “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.”