Sheila Jackson Lee: “FDA is considering to halve the amount of vaccines going to Americans. This haphazard way will not work. And the budget…”

“FDA is considering to halve the amount of vaccines going to Americans. This haphazard way will not work. And the budget bill that is before us gives Congress the insight into how agencies plan their work. So, is FEMA well-funded to take care of a pandemic? Were they funded the way they should have been in case a pandemic came and they were the right agency to do it? Please remember, when we were flagging around and flustering around at the beginning of COVID-19, the PPE had to be taken over by FEMA. That is what happened. We were struggling. People were fighting over PPE. Governors were out on the market. They were making negotiations individually with China while their health professionals were dying or reusing masks or reusing PPE. FEMA came in and did it. Mr. Speaker, I will be discussing this even further, but I support this legislation because it gives Members of Congress the ability to know budget and appropriations so that if a pandemic comes, what agency can handle it? FEMA, because it has the funding. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the underlying legislation, and I look forward to this further discussion. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 22, the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, which requires congressional budget justifications to be posted online in a centralized, searchable database, as well as on a Federal agency's websites.…”