Press Releases

**Rep. Kuster was appointed to the Energy and Commerce Committee for the 117th Congress**
**Watch Rep. Kuster speak during the markup HERE**
**More information and full video of the two-day markup is available HERE**

Concord, N.H. — Today, Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02) took part in the second day of a more than seventeen-hour virtual House Energy and Commerce Committee markup. Today was a continuation of yesterday’s markup, the Committee’s first of the 117th Congress. The Committee has wide jurisdiction over critical issues including health care, energy, climate change, the environment and broadband deployment. Rep. Kuster serves on the Health Subcommittee, Energy Subcommittee, and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Kuster also served on the Energy and Commerce Committee during the 116th Congress.

In the proceedings, the Committee considered and adopted a Kuster-backed budget reconciliation package relating to public health, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other provisions. This package includes critical funding for key legislation that Rep. Kuster introduced, including the Coronavirus Vaccine & Therapeutic Development Act, the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act, and the Energy Debt Relief for American Families Act. It also includes funding for programs modeled off Kuster-backed legislation, including the Emergency Support for Substance Use Disorders Act. This is a comprehensive package that bolsters funding for vaccines and therapeutics, increases funding for testing and contact tracing, funding for community health centers and beyond. To view the full markup documents, such as amendments and bill texts, click here. 

During the markup, Rep. Kuster spoke in support of the rescue package and of the importance that the Committee prioritize improving our health care system, ensuring the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and modernizing state immunization infrastructure systems that can enhance the administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

“The Energy and Commerce Committee has critically important work ahead for the 117th Congress,” said Rep. Kuster. “With the COVID-19 crisis still threatening our nation’s public health and wellbeing, our top priority must be crushing this pandemic. In the Energy and Commerce Committee, I’m focused on bolstering the efficient and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, ensuring our frontline workers and health professionals have the resources they need to keep their communities safe, and providing support for struggling families and individuals.”

Rep. Kuster continued, “I’m pleased that the Energy and Commerce Committee passed this much-needed rescue package, which included funding for my bipartisan legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic, bolster and quicken our nationwide vaccine rollout and ensure that the United States is able to mass-produce and administer COVID-19 vaccines to all Americans. There’s a lot of work to be done, and I’m committed to building back better so no one is left behind as we recover from this pandemic.”


The full Energy and Commerce reconciliation package can be viewed here.

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