Important news from this
week:
- Honey and I continue to
pray for the Tennesseans impacted by Tuesday’s catastrophic
storms. It’s always shocking to see the damage a tornado can do, and
I’m grateful for our state’s first responders. President
Trump has approved Tennessee’s request for federal disaster
assistance, and I will continue working with Governor Lee’s office
and other local officials to make sure we that we do everything within
our ability to respond to the needs of Tennesseans and their
communities.
- On Thursday, Governor Lee
announced Tennessee’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus. The
Senate approved this week, with my support, nearly $8 billion in
funding, including $950 million for state and local governments. Those
dollars, along with screening and travel restrictions on people coming from
China and other affected places, and a speed up in making diagnostic
kits available to detect coronavirus are all a part of that effort. The
Trump Administration is using the resources and tools that Congress
has provided to respond to the coronavirus and the federal government
is doing everything we can to assist Tennesseans.
- President Donald Trump announced his support for
bipartisan legislation to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF) and cut in half the $12 billion maintenance backlog in our
national parks, which would provide much needed assistance to the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park.
- The
Senate passed the Older Americans Act, which supports programs like meals
on wheels and grants to states so they can help seniors live more
comfortably at home or ensure high-quality care at a nursing
home.
Visiting
Tennessee communities impacted by Tuesday’s catastrophic
tornadoes
Tennesseans who were
impacted by Tuesday’s storms continue to be in my prayers,
particularly those whose loved ones were injured or killed. I have seen floods,
and I have seen fires – the damage they cause is terrible, but
there is nothing quite like seeing what a tornado can do. It can arrive
in 30 seconds or a minute and then be gone, leaving behind it death
and buildings laid flat to the ground. I have been visiting the areas
affected by this storm, and it’s heart-wrenching to see the
devastation caused by the tornadoes, but we are taking aggressive action to
help Tennessee families recover. My office has been in touch with
mayors in all of the counties and communities affected, and Senator
Blackburn and I are working together, along with the rest of the Tennessee
delegation, to ensure that we give full federal support to Governor
Lee. We will do everything we can to help Tennesseans and their
communities rebuild and recover.
President Trump visited some of Tennessee’s affected
communities, and I appreciate his support. Tennesseans are resilient, and
we will come through this difficult time stronger than ever. (Photo
credit to George Walker IV, The Tennessean)
The Trump Administration, Congress
are prepared to fight the coronavirus
On Thursday, I voted to provide $7.8 billion in funding to
fight coronavirus, including $950 million for state and local
governments. Those dollars, the travel restrictions on people coming from China
and certain other locations, and a speed up in making diagnostic kits
available are all a part of an effort that makes the United States
among the countries that is best prepared to keep Tennesseans –
and all Americans – safe from the coronavirus
I also chaired a hearing in the
Senate health committee this week on the coronavirus to hear from
respected professionals with decades of experience, who are the right people
to give Americans accurate information about the coronavirus, about
both what individuals can do and what the federal government is doing
to respond.
Around the world, the
spread of the coronavirus is alarming, with around 100,000 cases in at
least 85 countries and over 3,000 deaths. This week, Governor Lee
announced the first case of the coronavirus in Tennessee, and the United
States has over 200 cases, according to some news reports. But the fact
remains that most people in the United States are at low-risk, and the
United States is one of the countries best prepared to deal with the
coronavirus.
Here is what the New
York Times said on their front page on Sunday: “Much about the
coronavirus remains unclear, and it is far from certain that the outbreak
will reach severe proportions in the United States or affect many
regions at once. With its top-notch scientists, modern hospitals and
sprawling public health infrastructure, most experts agree, the United
States is among the countries best prepared to prevent or manage such an
epidemic.”
I enjoyed talking with 8th grade students from Sacred Heart
School in Knoxville during their trip to Washington.
President Trump supports most important
conservation legislation in 50 years
President Donald Trump announced his support this week
for bipartisan legislation to fully fund the Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF) and to cut in half the $12 billion maintenance backlog
in our national parks. This bipartisan legislation combines two bills
that together make it the most important piece of conservation
legislation in the last half century. It includes my Restore Our Parks Act,
which will cut in half the deferred maintenance backlog for the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and other national parks, in
addition to fully funding the LWCF permanently, which has been a goal
of Congress for 55 years. None of this would have happened without
bipartisan support and none of this would have happened without President
Trump’s strong support and endorsement of both
bills.
I had a good meeting with American Israel
Public Affairs Committee this week. It’s always good to hear from
them and discuss our country’s support of Israel.
Working to increase funding for Oak Ridge
National Laboratory
I held a
hearing this week to review President Trump’s fiscal year 2021
budget request for the U.S. Department of Energy, which funds important
energy research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in East Tennessee. As
chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Energy
Department, I will work to ensure that our 17 national labs, including Oak
Ridge, have the federal funding needed to achieve priorities such as
maintaining our place as the world’s leader in supercomputing.
I’m pleased that this budget request proposes to continue
development of exascale supercomputers – the next generation of
supercomputers –which will be thousand times faster than the
supercomputers the U.S. built in 2008. This week, Oak Ridge announced that Summit,
the world’s most powerful supercomputer, is being used to
identify potential treatments for coronavirus.
Even on
the busiest weeks, Tennessee Tuesday is a priority for me and Senator
Marsha Blackburn. We enjoy welcoming Tennesseans to our
nation’s capital. Sign up here if you’re in
Washington on a Tuesday and come by and see us.
