WASHINGTON – Representatives Troy Balderson (R-OH), Cindy Axne (D-IA), and Lori Trahan (D-MA) today launched the bipartisan Pandemic Preparedness Caucus, a coalition of lawmakers working to advance results-driven, bipartisan policy solutions to challenges presented by the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and future PHEs.

“As representatives for the American people, we owe it to them to assess our country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and build strategic plans that better prepare the United States for future pandemics,” said Co-Chair Balderson. “In order to fully restore Americans’ way of life and our economy, we must do everything in our power to ensure a better future, starting with the lessons from this pandemic.”

“Over the past months of this public health crisis, I’ve spoken to countless Iowans who have spent their days and restless nights worried about the health and safety of their families. As we continue to grapple with the challenges presented by COVID-19, we owe it to these families to ensure we properly reflect on what we can do to better respond to this pandemic and those to come,” said Co-Chair Axne. “Certainly, we hope and pray that we will not meet another public health crisis like this one in our lifetimes – but after spending a decade in strategic planning, I know that the best supplement to those prayers is good preparation. I am proud to join my colleagues to launch the Pandemic Preparedness Caucus to seriously evaluate our public health response, identify much-needed improvements, and coordinate our resources – federal, state, and local – so we’re ready for whatever we may face together in the future.”

“COVID-19 has demonstrated just how unprepared we were as a nation for a global pandemic,” said Co-Chair Trahan. “This led to an insufficient response that has forced health care workers, public health employees, and first responders to risk their own safety while they administer lifesaving services. We owe it to these heroes and to all those we represent to use the lessons learned from this pandemic to improve our response to future surges of COVID-19 and other public health crises.”

The Pandemic Preparedness Caucus will focus its efforts on strengthening America’s current response to the domestic spread of COVID-19 and equipping the United States to prepare for future PHEs. The caucus is made up of lawmakers committed to addressing pandemic-related issues in a meaningful, bipartisan manner, including:

###