Washington (CNN) There is mounting concern on Capitol Hill that more needs to be done to contain the coronavirus, the contagious respiratory disease that started in China and has reached from Iran to the US, with Republicans and Democrats outwardly expressing alarm and outrage.

In a tense exchange Tuesday, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana pressed acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf over the issue during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

"You're supposed to keep us safe. The American people deserve some straight answers on the coronavirus and I'm not getting them from you," Kennedy said, after asking Wolf a series of pointed questions about transmission of the disease and the current level of preparation to deal with its spread.

"I disagree," Wolf responded, and he also directed some of Kennedy's questions to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After the hearing, Wolf spoke with reporters and defended his department's readiness to defend against the disease, saying, "The department is extremely focused on protecting the American people from the coronavirus. And so we're doing that. We're implementing a number of operational measures at airports, seaports and land ports of entry. And we'll continue to do that."

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