Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi to President Biden Following State of the Union Pledge to Vaccinate the World: As A Vice President Famously Once Said, “Show Me Your Budget, And I’ll Tell You What You Value”
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Co-Chair of the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus issued the following statement in response to President Biden's State of the Union commitment to "continue vaccinating the world":
"While I'm pleased by President Biden's reaffirmation of our nation's commitment to vaccinate the world, the White House must immediately secure the requisite funding and political capital to achieve that goal before the next new, and potentially more dangerous, variant emerges. While President Biden rightly touted the generosity of our country for donating 475 million vaccine doses to help vaccinate the world, more than seven times that many, 3.5 billion people, are not yet fully vaccinated. President Biden has set a goal of vaccinating 70% of the world's population by this September; however, USAID currently lacks the necessary funding to accomplish that goal .
President Biden famously said ‘Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.' Well, the next appropriations bill must pass by March 11th, 2022 to avoid a government shutdown. If this Administration truly wants to lead the global effort to vaccinate the world, instead of Russia and China, then they must ensure that at least $5 billion in global COVID-19 aid is included in this package, and they must bring together both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to achieve this end. If they don't, and another lethal variant invades the United States, the American people will not accept excuses."