For decades, we were unprepared for a pandemic. Politicians on both sides of the aisle were briefed on it, again and again. We need people in policy roles that understand what the subject matter experts are saying, not career politicians with no real-life experience. Congress was even briefed on the potential for a pandemic like COVID back in June of 2019 and failed to act. Congress was too busy being stuck in gridlock to do anything about it. As Colorado's congressman, I will treat these warnings like I would with a patient. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sustainable government requires that we don't overload the legislative process by bills that will not pass muster in a bicameral legislature that is controlled by different parties. Partisan solutions to our problems is worse than going nowhere fast- it’s driving the debate in reverse. We win against the next pandemic by putting subject matter experts into a position where they can form policy.