Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On Reducing Pandemic Risk
(WorldNews Politics)

11.14.19 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we do not have to be reminded of the more than 50 million lives lost in the 1918 influenza pandemic, or the many thousands lost in the SARS, Ebola, MERS, and other recent infectious disease outbreaks to recognize that far more must be done to reduce the risk of catastrophic pandemics. Rather than waiting until disease outbreaks occur, then scrambling at great expense for two or three years or however long it takes to develop a vaccine while countless people die, we need to act proactively. It is worth noting that tens of millions of people have died and we still lack a vaccine against HIV. Viral threats will continue to emerge at a rapidly accelerating pace...