mitigate the spread of the virus. i am grateful that our theirgues, along with appropriations counterparts in the house, work through the weekend on a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to provide supplemental appropriations for the coordinated response. it goes without saying that a challenge like this leaves no time for moving goalposts or performative outrage. the american people deserve their congress to meet this subject head-on with bipartisan and collaborative approach, and i am confident that that is exactly what can and will happen. that our prospects for supplemental appropriations rests in the hands of a bipartisan group of negotiators. i would encourage my democratic colleagues in both houses to let them do their work. it will be important to pass this first benchmark and supply this within the next two weeks. >> over the weekend, cases of

coronavirus have been confirmed in new york, rhode island, florida. officials in washington state have also reported that six americans have died from coronavirus. the first fatalities from the coronavirus in the u.s. needis critical moment, we an administration that acts with persistent and unrelenting transparency, decisiveness, and liens on the expertise of our scientists and doctors. this administration unfortunately has spent years hollowing out the domestic and global health security teams in the executive branch. it has proposed cutting funding from the infectious disease rapid response fund, the emerging infectious disease account, and public health preparedness and response programs. undoubtedly, the trump administration would have been better prepared to respond to the coronavirus if the president

had prioritized these programs rather than urged them to be cut. the administration's early response efforts have not instilled much confidence either. testing kits were not promptly sent to the hospitals and medical labs around the country. political personnel has overruled the recommendations of the cdc, and the administration was slow to appoint any single official with public health expertise to coordinate our government's response. seemsow, president trump to be spending more of his time claiming the media and blaming the democrats than being constructive. in fact, he blames everyone not named donald trump. the president is downplaying -- he is downplaying the threat of the coronavirus to a dangerous degree. as chief of staff -- his chief of staff said to americans, turn off your televisions. we know the history of how these

viruses spread and work. when you deny them, when you do not let people know what is happening and what to do about it, things get worse. , being ashe president self-centered as he is, only cares about himself and his image, and he tries, as usual, instead of solving the problem, to blame somebody else. the deflection and finger-pointing, the denial, must stop. president trump must take responsibility to ensure that everyone in the public health community has the authority and the resources needed. we need the president and his team to level with the american people and get a handle on the situation. later this week, appropriators will put together an emergency supplemental package to put resources into the domestic and global response and help local communities quickly prepare for the coronavirus. we need aboutat

$8.5 billion. thefrom all reports, appropriators are very close to that number rather than the $2.5 billion the president talked about early on, and that's good because when it comes to americans health, when it comes to our safety, when it comes to dealing with this problem head-on, skimping does not make any sense at all. if there was ever something that's penny wise and pound foolish, that is it. i am going to have more to say as this package comes together, ack at a minimum -- but at minimum, any package needs to has provisions to ensure the president cannot transfer these new funds to anything other than the coronavirus and american and global preparedness to combat epidemics and infectious diseases. vaccines must be affordable and available to all who need them. yesterday, i called for vaccines to be fully covered by medicare

because seniors who need the vaccines most should not have to worry if they can afford it once it is available. there should be interest-free loans made available for small businesses impacted by the outbreak. and state and local governments should be reimbursed and provided new grants for virus response activities. in the meantime, the administration needs to keep working with local communities, including schools, universities, and local agencies on the steps they must take to prepare for an increase in coronavirus cases. specifically, the administration needs to do the following. first, issue coherent guidance on what school districts should do in the event the virus is detected in a community. a uniformlish screening policy for airports and ports of entry. our front-line transportation professionals at tsa and cbp need clear guidance on the coronavirus.

and three, take it clear that our federal scientists and medical experts can speak out freely and be heard by the american people. no gag rule, no downplaying this, because that makes things worse when people don't know the facts. now, democrats are ready to work on a bipartisan basis to make sure federal, state, and local officials are ready for whatever scenario coronavirus presents. the president and his administration, and our colleagues in the senate, must be ready to do the same. >> we will hear more about the federal response to the coronavirus tomorrow when public health officials from the centers for disease control and prevention, the national institutes of health, and the food and drug administration testify before the senate health committee. that is at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three. you can also watch online at c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. coronavirus story

continues to unfold, you can access all of our recent coverage on the c-span homepage. it includes hearings, briefings, washington journal segments, and is regularly updated to include the latest events. clicko to c-span.org and the coronavirus link at the top of the page. >> defense secretary mark esper ad joint chiefs of staff held news conference to discuss the newly signed agreement between ae u.s. and taliban that sets 14 month timetable for withdrawing u.s. troops from afghanistan. secretary esper and general millie address the impact of the coronavirus on the military. >> ok, well, good morning, everyone. as you know, we have a busy