Six months since the coronavirus outbreak was first reported, only 0.1% of the total emergency funding appropriated by Congress so far has gone to the global coronavirus response. As Senate leadership weighs additional funding for the COVID-19 response, there has been a surge of support for funding for a global pandemic response package.
Bipartisan group of senators push for COVID-19 global response funding
With over 13 million reported cases worldwide, it is clear that if we are to defeat this virus anywhere, we must defeat it everywhere. That’s why Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) released a bipartisan letter with 33 total senators urging Senate leadership to support a global pandemic response package in the next round of COVID-19 response funding.
In the letter, they note that the continued spread of the coronavirus threatens the health and economic well-being of both the United States and the world’s poorest countries.
Faith leaders implore Congress to help global neighbors in need
Faith leaders from all 50 states joined the calls for a global response to COVID-19. In a letter led by Christian recording artist Michael W Smith, faith leaders reaffirmed our common humanity: “Now it is time to show how hope and healing on the other side of the world can make Americans more secure – as well as express the enduring values of our country.”
Without robust global response funding, the world’s poorest will continue to suffer
The aftershocks of the coronavirus pandemic will disproportionately impact the world’s most vulnerable. Experts have warned that as many as 190,000 people in Africa could die in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, as many as 135 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020, and an additional 34.3 million people could fall into extreme poverty in 2020. And by 2030, an additional 130 million people may fall into extreme poverty.
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that viruses don’t respect borders. Congress should support a global pandemic response package so we can combat this virus everywhere.
