Rep. Dingell: 'COVID's Back'; GOP 'Oversight Hearings Are Political, Retaliatory'

(CNSNews.com) – “I think it’s going to be very interesting two years,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) told MSNBC on Tuesday.

She anticipates “a lot of drama” when Republicans take control of the House in January and try to elect a speaker. “And there have been a lot of have comments made by Republican leadership of the kind of action and oversight that they plan on doing,” she said:

“But I think the American people want to see us continue to address problems. And we still have a lot of them out there, starting with, COVID’s back. Today, we’re hearing about outbreaks of measles. The flu is out there, RSV. We have a lot of health care things we’re going to have to worry about.”

Dingell said Americans want politicians to stop fighting and “get some things done that make their lives better.”

Subsidized child care, elder care, and pollution are three of those things, she said:

“I work with Republicans very closely on PFAS, which is a pollutant and a chemical, toxic, that’s impacting many areas. I did a bill on telehealth with Liz Cheney. Telehealth is something that I think American people want to see stay. Rural areas have a shortage of doctors.

“And I could go on with any number of people who want to have — get lead out of waters and out of the pipes across the country. Long-term care is a crisis. When you are a senior and a spouse taking care of a loved one, you’re not Republican or Democrat. You need help. Childcare is a crisis.

“Women can’t get back into the work force because of the childcare shortage. I could go on. There’s a lot of issues people want to see us address.”

Dingell said she “believes in oversight,” but —

“I think that a lot of the purposes of (Republican) oversight hearings are political, retaliatory. And I think the American people, if that’s all they do, they’re not going to win their majority back in 2024, which, of course, I don’t want to see them do. I want to see Democrats.

“But I think that there’s not going to be tolerance of that. If that’s all they do, the American people are going to make it known that this is not what they want to see. We still have a close Senate. We have got a Democratic presidency. There’s some things people want to see us get done.

“And it’s interesting to look at the bills like the infrastructure bill that had a few Republicans vote for it. But Republicans across the country are taking credit for it now as it’s fixing your roads, getting broadband into districts where it needs to be, getting the lead out of pipes.

“And I want to see us do more of that. There are some real problems facing this country and this world. Our national security is a major issue. I’m very concerned where a small number of Republicans are not in support of Ukraine, who is fighting for democracy, period, around the world. What happens there?

“We have real issues on science. And I do believe — they have announced they’re going to set up a select committee on China. I’d like to see us be able to work together on that, bringing our supply chain home, which is an economic and a national security issue. I think there’s a lot of room to do things if they allow us to work together.”

On Dec. 16, CDC announced that “U.S. COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have increased in recent weeks. More than 44% of U.S. counties are experiencing medium to high COVID-19 Community Levels. At the same time, this cold and flu season has been a severe one. The trio of COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is continuing to stress the healthcare system, resulting in decreased hospital capacity and staffing shortages.”

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