Selfquarantine themselves or canceling events and closing campuses. Because whether or not youre infected or know someone who is infected or have been in contact with an infected person, this is going to require a national response. Not just from our elected leaders or our Public Health officials, but from all of us. We must, all of us, follow the guidelines of the Health Officials and take appropriate protections to protect ourselves and, and critically to protect others, especially those who are most at risk from this disease. Its going to mean making radical changes in our personal behaviors. More frequent and more thorough hand washing. Staying home from work if youre ill. But also all during the deeply engraged habits in our country like handshakes and hugs. Thats why earlier this week on the recommendation of officials, my campaign canceled Election Night rallies that wed planned to hold in cleveland, ohio. Were also reimagining the format for largecrowd events we had planned in chicago and miami in the coming days. And it will continue to assess and adjust how we conduct our campaigns as we move forward. And final new ways to share our find new ways to share our message with the public while putting the health and safety of the American People first, above everything else. Yesterday we announced a Public HealthAdvisory Committee of experts who will continue to counsel my campaign and me, help guide our decisions on the steps to minimize further risks. We will lead by science. The World Health Organization ow has officially declared covid19 a panama pandemic. Down playing it, being overly dismissive or spreading misinformation is only going to hurt us and further advantage the spread of the disease. But neither should we panic or fall back ognjen phobia xenophobia, labeling covid19 a foreign virus does not displace accountability for the misjudgments that have been taken thus far by the trump administration. Let me be crystal clear. The coronavirus does not have a political affiliation, will affect republicans, independents and democrats alike and will not discriminate based on national origin, race, gender or zip code. It will touch people in positions of power, as well as the most vulnerable in our society. It will not stop. Banning all travel from europe or any other part of the world may slow it, but as weve seen, it will not stop it. And travel restrictions based on favoritism and politics rather than risk will be counterproductive. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet. We need to plan about how were going to aggressively manage here at home. You know, we all do know the American People have the capacity to meet this moment. Were going to face this with the same spirit that has guided us through previous crises. And well come together as a nation, well look out for one another and do our part as citizens. We have to be we have to harness the ingenuity of our scientists and the resourcefulness of our people. And we have to help the world, help the world to drive coordinated global strategy. Not shut ourselves off from the world. Protecting the health and safety of the American People is the most important job of any president and unfortunately this virus laid bear the severe shortcomings of the current administration. Public fears are being compounded by pervasive lack of trust in this president. Fueled by adversarial relationships with the truth that it continues to have. Our governments ability to respond effectively has been undermined by hollowing out our agencies and disparagement of science. And our ability to drive a Global Response is dramatically, dramatically undercut by the damage trump has done to our credibility and our relationships around the world. We have to get to work immediately to dig ourselves out of this hole. And thats why today im releasing a plan to combat and overcome the coronavirus. A full de the full details of the plan, if you want to see them go to joebiden. Com, where i lay out the immediate steps we have to take to deliver one decisive Public Health response to curb the spread of the disease and to provide treatment for those who need it and a decisive economic response that delivers real relief to american workers, families and small businesses. And protects the economy as a whole. I offer it as a road map, not for what i will do as president 10 month interests now, but for the leadership that i believe is needed, required at this very moment. President trump is welcome to adopt all of it today. The core principle is simple. Public Health Professionals must be the ones making our Public Health decisions. And communicating with the American People. Public Health Professionals. It would be a step toward reclaiming public trust and confidence in the United States government as well. Toward stopping the fear and chaos that can overtake communities faster than this pandemic can overtake them. Its critical to monitor an Effective National response that will save lives, protect our Frontline Health workers, low the spread of the virus, first. Anyone, anyone who need to be tested should be tested at no charge. At no charge. The administrations failure on testing is colossal. And its a failure of planning, leadership and execution. The white house should measure and report each day, each and every day how many tests have been ordered, how many tests have been completed, and how many have tested positive. By next week the number of tests should be in the millions, not the thousands. We should make every person in the nursing home available for testing. Every Senior Center or vulnerable population has to have easy access to the test and we should establish hundreds of mobile testing sites, at least 10 per state, and drivethrough Testing Centers to speed testing and protect the health of our workers. The c. D. C. , private labs, universities and manufacturers should be working lockstep to get this done and get it done correctly. No effort should be spared. None. No excuses should be made. Tests should be available to all who need them. And the government, the government should stop at nothing to make that happen. We must know the truex tent of this outbreak so we can true extent of the outbreak, so we can map it, trace it and contain it. Nor should we hide the true number of infections in hopets of hopes of protecting political interests or the stock market. The markets will respond strong, to strong and steady and capable leadership that addresses the root of the problem, not efforts to cover it up. Secondly, we need to surge our capacity to both prevent and treat the coronavirus. And prepare our hospitals to deal with the influx of those needing care, as ive been saying for weeks. This means not just getting out the testing kits and processing them quickly, but making sure communities have the hospital beds available, the staff, the medical supplies, the personal protective equipment necessary to treat the patients. The president should order fema to prepare the capacity with local authorities to establish temporary hospitals with hundreds of beds and serve notice. The department of defense should be planning now, should have Event Planning to prepare for the potential deployment of the resources provided, medical facility capacity on Logistic Support that only they can do. A week from now, a month from 500bed an have a 5 hospital to treat patients in this country. We can do that. But we are not ready yesterday and the clock is ticking yet and the clock is ticking. As we take these steps, state, federal and local authorities need to ensure that theres accurate, up to date Information Available to every american citizen. To everyone. So everyone can make an informed decision about when to get tested, when to selfquarantine, when to seek medical treatment, and the federal government should provide states and municipalities with clear guidance of when to trigger more aggressive mitigation policies such as closing schools. Third, we need to accelerate the development and treatment of a vaccine. Science takes time. It will still be many months before we have a vaccine that can be proven safe for public use and produce sufficient quantities to make a difference. But therapeutics can and should come sooner. This will save lives. When i put together and we passed the cures act of 2016 to accelerate work on the national at the National Institutes of health, but now it has to be made available, make available resources to speed up, speed that process along. We have to fast track Clinical Trials within n. I. H. While closely coordinating with the f. D. A. , the food and drug administration, on trial approvals. So that science is not hindered by the bureaucracy. And when a vaccine is ready to go, it should also be made widely available and, again, free of charge. We should also immediately restore the White House NationalSecurity Council directorate for Global Health security and biodefense. With a fulltime dedicated coordinator to oversee that response. Our administration, our last administration, we created that office to better respond to future Global Threats after the ebola crisis of 2014. It was designed for exactly this scenario. For some reason i still dont understand, President Trump eliminated that office two years ago. Look, heres the bottom line. We have to do whats necessary to beat the challenge, beat this challenge sooner rather than later. We will beat it. I assure you, if we wait for it to worsen, then scramble to catch up, the human and economic toll will grow faster, larger and more dangerous. Congress gave this administration 8 billion last week to fight the virus. We need to know exactly what that money is going to be used for. How quickly its going out the door. And exactly how its being spent. This brings me to the second half of the challenge in terms of economic dislocation. The coronavirus is going to cause in our country. We must do whatever it takes, spend whatever it takes, to deliver for our families and ensure the stability of our economy. Taking immediate bold measures to help americans who are hurting economically right this minute. It means well need bigger and broader measures to shore up the economic demand, protect jobs, keep credit flowing to our job creators, and make sure we have the economic fire power we need to weather the storm and get the people and this economy back to full strength as soon as possible. This crisis will hit everyone. But it will hit folks who live paycheck to paycheck the hardest. Including working people and seniors and other seniors. Another tax cut to google or goldman and millionaires wont get the job done. Another tax cut to these folks will not get the job done. Indiscriminate Corporate Tax subsidies wont effectively target those who really need the help now. We need to place our focus on those who are struggling just to get by. People are already losing jobs. We need to replace their wages. That includes workers in the gig economy who lack unemployment insurance. Parents who are already struggling with child care costs. We need to give them relief. Children who rely on school lunches. We need to provide food for them. Schools will need to help ensuring children who dont have easy access to computers can still learn if their school is shut down. People who have difficulty paying their rent or mortgage because theyve been laid off or had their hours cut back need help to stay in their apartments and homes. Small businesses will be devastated as customers stay home. And events are canceled. And we need to make sure they have access to interestfree loans. Not loans with interest. Interestfree loans. Its a National Disgrace that millions of our fellow citizens dont have a single day of paid sick leave available to them. We need both a permanent plan for paid sick leave and an emergency plan for everyone who needs it due to the outbreak now. Beyond these national measures, my plan also calls for the creation of a state, local Emergency Fund to make sure governors, mayors and local leaders who are battling the coronavirus on the ground as i speak have the resources necessary to meet this crisis headon now. These funds can be used at the discretion of local leaders for whatever they need most. From expanding Critical Health infrastructure, hiring Additional Health care and Emergency Service personnel, or cushioning the wider economic blows this virus is going to create in their communities. We need smart, bold, compassionate leadership thats going to help contain the crisis, reduce the hardships to our people, and help our economy rebound. Let me be very clear. Unfortunately this will just be a start. We must prepare now to take further decisive action, including relief that will be large in scale, focused on Broader Health and stability of our economy. Look, we can only protect the health of our economy if we do everything in our power to protect the health of our people. The last point i want to make is this. Well never fully solve this problem if were unwilling to look beyond our own borders and engage fully with the rest of the world. A disease at that starts anyplace on the planet can get on a plane to any city on earth within a few hours. We have to confront the coronavirus everywhere. We should be leading a coordinated Global Response, just as we did to the ebola crisis. That draws on the incredible capability of u. S. Agency for International Development and our state department to assist vulnerable nations in detecting and treating the coronavirus wherever it spreads. We should be investing in rebuilding and strengthening the Global Health security agenda, which we launched during our administration. Specifically to mobilize the world against the threats of new infectious diseases. Look, it can be hard to see the concrete value of this work when everything seems to be going well in the world. But by cutting our investment in Global Health, this administration has left us woefully unprepared for the exact crisis we now face. No president can promise to prevent future outbreaks. But i can promise you this. When im president , we will be better prepared, respond better and recover better. Well lead with science. Well listen to the experts. Well heed their advice and well build American Leadership and rebuild it to rally the world to meet a global the Global Threats that were likely to face again. You know, and ill always tell you the truth, this is the responsibility of a president. Thats what is owed the American People. Now, in the difficult days ahead, i know that this country will summon the spirit, the empathy, the decency and the unity needed because in times of crisis, the American People always, always stand as one if told the truth. Volunteers raise their hands to help. Neighbors look out for neighbors. Businesses take care of their workers. So well meet this challenge together. Im confident of it. But we have to move and move now. Thank you all for taking the time to be here and god bless our troops. Thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National able satellite corp. 2020] follow the federal response to the coronavirus at cspan. Org coronavirus. You can find white house briefings, hearings with key Public Health officials, and interviews with Public Health specialists, review the latest events any time at cspan. Org coronavirus. A live look on capitol hill. The situation, the majority leader, mitch mcconnell, has announced the senate canceling their or at least postponing their scheduled recess next week. They will be in next week. A tweet saying that senator shelby tells reporters there will be one more vote today, then senators will get on planes to go home for the weekend. If they so choose. And return on monday. Stephen dennis of bloomberg says the senate was in a nightmare political position with the house poised to pass a sweeping coronavirus package and nothing so far to go over here and senators about to go on recess. A bunch of Vulnerable Senate republicans called on mcconnell to cancel the recess, which he just did. And on the house side, theyre waiting for that economic aid package, the coronavirus response, that came out of democratic leadership yesterday. And into the rules committee yesterday as well. Waiting for negotiations to wrap up and the house in recess subject to the call of the chair. Live house coverage when they eturn is here on cspan. The winners are in for this years student cam video documentary competition. We asked students, what issue do you most want the president ial candidates to address in the 2020 campaign . We received more than 2,500 entries, from 44 states, with more than 5,000 students participating. With our winners telling us the most important issues are climate change, gun violence, college affordability, the opioid crisis, Mental Health and immigration. Now its time to announce all of our first prize winners. Our first Prize Middle School from s are eighth graders Eastern Middle School in silver spring, maryland, where cspan is provided by comcast. Their winning documentary is titled blackout misinformation in the age of social media. It doesnt matter which party you associate with. It doesnt matter for whom you end up voting. If you have access to the internet, social media is going to influence your vote. We have to exercise Critical Thinking and keep an eye on the sources we choose to follow. Otherwise the United States will just be the next social media victim. Our first prize High School East goes to 10th grader from mckenna home school in lubbocksville, virginia, where cspan is provided by comcast. His winning documentary is titled, overreach from the oval office. Everybody wants action but nobody wants [indiscernible] by reining in executive power, we can ensure the control wielded in washington remains balance among the three branches of government. So i ask the 2020 candidates, how will you put a halt to the runaway train of executive overreach . The first prize High School Central winners are 11th graders from jinxes, oklahoma. Their documentary is titled, 200,000. About the opioid crisis. Johnsony and johnson through mts leading johnson johnson, through misleading marketing, overprescribed opioids and as a result, oklahomans became addicted, creating this nuisance this opioid epidemic. The first prize High School West goes to 10th graders. From Long Beach Polytechnic High School located in long beach, california. Where cspans available through spectrum. Their winning documentary is titled vision 2020, restoring the integrity of american democracy. The more you get money from certain types of sources, the more youre beholden to those sources. And what you want to be is to be free enough to make decisions based upon what you think is in the best interest of your district and the nation. And now its time to announce our 5,000 grand prize winner. San re 11th graders from jose, california. Where cspan is provided by comcast. They won the top prize for their documentary entitled command delete. Tech nolings damaging effect on democracy in 2020. About technology and data privacy. In 2016 Cambridge Analytica collected data to influence the 2016 elections from 87 million facebook users of which only 270,000 have consented. This time were not faced with music piracy, were faced with personal information piracy. Congratulations to our grand prize winners. Oh, my gosh none of us has taken formal Video Production classes. We just got together as friends. We didnt do this as part of a class. Were at school right now. This is one of the top stem schools in the country. Everybody around us is doing a. I. Projects and think being working for tech companies. But we were thinking that sometimes there are issues with tech companies, data breaches, all of that stuff. And we thought, bringing a voice to the concerns of many, about data breaches and privacy breaches, would be posh. It helps were in silicon valley, the center of the tech change. Our student cam video documentary competition has awarded more than a Million Dollars in total prizes since 2004. The top 21 winning entries will air on cspan starting april 1. You can watch all student cam documentaries online at studentcam. Org. President trump today defended his decision to put in place travel restrictions from europe due to the coronavirus pandemic. The European Union criticized the ban, calling it a, quote, unilateral decision that was made, quote, without consultation. President trumps comments came during a meeting in the oval office with the irish prime inister. President trump thank you all very much. Its an honor to be with the Prime Minister of ireland. Weve known each other now for quite a while and we have a great relationship and a great relationship with ireland and we have a lot to discuss. We will be talking about the