Congressman Robert Garcia | Official U.S. House headshot
Congressman Robert Garcia | Official U.S. House headshot
Washington D.C.- This week, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) introduced the “FLASH Act” Fast-Track Logistics for Acquiring Supplies in a Hurry Act of 2023, to help the Department of Health and Human Services cut through red tape to quickly buy critical medical materials during emergencies—from PPE to tests and vaccines—as well as the critical materials needed to make and distribute medical supplies.
“The pandemic has been the single largest loss of life event in our modern history as a country,” said Congressman Garcia. “As Mayor of Long Beach, one of our early and largest challenges was struggling to get protective equipment and testing kits. We were on our own, without federal help, and its why I am introducing this legislation to avoid it from happening again.”
The bill gives the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response new authority to cut through red tape to sign emergency contracts to acquire a wide range of emergency supplies, from PPE to medical supplies. With the bill, the Department of Health and Human Services will have some of the same emergency powers used by the Department of Defense to buy emergency equipment.
As Mayor of Long Beach, Congressman Garcia was on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic, working with the city’s independent health department to protect lives. The city was hailed as a national model by President Biden and Governor Newsom. Under his leadership as mayor, Long Beach made PPE available to small businesses and conducted hundreds of thousands of free Covid-19 tests.
Long Beach also vaccinated over 99% of seniors in just a few months and was the first major city to make vaccines available to food workers and teachers — helping to reopen schools ahead of other districts across the country. Under his leadership, the City of Long Beach passed measures to support community safety and rebuild infrastructure, legalize, and tax cannabis while promoting social equity, and create ethics and redistricting commissions.
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Issues: Protecting Public Health
Original source can be found here.
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