Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-Ga.) today reintroduced legislation to establish and expand state strategic stockpiles to prepare for future events like the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The COVID-19 pandemic made it very clear that we need to be better prepared for future health emergencies," said Carter. "Over the past year, many states were not prepared to deal with the large influx of patients needing ventilators and other medical products. Additionally, countries like China and India withheld therapeutics and pharmaceutical ingredients that we needed here in the United States. I reintroduced this legislation today because we cannot let that happen again. This legislation will make sure states are prepared and able to respond quickly by having their own stockpile ready in addition to the federal strategic stockpile.”
The State Strategic Stockpile Readiness Act establishes a pilot program to award dollar-for-dollar federal matching grants to states to expand or maintain a strategic stockpile of commercially available drugs, medical equipment, personal protective equipment, and other medical products deemed essential in the event of a public health emergency. The state stockpiles will be acquired, managed, and distributed by the state, and will serve to supplement the federal Strategic National Stockpile.
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