News

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) applauded the Senate passage of the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, which now heads to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law. Rubio secured more than $27.2 million in funding for Florida and additional funding for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to allow eligible entities that have suffered economic injury, due to the coronavirus, to access SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans. 
 
Tomorrow, Rubio will host a roundtable discussion with Florida’s Lieutenant Governor Nunez and public health officials on the coronavirus in West Palm Beach to provide an update on Federal actions and discuss how Florida’s local governments can best prepare and respond to the coronavirus. Last week, Rubio released a plan to combat America’s supply chain risk and dependence on China for pharmaceuticals.
 
“This emergency supplemental package will provide critical resources to approve therapies to help treat the coronavirus, and to ultimately develop a vaccine,” Rubio said. “Importantly, this package provides resources to Florida’s small businesses and community health centers that are going to be on the front lines of dealing with the coronavirus. We need to prioritize resources in retirement communities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospitals, and places frequented by elderly populations and those with compromised immune systems. I look forward to discussing with local officials in Florida tomorrow on ways our communities can best prepare for, and respond to, the coronavirus.”
 
The coronavirus outbreak has revealed America’s dependency on China. Health and Human Services Secretary Azar publicly acknowledged this to Rubio last week when he confirmed that the coronavirus outbreak is “a wake-up call that perhaps we are overly dependent on a supply chain so heavily concentrated in one place in the world.” Earlier this month, Rubio urged FDA Commissioner Hahn to ensure the FDA has the necessary tools to guarantee the safety and supply of pharmaceuticals, food, and medical supplies being imported from China in light of the growing epidemic of the novel coronavirus.
 
Last year, Senator Rubio wrote in Modern Healthcare that “[w]hen it comes to the threat China poses to the U.S. healthcare industry, we cannot afford to be complacent.” Rubio released a report last February detailing critical vulnerabilities in America’s medical supply chain, warning, “the U.S. runs the risk of losing important components of its medical supply chain to China’s government-backed industry.”

Related:

• March 5, 2020: Tomorrow: Rubio Holds Roundtable Discussion on Coronavirus in West Palm Beach
• March 4, 2020: Rubio Statement on Florida Funding, Small Business Provisions in Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental
• March 3, 2020: ICYMI: Rubio: Anti-American Disinformation Campaigns Exacerbate Coronavirus Threat
• March 1, 2020: English/ Español: Rubio Statement on Coronavirus Cases in Florida
• February 27, 2020: ICYMI: Rubio Release Coronavirus Plan to Combat Supply Chain Risk, U.S. Dependence on China
• February 25, 2020: Rubio Questions Secretary Azar on Coronavirus, U.S. Supply Chain Dependence on China
• February 19, 2020: ICYMI: Rubio: Coronavirus: More Proof China is Unfit for Global Role
• February 6, 2020: Rubio, Murphy Urge FDA to Ensure the Safety and Supply of Pharmaceuticals, Food, and Medical Supplies Amid Growing Coronavirus Epidemic
• September 23, 2019: ICYMI: Rubio: China is Targeting America’s Biomed Industry
• February 12, 2019: Rubio Releases Report Outlining China’s Plan for Global Dominance and Why America Must Respond