Confirmation of Dawn O'Connell

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I would like to talk about the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. The HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, or ASPR, is in charge during a public health emergency and serves as the principal adviser to the Secretary on these matters. This is not a political or a personal choice for any administration; it is the law. I know because I helped write it. It is a national security position, responsible for keeping Americans safe from public health threats, like COVID-19. It is a role that we envisioned with two types of responsibilities. The ASPR serves an operational role. During an emergency, the ASPR coordinates the public health and medical response--whether that threat is a hurricane, a novel virus, or a chemical attack. The ASPR has the responsibility of overseeing the development, purchase, and deployment of lifesaving countermeasures, like the COVID-19 vaccine. The ASPR is also a policy job, assessing the threat landscape and adjusting our strategies to best position the United States for the threats we face today and in the future.

I am glad that today the Senate was able to confirm, by unanimous consent, Dawn O'Connell to be the ASPR. During Ms. O'Connell's nomination process for the job, she repeatedly agreed that she is ready to serve both roles and that the ASPR is in charge during public health emergencies. I believe her current role as a Senior Counselor to the HHS Secretary for COVID Response and her previous roles at HHS and in Congress have provided her with the skills necessary to fulfill the role of the ASPR. I was disappointed that it took the administration so long to nominate someone for this critical role, but I am pleased that they picked someone of Ms. O'Connell's qualifications. The ASPR is critical to the Nation's response and recovery to the COVID pandemic and preparing us against whatever comes next.

I helped orchestrate Ms. O'Connell's confirmation today when I am also releasing a white paper from my role as lead Republican on the Senate HELP Committee about the role of the ASPR. We have learned from two responses under two different administrations--Ebola under Obama and COVID under Trump--that despite Congress's bipartisan intent that the ASPR be in charge in an emergency, that hasn't worked quite the way we envisioned. So I have a series of recommendations to bolster the role of the ASPR and bring greater clarity to our government's response for future emergencies. The ASPR needs to have strong, effective leadership and play a key role in coordinating the Federal Government response. The ASPR needs to have the authority and resources to strengthen public-private partnerships in our medical countermeasures, medical supply chain, and healthcare system. And the ASPR needs to leverage innovation to expand our preparedness infrastructure. Senator Murray, the chair of our HELP Committee, and I are working together on bipartisan legislation to address the response to the pandemic, and these recommendations will see their way into that legislation this fall.

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