“One of the best things we can do to set us up to defeat future pandemics is to give Americans a voice when it comes to leadership at such an important agency.”
WASHINGTON — This week, during a U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) markup, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) offered an amendment to the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act (PAHPARA) that would make the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) subject to Senate confirmation immediately. The senator’s amendment continues his broader efforts to hold the CDC accountable to the American people by making the CDC Director subject to Senate confirmation.
Senator Tuberville has been a leading voice in working to restore Americans’ trust in the CDC. Senator Tuberville introduced the Restoring Trust in Public Health Act in 2021 with U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) which required nominees for Director of the CDC be confirmed by the United States Senate. The language of this legislation was included in the 2022 omnibus package, however the version of the language that was signed into law would not go into effect until 2025. Senator Tuberville’s amendment would make it go into effect immediately.
Excerpts from Senator Tuberville’s statement can be found below, and his full remarks can be found here.
“Last year, this Committee considered the PREVENT Pandemics legislation. As part of that legislation, I worked with Committee leadership to ensure that a specific provision was included. That provision would make the CDC Director a Senate-confirmed position.”
“My amendment today would be in keeping with the intent of what this Committee voted to pass last year and make the CDC Director subject to Senate confirmation now. We deemed this decision important enough to pass it out of this Committee on a widely bipartisan basis back then, and I believe we should do the same today.”
“Americans have truly lost so much faith in the CDC as an institution, and one of the best things we can do to set us up to defeat a future pandemic is to give Americans a voice when it comes to leadership at such an important agency.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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