November 20, 2020 Dear Friends, Today, Pfizer and BioNTech submitted a request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate. All Americans should be encouraged by this next step towards a safe and effective vaccine. The Pfizer/BioNTech candidate was deemed 95 percent effective based on clinical trial data in a 40,000+ person trial. Now that data, and more, will undergo analysis by FDA professionals and an independent pane... Read more

November 18, 2020 Dear Friends, It is vital that Congress understand how many labs have the required capacity and capability for conducting research on COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. To this end, I sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Republican Leader Brett Guthrie (R-KY) requesting that the CDC share full, updated data on dome... Read more

November 16, 2020 Dear Friends, Monday morning brought good news again for Americans: early data on Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows that it is 94.5% effective in protecting recipients from the coronavirus. The Phase 3 trial was conducted alongside the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority with the results being observed by the Independent Data Safety Monitoring Board. Within the next few weeks, Moderna plans to submit an Emergenc... Read more

November 12, 2020 Dear Friends, As I told Fox News this week, masks continue to be an important resource in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Although our country has made tremendous progress in developing therapies to combat COVID-19, our nation remains in a public health emergency. We must continue to find ways to keep ourselves and others safe as we wait for American innovations that will lead us to the other side of the pandemic. National Updates The Food and Drug Administration issued... Read more

It is important that we take the time to honor our veterans today. These brave men and women fought to ensure that we are able to enjoy the values of our great country – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In Texas alone, we have over 1.5 million veterans currently living in the state. These are our family members, friends, and neighbors. My family witnessed firsthand the barriers that veterans encounter when my son returned home after selflessly serving our country in the United State... Read more

November 9, 2020 Dear Friends, Today, Pfizer announced that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective in preventing the virus in participants not previously infected, based on the early results from Phase 3 trial data. Over 43,000 participants have enrolled in this phase of testing. Pfizer anticipates applying for an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration later in November. This is great news. Since the beginning of this pandemic, I have said t... Read more

November 3, 2020 Dear Friends, The Department of Health and Human Services(HHS) is contracting to produce vaccine ancillary supply kits in preparation for vaccine distribution. HHS published a Frequently Asked Questions document on vaccine allocation and distribution. HHS and the Department of Defense established a $119 million contract with Hologic, Inc. to increase domestic production of diagnostic COVID-19 tests. HHS issued a clarification that health care related expenses will not be netted... Read more

October 30, 2020 Dear Friends, Today Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced H.R. 14, the Commitment to Defeat the Virus and Keep America Healthy Act, which focuses on increasing COVID-19 testing capacity, preparing for a vaccine, and deploying more resources to the American people. I cosponsored this legislation which incorporates several bills I have worked on or cosponsored: H.R. 5199, the ECHO Act- Improving health outcomes by extending telehealth and technology-enabled colla... Read more

October 29, 2020 Dear Friends, In the past several months, the U.S. has built a massive testing program from the ground up that has helped slow the spread of COVID-19 in many areas. It’s important that insights regarding testing discovered at the federal level are shared with states. Testing remains one of our most powerful resources in defeating this virus and reopening the economy. That’s why I joined a letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, M.D., requesting t... Read more

October 27, 2020 Dear Friends, Reporting from the Texas Department of State Health Services shows that COVID-19 hospitalizations have climbed recently in Texas. As we wait for developments on therapeutics and vaccines, I hope each of you will continue to wash your hands, wear a mask, and practice social distancing. Everyone has made sacrifices over the past 7 months, and I am thankful that Texans have rallied during these challenging times. I remain committed to ensuring that every resource at ... Read more