Schiff Introduces Legislation to Examine US Response to COVID-19

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Pasadena) introduced legislation in the House that would establish a bipartisan commission to provide a full accounting of the country’s response to the coronavirus.

The commission would conduct a rigorous and comprehensive review of the coronavirus response and make recommendations on how we can be better prepared in the future, and will complement other oversight efforts in Congress and elsewhere.

Bipartisan Commissions have been established after other momentous events that led to the loss of lives, including the attacks on Pearl Harbor that led the nation into WWII and the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Though we are still early in this crisis, over sixteen thousand Americans have died so far,” Schiff said. “It is clear that a comprehensive and authoritative review will be required, not as a political exercise to cast blame, but to learn from our mistakes to prevent history from tragically repeating itself.”

Schiff said he has talked with colleagues, former commissioners, and experts, and incorporated a number of their strong recommendations into the legislation.

The coronavirus commission will examine U.S. government preparedness in advance of this pandemic, the Federal government’s response to it, and provide recommendations to improve our ability to respond to and recover from future outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics.

The legislation is modeled after, and closely mirrors, legislation enacted in 2002 to create the 9/11 Commission in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States. As with the 9/11 Commission, the coronavirus commission will also examine state and local governments’ preparedness and response.

“The coronavirus showed just how unprepared and slow we were to respond to a major outbreak. And that lack of readiness endangered lives,” said Senator Feinstein. “We weren’t able to ramp up testing, we didn’t have enough safety equipment for doctors and nurses and we lacked any kind of consistent federal guidelines for states and cities. We know this won’t be the last outbreak, so a 9/11 Commission-style panel is necessary to fix these mistakes going forward and apply the lessons from this pandemic to future crises.”