Congress moves to fill COVID-19 response void

National testing strategy, warlike public health fund among proposals

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump tries to move on from the coronavirus, Congress is rushing to fill the void and prepare the country for the long fight ahead.

Compelled by the lack of comprehensive federal planning as states begin to reopen, lawmakers of both parties are jumping in to develop policies and unleash resources to prevent a second wave.

In the House and Senate, lawmakers are pushing sweeping proposals for a national virus testing strategy. One seasoned Republican wants a warlike public health fund. A New Jersey freshman launched neighboring colleagues on a regional bipartisan task force to help guide Northeastern states back to work.

“This is going to be on us,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., a former Navy helicopter pilot in her first term in Congress.

The legislative branch is stepping up in the absence of a consistent White House strategy.

Congress is preparing its fifth coronavirus aid package, a “Rooseveltian” effort, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York put it. Some Republicans are wary, despite support in the party for some provisions.

As the Senate resumed this past week while the House stayed largely away, lawmakers drilled into pandemic policy.

Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, outlined a 10-point strategy in testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

“As bad as this has been, it’s just the beginning,” Frieden warned of the long wait ahead for improved treatments and an eventual vaccine.

Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the committee, was particularly interested in Frieden’s proposal for a new public health fund modeled on those Congress uses to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, separate from budget caps.

“There needs to be a whole big plan,” said Cole.

On the other side of the Capitol, an exasperated Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked officials about the national testing strategy she has pushed since early March.

“We can’t reopen our country safely,” she said, until tests are “fast, free and everywhere.”

Health officials say a robust national testing effort, with the ability to trace the contacts of those who have been infected — so those people isolate and prevent spread — should be central to any plan returning Americans to work. Several lawmakers want the federal government to hire out-of-work Americans into an “army” of the estimated 300,000 public health workers.

To ensure enough medical supplies, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wants to wrest manufacturing away from China with “Buy American” rules to kickstart domestic industry.

While many of the proposals coming from Congress are bipartisan, there is strong resistance from some corners.

Conservative Republicans, in particular, resist a robust federal government intervention, preferring a state-by-state approach. Many share Trump’s view that “the remedy can’t be worse” than the disease, as record Americans are out of work. Trump will need to sign any legislation into law.

At the House hearing, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., an anesthesiologist, argued that indefinite stay-home orders make no sense.

“We’re safer from death if we’re not born,” he said.