WASHINGTON, D.C. (WVVA) – The U.S. Senate passed two bills backed by Virginia’s congressional delegation before leaving Washington until after November’s election, with both passing unanimously.
The first bill addresses cyberattacks on hospitals. It was co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA.)
“I’ve been talking about minimum cyber standards for our healthcare for the last couple years. When we think about our hospitals, we think about our doctors offices, we think about even some of the medical equipment we have. There are no minimum cyber standards,” Warner said.
If signed into law, the bill would require the federal government to set minimum cyber standards for healthcare providers. It would also pay for grants and training to help providers defend themselves.
The second bill targets food safety. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) co-sponsored it along with two Republicans. If made law, the bill would let the FDA share outbreak information with state and local health officials and destroy unsafe imported food.
Kaine said he believes the agency is still short-staffed.
“We have to make sure, again, that the appropriators put an appropriate budget in place for the FDA, especially in the food inspection side. The nation has the lowest number of food inspector today than we’ve had since 2005. The nation’s grown a lot since then, and the food challenges have also grown. We shouldn’t have fewer food inspectors than 20 years ago. We should have more,” Kaine said.
Both bills now head to the House of Representatives, which also isn’t due back until after the Nov. 3 election.
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