House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) offered an amendment to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s portion of the FY21 budget reconciliation bill that would give the Biden Administration the necessary resources to develop a new plan to administer 200 million vaccines in 100 days. Whip Scalise released the following statement after Committee Democrats voted against his amendment:
“It’s a shame that House Democrats refuse to work with us in a bipartisan way to safely re-open schools, get people back to work, re-open our economy, and expand the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines. The Biden Administration inherited contracts for 300 million doses of vaccines for two approved vaccines and two in the final stage of clinical trials. Thanks to the groundwork laid by President Trump’s plan, Operation Warp Speed, the United States is already administering over 1.4 million vaccines a day. We are on track to deliver well over 100 million doses in 100 days, showing that President Biden’s plan is simply a continuation of President Trump’s plan.
“House Republicans stand ready to work with President Biden to develop a new plan to administer 200 million vaccines in 100 days. Unfortunately, Democrats voted against my amendment that would provide the Administration the tools they need to increase the number of Americans vaccinated for COVID-19.”
During his opening remarks, Whip Scalise criticized Democrats’ hyper-partisan approach for additional COVID-19 relief and emphasized the importance of working together to help struggling workers, families, and small businesses by re-opening our economies, schools, and expanding vaccine distribution. Click here to view his opening remarks.
Representative Steve Scalise, Republican Whip