Mitt Romney proposes health security council to better prepare U.S. for another infectious disease

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks with audience members following his first town hall meeting in Farmington on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mitt Romney expressed frustration in February that the United States was ill-equipped to handle the novel coronavirus outbreak.

On Friday, he and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., proposed to create a health security council to ready the country to confront the spread of another infectious disease.

“Our experience with coronavirus has exposed some glaring gaps in our nation’s capacity to respond to a pandemic, and it is critical that we are better prepared to coordinate global responses and exert leadership to address future health threats,” Romney, R-Utah, said.

Romney earlier said he was disappointed in the lack of protective equipment for health care workers such as masks and gowns, and medical devices including ventilators and respirators that would help people once they get sick. He also was frustrated over the nation’s lag in coronavirus testing.

The senators say the legislation would reaffirm the United States’ commitment to global health security amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation would create the Global Health Security Interagency Review Council and the position of global health security coordinator, appointed by the president from the National Security Council.

“The United States cannot prevent pandemics like COVID-19 from devastating our country if we don’t adequately prepare and plan. We clearly weren’t prepared in this case, and we cannot waste time in establishing new organizations in the federal government that can identify and prepare for health threats before they become domestic crises,” Murphy said.

The new entities would be responsible for implementing the Global Health Security Agenda, an initiative launched by nearly 30 countries in 2014 to address global infectious disease threats. They would also provide policy recommendations, help federal agencies implement the agenda, as well as assist other countries to meet those goals.

“Our priority right now should be taking decisive action to contain COVID-19’s spread and rescuing our economy,” Murphy said. “But if we don’t also spend time fixing the gaps in our global pandemic response leadership, we’re at risk of going through this nightmare all over again.”

The bipartisan legislation was also introduced in the House.

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