On the recordFebruary 2, 2022
Mr. President, during the last break in our voting schedule here in Washington, DC, I was grateful to have the time back home talking with my constituents about the challenges they are facing on a day-to-day basis and, like we all, I think, try to do, figuring out how we can be helpful to them here in the Senate. I must note that there is usually a huge disconnect between what seems to obsess the news media and folks living in the bubble of Washington, DC, and what I hear from my constituents back home, and this time wasn't much different. When I was back in Austin, I received a briefing on the ongoing pandemic response efforts. Like the rest of the country and the rest of the world, COVID-19 hasn't gone away, and we are trying to slowly but surely both adapt and deal with the pandemic. Thanks to an overwhelming response by the Federal Government initially back during the Trump administration, during Operation Warp Speed, we have access to vaccines on the fastest timeline that we have ever seen. Medical science and pharmaceutical companies and the government came together to produce effective and safe vaccines at a historic rate of speed. But even as the virus itself has morphed, as viruses, I understand, will likely do, we still continue to need things like personal protective equipment and additional tests and antibiotics treatments for people in my State.…





