Good morning. Good morning. The hearing on the senate labor and Pensions Committee will please come to order. We want to thank our staff for working through some technical difficulties this morning and thank thean senators and our witnesses who are joining us from around the country in various offices where we are all following the attending physicians protocol for safe us whoing and those of are here Wearing Masks on our way in and sitting 6 feet apart while we are here. Senator murray and i will have an Opening Statement then we will turn to our witnesses for of about fivets minutes each, if they could please summarize them, there it ais. Senators will each have five minutes rounds of questions and we have a vote at 11 40 so we will need to finish this hearing by about noon and all the senators will have had that time and chance to ask theires questions. The question for administrators of the 6000 colleges and universities is not whether to reopen in august but how to do it safely. Most are working overtime to get ready for one of the surest signs American Life is regaining its rhythm. 20 Million Students going back to college, Witnesses Today are here to tell us their strategies for reopening safely. President of purdue and indiana, Christina Paxson president of Brown University, Logan Hampton president of lane college in tennessee, benjamin, washington. Purdue university of south carolina, university of notre dame and others will finish there in person classes before thanksgiving to avoid further spread of covid19 during flu season. Vanderbilt university will require masksse in the classroom to make social distancing easier, colleges are rescheduling classrooms that are usually empty in the early morning, evenings, weekends and summer concerts and parties are out and grab and go meals, flu shots and temperature checks will be in and campuses will offer more online courses and recently i was on a phone call with about 90 chief executives of tennessee 127 Higher Education institutions and they are planning to resume in person classes almost all of them this fall but they want the government to create Liability Protection against being sued if a student becomes sick. Bucking the trend California State University system has announced it will offer most of its courses online. All roads back to college lead through testing. The availability of widespread testing will allowit colleges to track and isolate students who have the virus who have been exposed to it so the rest of the student body does not have to be quarantined. Campuses are exploring using mobile phone apps for tracking and creating isolation dormitories to isolate students who have the virus or who have been exposed as the university of Tennessee Knoxville is doing. Widespread testing not only helps contain the disease but helps build confidence that the campus is safe. Fortunately u. S. Assistant secretary told our hearing that there will be 4050 million tests available per month by september and that is fourfive times the number of tests available today and more than any other country. Doctor Francis Collins who leads the human genome project now leads a competitive socalled shark tank and enterprise of the National Institution of health to discover new ways to conduct tens of millions of additional accurate tax with quick results. Should everyone on campus be tested . On a webinar for institutes of Higher Educationy, on friday mah may 29 centers for Disease Control prevention officials said they are not recommending that at this time you test every student but they encourage campuses to work with their state and local health officials. However that doesnt take into account testing for peace of mind. Some schools may want to test everyone before they come back to campus and at least schools who want to think about randomly testing to detect symptomatic cases and haveom the ability to test everyone in certain categories in healthcare with cleaning workers and older faculty and students with medical conditions who arrived from virus hotspots and all students in class or dorm where there is an outbreak or person infected and administrators asked me where will i find the test and the answer is consult your local Health Department and your government and your governor. Each state submits a monthly plan outlining tests and needs. He helps fill in the gaps. My recommendation is you want your schools testing plan to be in your estate plan. A school can also contract directly with laboratories who conduct this and review the food and drug administrations list ofes authorized test or ask for help for local university or hospital that has created its own attest. Covid19 plans to last for at least a full school year the governments pursuing vaccines at warp speed but no one expects them in august. Shouldond semester there be more tests, more treatments, better Contact Tracing and vaccines. But amidst the flu season and the return of covid19 it will be the fault 2021 before we begin to approach normal. Students returning in the fall and their families will want and need to have peace of mind that they and their loved ones are heading back to a safe environment. Testing is the key to providing that. For several reasons colleges have an advantage in providing a safe environment for students and faculty. One, younger people have been hurt less b by covid19 prayed r example, an tennessee Nursing Homes account for 5 of the cases but 36 of the deaths. Compare that with tennessee under the age of 30 and 30 of the cases less than 1 of the deaths. Re still there is much we are learning about the virus and doctor prouty warns us not to be cavalier about assuming young people are not at risk. Second, colleges are notorious oysters of space. Former George Washington University President Steve Trachtenberg once estimated that a typical uses its facilities for academic purposes a little more than half the calendar year. He said he could generate or that continues to generate maintenance, energy and debt service contribute into the high cost of running a college. He says he thought he could run to colleges in the space that he has one college if he organized efficiently. He wasnt ever able to do it that way. Keeping student 6 feet apart will be easier if colleges embrace a new efficiency and use more of their classrooms and spaces throughout the day and throughout the year and maybe that is the lesson that will last beyond the covid19 crisis. Third, tracking andil tracing wl be easier to do at college and we know what classes students attend, what dorms they live ins college has taken it a step further and assigned seats and classes and infections will be easier to track. The college can presumably require students to wear masks. Perhaps campuses can make mask wearing a part of the campus culture. The college environments pose a couple of challenges as well. Nineteen, 20 yearolds and especially do the healthiest thing. A National Survey on drug use and t health that a found a thid of students admitted to binge drinking in the last month. Second, 86 of undergraduate students are not living on campus. This is according to the National Center for education statistics. That means many students will leave and return potentially exposing themselves and others to the virus making of social distancing and cdc recommended Health Status all the more important. What should the federal Government Role be in helping colleges and universities open safely, providing advice from cdc, funding innovations such as she shark tank i mentioned four tests, encouraging universities to work with states to get included in their testing plans and helping supplies or provide supplies that the states dont have, funding such as the 14 billion in the cares act to address most revenues and the federal government could provide some Liability Protection. Beyond that decisions in my view ought to be left to individual campuses. From the small technical universities to harvard from mit to the fouryear Berea College in kentucky which is tuition free their best able to make their own decisions. When i became a University President in 1998, 1988 i asked the president of the adversity of california david garner why they were so good and he said first autonomy and second the government money follows the student to the college of their choice. United states is home to 6000 colleges and universities arguably the best system in the world and it has gotten that way because the institution of campuses have had maximum autonomy. Minimum direction from washington on everything from curriculum, tuition, admissions policies, healthcare plans cap forac students, compensation for faculty and campuses themselves determine student behavior and conduct housing safety and a host of other issues. I would suggest that we follow the same tradition hereou. President trump and congress should not be telling the California State University system that it hast to open in personul in the fall nor shouldt be telling notre dame and purdue that it cannot openel in personn the fall. It should not be telling Brown University that they cant test everyone and if brown wants to until indiana it has to or that purdue it has to even though they dont want to. We know that a single lost year of college can lead to a student not graduating and setback career goals. Already disruption of University Research projects have erased much of the funding that congress has given the research for universities and Many American colleges will be permanently damaged or even closed if they remain as our witness today, christina of brown says goes to town. Two thirds of College Students want to return to campus according to the axials survey. Mitch daniels our another witness today says that at purdue tuition deposits from Incoming Freshman broke last years record colleges and universities are micro cities. College president s of administrators can make them among the safest small communities in our country. I save his communities in which to live and work during this next year. In doing so they will help our country take a sure step towards normalcy. Senator murray. Thank you for making this hearing socially distant and safe. Before we begin, we see people around the country, especially young people protesting for long overdue and we have to remember the opportunity and institutions of Higher Educations have to help address disparities in systemic racism and the responsibility to do so and that means asas we look at the dramac impact covid19 is having on institutions of Higher Education and talkbo about ways to keep students and faculty and staff safe we absolutely have to address the unique impact this virus has on black communitiesla and other communities of color. We have already seen communities of color and other vulnerable cpopulations in some of the harshest impacts from the pandemic. It is our job to ensure students who have been and will continue to be disproportionately impacted by covid19. With that in mindbe today we mut recognize and address the disproportionate impact this crisis is having c on those who are already facing challenges due to color, First Generation College student, students facing homelessness and Public Health and science stripe decisionmaking. The Coronavirus Crisis has deeply affecteds every single aspect of our Higher Education system and will have profound impact on students and colleges for many years to come. The covid19 pandemic has forced institutions of Higher Education to grapple withh unprecedented and challenges from widespread closures to rapid transitions to Online Education to unprecedented Student Financial need and unemployment and sharp revenue losses and budget cuts. Many may not be able to reopen their doors, including many historic and underresearched colleges that serve high hapopulation that serve low ince students and students of color. [inaudible] there wondering if they will even have a job to return to in the fall. For students across the country from graduating High School Seniors to community College Students and students pursuing advanced degrees and more this pandemic has completely shattered their notion of a Normal School year. They are forced to navigate this new world. Every single student and across this country is experiencing unprecedented disruptions and many students will need Additional Support like advising and tutoring and Mental Health counseling to succeed in the new learning environments. But not every student is experiencing equal disruption. The pandemic has hit certain communities, particularly communities of color, significantly harder than others and these disparities hold true for Higher Education where students and student populations are bearing a heavier burden of the crisis than others. Before the pandemic started students of color, students who were firstgeneration students, atlgbtq, students with disabilities and veterans students were already far more likely to struggle to meet the basic meat needs like food and housing and healthcare and childcare. But with oncampus resources now widely close this pandemic has exasperated existing problems for many of those students. Millions of students who rely on dorms and college [inaudible] have been forced home but for many students like students experiencing homelessness or warmer foster youth or families that are unsafe or International Students i cant return to their home country, going home is not an option and for many students without access to a computer or the internet or a quiet place to study, Online Learning is not an option. With many on campus and Community Childcare providers close the one in five College Students whose parents have fewer options for childcare. As we move toward solving the truly countless challenges facing our colleges and students we absolutely have to keep in mind and address the unique needs of the students would been disproportionately impacted by covid19 as colleges begin to reopen safely, physically or online. We need to make sure colleges do not rush into a decision on how to reopen withoutow consultatio. There is a very real possibily as doctor prouty told us the other week of a resurgence of coronavirus and that is why colleges and universities made a detailed plan for how to keep the campus communityle h regards of how the pandemic evolves in the coming months. Our students, faculty, staff and College Communities need to know that before colleges reopen their doors they have plans for every potential outcome, every contribute in vector and every scenario. Colleges and universities cannot do this alone. They need indepth, actionable and detailed guidance from the federal government on bestce practices when it comes to how to house and feed students safely, how to minimize classsize and keep students socially distant, how to make sure library bookso and other shared equipment are cleaned properly and often and when it comes to the Broader Community how to keep faculty and Staff Members of the Larger Community safe and how to minimize risk when students travel to and from campus. Those are a few of the questions the need to be answered before school can open safely. Doing so requires the conflict planning process that we absolutely cannot get her own. Colleges and universities need s the actual support from secretary of Education Betsy Devos who instead of working on how to reopen safely is forcing colleges and universities to implement a new regulation during a pandemic that will ensure one thing, the students already worried about the pandemic are now going to be more unsafe next school year when it comes to Sexual Assault and harassment. Im glad to have the opportunity to hear from the Witnesses Today and his committee and the American People deserve to hear directly from secretary devos on how she is working with Higher Education community as well as secretary of labor cilia on how we can safely protect workers from the virus and secretaries of health andr Human Services of how they are responding to the health crisis. Today weee need to not only address the immediate need of colleges and students but we need to begin to plant with the future of Higher Education will look like in the wake of coronavirus. These truly unprecedented times require bold, responsive leadership. Right now colleges and universities are not getting what they need from the government and while i am fighting to secure additional funding and address the ongoing needss i will continue to push this administration to not only implement the law as intended by congress but to step up and provide leadership and guidance for a faculty, staff and students because they desperately needed. Atank you, mr. Chair. Thank you very much, senator murray. We now move to the witnesses and then to the senators questions. Please to welcome all four of our witnesses and we will introduce all four but let me ask senator braun to introduce our first witness and i will introduce the other three. Ss senator braun. Mitch daniels, first time i met you was in 2015. It was a freshman legislator and you came in to the ways and Means Committee and i remember it was like the third year i think into the tuition freeze and i think we had tuition increases for 36 years prior to when you did that and as an entre nous or i asked you the question what we do tog lower cost and remember vividly and he said i will look at purchasing across all locations and made sense and you would tackle Fringe Benefits especially healthcare costs and i did that back in my o own business in oh eight and i was a rally affair when he did it but when you make a sustainable its great for your employees and theres no doubt about that. D rou said s you would turn a fouryear degree into a three year degree and that impressed me and that was the kind ofre entrepreneurial spirit i think we need across the federal government for sure and it addresses High Education costs post secondary and healthcare costs, the two most uncontrollable sectors in our economy. It is noteworthy that you did that without shipping from fulltime faculty to parttime. You did not increase your percentage of international and outofstate studentsna and you signed a book deal with amazon owthat lowered costs by 30 . Making it to where now tuition is less and nominal terms that it was back in 2012. Also, borrowing down 31 . At the back to Boiler Program which is an income share agreement model divides, i think im a better alternative to the parent plus and private loans and all of this is no surprise. As governor of indiana you took a chronic deficit situation, 800 million a year turn our Credit Rating into aaa and every position is held from the time chief of staff or senator dick lugar whose seat i probably occupy now or advisor to Ronald Reagan or the director of the omb for president bush, youve demonstrated fiscal conservati conservatism, business acumen. Once again, perdue leads this time as university leads reopening for institutions of Higher Education following the covid19 emergency. In a recent oped in the Washington Post mitch rightly argues that not only is reopening campus in the ball possible but it is the duty of the university to continue to provide high value instruction, training and research for which the university is nationally respected. I look forward to seeing how purdue has approached its unique challenge, how it plans to bring its campus back safely into educating and im proud that an Indiana Institution is leading the way for others across the country and i am pleased to have its leader here today to testify virtually in front of our committee where we can discuss these changes at purdue more indepth. Thank you, senator braun britt i will ask you to introduce me some time but that was a good introduction as ive heard of anybody but thank you so much. Our second witness is doctor Christina Paxson, president of Brown University in providence, rhode island. In april brown announced the plan to hold classes in person this fall creating a healthy fall 2020 task force to develop a plan to safely reopen campus. Doctor paxton was appointed president ofas brown in july 202 jud prior to that she served as dean of the Woodrow Wilson school of International Republic affairs and is the hughes roger professor of economics and Public Affairs at princeton university. Shes been active in the fields of economics and Public Health, serving as Principal Investigator on several Research Projects supported by the National Institution of health, serving on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve bank of boston. Our third witness is doctor Logan Hampton, president of lane college in jackson, tennessee. Lane college hasee announced its considering bringing students back to campus in the fall and he was appointed president of lane in june, 2014. Prior to that he served as vice provost for Student Affairs at the university of arkansas at little rock among other positions serving students. One of lane college distinctions is it was the place where alex haleys father taught, raised for distinguished children, welcome doctor hampton. I would like to turn to senator murray to introduce our next witness. Im sorry mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. Im delighted to have the opportunity to hear from [inaudible] today who is an expert on what we need to be doing in terms of making sure our college and universities and Public Health system is working correctly when item comes to having a safe place to return to this fall. I want to say thank you. Thank you, senator murray. We think our witnesses for joining us virtually. We will ask them to summarize their statements in about five minutes which will leave more time for questions by the senators. We will begin with president daniels. Welcome, president daniels. Thank you, mr. Chairman and the committee for this invitation and forth the good advice i know we will see during the next couple of hours. We teach everything at Purdue University but we are one of the most stem centric schools and therefore proceed from science and data when we can. We certainly did in this case. I will say that if we had had to make the reopening decision in march or even early april we would have not been able to justify doing so but it was only as the data made claim that how highly focused the lethality of this terrible virus is that we began to make or come to a different conclusion but ass we now all know nationally deaths and Nursing Homes along represent over 40 of the recorded fatalities and in our state 40 and this morning and suggest may be well over half and meanwhile on the other endhe of the spectrum the college age individual we now know have the 99. 9 survival rate, much higher than many other illnesses that do affect people old and young. The covid fatality data suggests its not even in the top ten risks facing our students every year. Y the illnesses as well and accidents of different kind and stressed to say suicide. Meanwhile they are telling us they want to be on campus, they dont want their education interrupted, we believe the other schools have to deliver content online but that surprises many other experiences that are only available on campus and encounters of some time with faculty and with their peers. So the plan we have assembled is based on two basic strategies, one is the protection of the vulnerable to minimize the risk that we now know are serious potential danger from this virus in the other and to maximize choice, we will stay that students in the faculty with all the cautions we are putting in place if your we have an online option for you as a student and a new hybrid option available for you. The board of trustees will examine and my hope the third of three sets of actions in the occupancy by at least 50 . There will be a ten but minimum any faculty member and any student and those students will be Wearing Masks and behind plexiglass. Iil learned last night they now exceed 1 mile. With the dining Indoor Seating will not occur indefinitely a grab and go as the chairman said will become of the rule and in the Residence Halls we take out over the bells and a. With the testing we will have comprehensive screening on the arrival and extensive testing from the first day that have been in proximity to people testing during the semester. We have over 500 alreadywe set aside for the quarantine of positive testers and expect to have many more. All of this will cost tens of millions of dollars but we will leave nothing to chance. There is the single most important change we must make. We have already begun saying to the students if you are uneasy about any of this, we have another option for you. On the other hand, please be prepared to pitch in a. With all the best answers we made our intentions known early and not to preach to anyone else because we need every day to implement effectively a program that is comprehensive thank you president daniels and you and the other with mrs. Interrupting demanding schedules to be part of the hearing. Doctor paxton, welcome. Chairman alexander, members of the Health Committee thank you ffor inviting me to testify at todays hearing. Before i begin i want to acknowledge the pain the country is experiencing and in times like these the colleges and universitiethat colleges andunil role helping the communities build understanding and they call for action, so thank you. Chairman alexander, you might appreciate the fact that your university of tennessee the Great Recession which i experienced. Whether its a public or private institution large or small, rich or poor. The universities had no choice but to shutterte the campuses. It will not do so unless they can open with cdc and state guidelines g. Im cautiously optimistic we can develop for the campus. Whats include all the things we heard a about the testing and more testing, tracing isolation for 19 social distancing and measures. We are changing how we use the classroom spaces and developing glans among the multitude of other staff. It is complex and all consuming and expensive there is so much at stake. They are eager to come back to campus. Many say that would be bad for them and bad for the country. If a federally funded research is languishing on f the bench. But it simply isnt getting done. The pandemic has created enormous financial pressure to end this will get worse if the students cannot safely return in the fall. If they cannot reopen they will not have a chance to lay off more of their employees and possibly forever. Colleges and universities as you know have traditionally been some of the most stable employers in the region and the Research Drive the upward mobility, reduce the disparities, increase innovati innovation. I want to thank you for the support that youve already t provided. Institutions will spend tens of billions of dollars on to students that have lost their jobs and they may be unable to return the Emergency Assistance to and we cant risk losing a generation of students. Finally the universities, medicals, school for Teaching Hospitals need to be estimated 26 billion in emergency workil for the research that has been adversely affected by the pandemic this includes funding for the grand extensions. This is a time of the partnership between Higher Education and federal government and State Government is more erimportant than ever with the research and innovation and americas Healthcare Industry and economic competitiveness the cities and states that rely heavily on institutions and especially most importantly for the sake of the students. Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony today and i look forward to questions. Im glad to hear your grandfather was at the university of tennessee. My daughter graduated from brown. There we go. The next witness is doctor log logan. Or founded in 1882 by the former methodist church. It consists of the disabilities across 55 acres creating an exceptional academic andnd livig environment. They began moment to moment response for the disease known as a covid. I met with a joint Leadership Team consisting of 21 members in the direct report and Marketing Team to consider three options for the remainder of the semester. Option number one, vigilance continued facetoface instructions with residential students while observing the federal orders and practicing distancing and the department of health. The second option direct them on the essential employees to work remotely. Third the joint Leadership Team to the remote l instruction and delivery. Each of the d residential stud students, 713 for the approval. Its likely less than the institutions of entries on capital. These are the pandemics that laid off 21 employees and continue c previously to impose the spending phrase. Neverthelessge they will not experience an increase to the room and board of the upcoming academic year. As a result of they were able to quickly establish a crisis agmanagement team. They are charged with the leadership of the Crisis Management center and thordinating the team meeting that is comprised of the Leadership Team and the pandem pandemic. Due to the development, the Strategy Team has led them to prepare for the three scenarios, the facetoface instruction, the online courses iowa dean reminisced if i didnt think congress and the committee for passing 748 and also thank the president for signing the billl into law. It is by doubling the maximum pell grant reward and the majority of my students are black americans. They are impacted by covid and racism that continues to infect our nation. If the majority are disproportionately impacted thes my institution is impacted. Thank you, doctor, very much for being with us today. And the final witness is doctor george benjamin. Welcome. Onthe decisions are based this ammo to be done in close consultation with. Current evidence shows we continue to have these and continue to do so for many months to come. Let me talk abou we talk about e overarching issues that should be emphasized. Without utilizing the Public Health protection and those in place in the communities in whichh the school said. The second one recognizes where the student body comes from the narrow community that attracts the students nationwide from across the world. And the guidelines matter. The. The protections Work Together to reduce the risk of infection. Recommended that the congress require the standard for the Infectious Disease that would be able to protect all of them from covid19. The. We need to have a Robust Program there is a rapid availability to support the Disease Control. Practice. Again we should assume while most are likely the risk for the disease isnt zero. To test this strategy it is in terms of who should be tested, the role of the symptombased strategies r and employees. But theres also offcampus occupations one of the things we saw with Nursing Homes as the offcampus issue for the nursing home workers worked and put them and their patients at risk. Everybody needs to be adequately staffed and have enough equipment to. One of the things that they are going to need to do a and also to emphasize the issue of the risk of for many in the community we know that they are disproportionately at risk because of the chronic diseases. And while certainly people are healthy in school many of them occur much younger than those of us who are baby boomers today. I would remind everybody school will be starting right before the season and so they need to be prepared for the influenza illness which is how it also presents. And understanding what we know about the test today. It is in the middle of the night but let me just point out four of those that are diagnosed with covid19 that live on or off campus, on or off Campus Housing and the faculty staff member that is asymptomatic and not have a largescale event on your own campus. Its not from the perspective of a perspective that will be very important. The last thing into consideration but they just close out with the fact that the Public Health system in the country and they continue to encourage the support in the Public Health systems and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today. We will now begin a round of questions from senators and i would ask the senators and witnesses to try to keep your answers within five minutes because of the senators would like to participate, and we had a vote a little bit before noon. St me ask about how much a feisty one from washington to go School Safely, for example, do you think washington, d. C. , the president or the congress ought to tell you that you cannot open in person or should help the university of california system that it has to open in person fax it is within their legal rights, but i hope not. They try to remind that and they are unique in some way and i thought your admonition at the beginning was on target. Others will find better answers than we have so that we can co copy. In an articlepa you wrote you want to test every student. The cdc hasnt recommended that. Others have said that its impractical. How much advice do you want from the president or congress about how many students who should test and how they should do the testing . They want to do it on a regular basis through t the yea. Its also being able to monitor and i think that it is essential. Let me ask one of the opportunities we have in this crisis is to learn from it. We have compressed about ten years of experience in terms of at least two things. One is whether we learn from that and the use of space. As ive mentioned c i i mention, they are the most notorious of space in america i would think. Classes are taught in the morning with a evening or on saturday. And is it possible that as a result of the requirement of social distancing that a Years Experience of teaching classes at different times and more efficient use of space would have a Lasting Impact and what about the Lasting Impact of what you learned . Of course there will be a lasting effect of this and i think highly beneficial. I hope we have been using it to better and now they will be asked and enabled to work from home on either databases or rotating basis. We are learning a lot. Another related area that is important is the use of telemedicine. When the students are in the states but we can work within around it it is actually an incredibly efficient and valuable way to support our students. Have you learned anything in the three months about the use of space that might be lasting . Yes, sir. It could remote construction in the spring. I do want to go back and just say to your initial question that in fact it will be open in the fall but we need your investment, we need to a partnership of the federal government that helps us to ensure that we have the facilities in place to educate them and deliver on our mission. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. If we are going to safely reopen according to the Public Health experts, that includes making sure that they have access to testing and theater looked to be the m ability to support isolatn and access. Students and staffff need to be able to participate in the classeclasses by withholding puc Health Advice to social distan distance. But they are not anywhere close right now. Mr. Chairman we are having a technical difficulty. At the college is going to be able to keep their employees . There with a 500,000 into this was a chart today that shows they are not yet there and it will be a challenge if we can get to that of bare minimum 500,000 per day you may know that the groups believe we oshould go to two or three times that amount per day. We know they are at much greater risk of him falling behind academically because of the pandemic itself. Congress is determining the purpose of the students and staff and i want to ask each of the president s how specifically are you planning to address the disparities impacting the communities you think about reopening and i was the a president daniel. One thing that i am worried about is the effort that we madf us far as i know every college and university is made to recruit and just as important to see through the successful graduation of lowincome first generation minority students. We have all been making every effort between knowhow for some time and i do worry that these are about to be set back by the tragic factors that you just mentioned. Im tentatively encouraged the deposits have come in a the percentage seems to have held up. I was worried that it might look back but maybe not. I do worry that the progress will be arrested and we will pay special attention to identify those who might be vulnerable, but is mainly faculty and staff. But there are those that have comorbidities that put them very much in the site for special attention and im sure you are probably right that the minorities may well be disproportionately represented in that group. Thank you for the question. In the Health Disparities and paeconomic disparities, when i look at it, issues in one of the regions of why we should open colleges and universities that creates a level Playing Field for students and we can ensure they need access h to education and Health Services will be the same for all students regardle regardless. Its one of the major reasons that i want to get back. To overcome barriers, we need to help with the federal government but they also need the investments. The students need more money to attend colleges and universiti universities. As they are losing their jobs into the air became the laid off as a result and the other impact of racism. Those students need an additional investment to help them to afford. Thank you for bringing that up. We will go to senator colli collins. Mr. Chairman. U, this hearing is timely because just this morning they issued a document called sustaining Higher Education and sustaining main so i know that they are watching this hearing with great interest. My first question is for president daniels. Colleges and universities are economic engines for their communities that enter the states. In addition to educating students, they employ thousands of people, administrative staff, food service workers, custodians, faculty and at the end Person Instruction does have a great impact on many hourly workers in particular. The e should it be different testing protocols for those going back and forth into their communities and then back to campusnt and are you looking at that . s gimmick that is an excellent question, senator. Yes, we are. There were many schools an thate are one, have also lived off campus and we are going to be working very closely with their landlords and others to try to make certain they are following the same practices that we wou would. Its been sad to read about so manof so manyfurloughs and layo. We havent done that and tend not to do that is any way n possible. But it is a significant issue. The principa principle responsis to the students and universities communities but we are conscious as you said we are in economic driver. From the operationaln standpoint we never lose sight of that. Enqueue. In maine, more than 7400 students are served by the trio programs, and ive always been a very strong supporter of the programs t because we had a gret number of firstgeneration College Students inll my state. I am very worried that if the colleges do not reopen this fall that we are going to increase the number of people that have some college, but no degree. And they end up with student debt but no credential to help them pay on that debt. What do you think of expanding the programs like trio to make sure the students support them there and to encourage the students to come back to school and to complete their degree or earn theirir credential if they are attending a community college. Im supportive of bringing the students back to campus nationally as it should be a national priority. I am also concerned that without the Financial Aid, and also i agreed with one of the other speakers that it would be a great thing to do. These students if they dont come back, they may never come back and they may not get their degree. Another issue that is even more alarming is the colleges and universities have to close permanently. They have a lot of students are going to be halfway through the degree and finding another institution may be difficult. We need to keep a close eye on the persistence. Thank you. A small provider of the Program Ended in the most recent round of competition itself by one point. 50ut to 100 students and the stf of members. I support the expansion. It is an engine in this area and it means they very much support expanding the programs. Senator casey. Thank you very much for the orhearing. It is very informative for us to have Higher Education institutions and those in this hearing. And i would note at the outset they should be mindful that right now as we speak at the beginning of june there is no prospect for legislation right now thats related in the month of june. I hope that changes but right now the senate is only giving nominations. I hope that you would bring some pressure to bear on the majority to begin to negotiate a new piece of legislation with a range of issues including support for Higher Education especiallyue for students. But let me start with the question of how stupid will respond in a change of circumstances and on College Campuses. Student compliance with social distancing or enhanced safety protocols or other measures to the key is to reopen safely. You know that and youv you sait and you are living it now. Would there be substantial enforcement challenges that you know . Engaging and interacting with members of the community for various reasons one of the concerns obviously, and you will understand that this was asymptomatic so why have three questions i hope i can get a question into doctor benjamin. What are the protocols that you are using, and i know that youve outlined some of this but will be repeated in the repetition. And number three, the force of the protocol and then how are you engaging with students right now or have yoube already engagd to review andw make certain what those particles would be in the enforcement . We can go in alphabetical order. Essentially about distance and monitoring. The most important thing we can do is foster a culture and im hopeful about this on the campuses. I. E. See it every day before it came along in overwhelming numbers they want to do good things and help others. There are a lot of cynics that dont think that people do this and that yo they were too selfindulgent, so lets show them how much you do care. I would say this is the central question if we do all the other things we talked about and we do not have reasonable compliance a very interesting study showed simply reaching 80 compliance. This is very central im hoping that we will do everything we can to foster it. When we went to the remote instruction and had those that remained on campus and began to practice the cbc and those that decided to haveve a party. I have every confidence in the student body they say they practiced more of the cafeteria getting lunch and going back to their rooms and they practiced social distancing. You see a group of studentsts buzzing around together. Thanks so much. I think that its important to particles but the students to borrow is one that isis Crystal Clear if there is an expectation that its a violation of the codedeon of conduct and its toe changing culture into developing a set of norms were the students understand they are protecting that the low students and a faculty members. If we can get that message soon. Sorry, senator casey. Senator murkowski. Mr. Chairman, thank you for being here today and for your leadership and your respect and leadership that you have shown ouin guiding your students and faculty through challenging and unchartered times. We worked hard in the cares attacked to try to ensure was able to get a release out and to the direct assistance. As i look back it seems to me a one that got messed those that are over 16 and those that were not dependent or able to receive the direct assistance on their behalf. Many times not eligible for unemployment insurance. When i think that the impact too the students at the time, they are literally in alaska is a underway and is they get the word dont come back until after spring break. And the situation, but they were able to do is provide Financial Assistance to many students from every thing from ensuring they had transportation back to their homes shipping their belongings back or emergency funds to the. What have we been able to make our students hold in terms of the cost that they incur and as we know, most do not have a lot of disposable income out there where they have money into savings they can pick this up. Were you able to reinforce your students and their cost due to an expected to travel with housing and to what extent were you able to provide such to your students and we will start with you and go down the line. They came to the specific relief that made the application and having the kind of troubles. The. We will learn more in the next few weeksre about whether the aspiring freshmen have been prevented from doing what they are very eager to do. Ag thank you. Like other schools we try to separate the students and travel etc. , etc. I think thats was successful and in some ways continue to grow. Students are losing their jobs. Theres nothing for students to do this summer. While we are doing all we can to try to find alternatives, it is hard to meet death. It is not a present of the students communicated in 73 indicated they needed assistance with housing and so we appropriated the amount and also added some support for transportation. Its important for any number of things with Digital Resource or hotspot on a casebycase basis. Thank you mr. Chairman. We have seven senators remaining and everybody is doing a good job staying within their five minutes. Thank you, senator baldwin. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to ask a couple questions first to t doctor benjamin. You stated in your testimony that every school and theyve run out of the free agent to run one of its testing platforms. And despite the continuous calls for support from the administration, essentially they said they need to rely on the existing supply chains. Can you explain why, not just for testing platforms but this applies in order to respond to the very high likelihood of the new cases . If you dont have the capacity within your own program you have the link to someone else that does. The biggest challenge that we have had with all of this testing is going to require partnerships and on a daily basis making sure that wen have adequate testing capacities because it is going to happen. Then everything that occurs after the they will have to have adequate testing otherwise they cannot function at all. In the testimony by both senators and witness panels there were references to the the fact that they are among older people and so certainly the typical undergraduate age range but i want to just consider some of the things as we move forward to see when the campuses reopened. According to the American Federation of teachers, 40 of the contingent faculty that comprise 70 of the staff are over the age of 50. During the excessively high unemployment with the age demographic beyond what theyve already seen as a result of the Great Recession. Not only the safety and health of other undergraduate students but also faculty and staffs best work on the campuses. They needed the rules of the road. It requires the occupational safety. It requires the workplace iss to implement infectious Disease Control plans it is important for the safety of the faculty and staff. On and off for a long time and unless you have standards everybody can rely on, youre not going to get anywhere. If it doesnt mean you cant do more than that but it is olabsolutely essential. Thank you very much. I want to thin thank the University President for thinking creatively about reopening school. The id is absolute your economic prospects are minimized. They seem to be kind of the minimum standard. Only have they been slow coming out with the testing strategies and its going to be different than what they do at brown and perdue because louisiana State University and because of the different sizes of schools. And with your organization is promulgating or suggesting different strategies so that they were to get university reopened. Its important to have the strategy and for the federalnd government. I want to explore that a little bit. Is that the beginning of your approach or how would you see that . It is going to be data informed and change over time. Their dormitory and classmates with the people doing standard contact protocols. One thing, there might be tha test available in the ability to batch test. Is that part of your strategy . It is relatively new to as the wastewaterer testing where u can figure out if anybody has it. As they put together your strategy, you are much more constrained in terms of resources. Where are you developing your testing strategy from and what could be done to help the families in louisiana for example to implement such a strategy knowing that your student bodyey may have an increased incidence . Make the investment in our institution. Make that investment. We have a little bit of practice with this this past spring. We implemented protocols there with the s students that remainn campus and they comets in contat with the person and we were able to isolate the person into the apartment complex to go through those 14 days. Let me ask you because i am almost out of time you certainly have a Community Campus at home with they are shown to be positive and there is a similar set of protocols to be promulgated by similar organizations in the cdc or another publichealth organization. Senator murphy. Thank you. This has been incredibly helpful for all of o us. I want College Sports to come back and i went sports in general to come back. I miss it. It is a release from this job and i cant wait. At the same time i want to come back for the right r. Sonst i want to ask a series of questions on this topic. Maybe i will start with you mr. Daniels. Its interesting that College Sports teams are coming back for practices before professional sports leagues feel that it safe enough to come back and while i have read through what your university is doing to protect studentswhto returning, these ae Contact Sports there is no way ultimately to have social distancing for a football or soccer team. So what happens if you have an outbreak over the course of summer training or in the early fall on your Football Team or Women Soccer Team . What is your protocol . Do you shut them down . Do they stop the season . Do you segment off those who tested positive . This is a potential for a super spreading environment if you are notf careful. I agree. I thankan you would shut it down some may very well face the situation. Our teams are resuming individual workouts later than some the conference we belong to has described some guidelines and we will follow them and in some cases exceed them but you are right we love sports also but first things first. And it starts with the safety of players and coaches and those who may be at most risk of the spread are the older folks of the coaches and others. I hope we get back but if it takes longer or subject to interruption, so be it. What if there is a scholarship player who doesnt feel comfortable coming back . If they have a mother or grandfather with medical complications if they decide not to play football because they dont feel it is right for the them, do they maintain their scholarship . Yes they wanted. Eahe we honored scholarships for a long time if they could not continue whether injury or a personal tragedy thats consistent with our policy. I think i can speak with authority for the Athletic Department thats the right thing to do and what we ought to do. I appreciate that. I will note right now that is not the standard for all ncaa schools and its important to make sure it is and lastly what will you do about attendance at sporting events this fall . Thats what i really worry about the iowa athletic directorbo on the record saying his plan is to let everybody into the football stadium anybody can come watch we had a situation in Westport Connecticut before this was an epidemic 50 people gots together for a Birthday Party one person had corona at the end of the party half of them had it and it was off and running on the east coast. It worries me that we are contemplating putting hundreds of thousands of adults and students into stadiums especially when the professional sports leagues are not entertaining that ideaea. What is your understanding today . We will have fans in the stadiums in your conference this fall . I cannot speak for others but we are not look at going beyond one fourth of the capacity of the stadium right now. This has mapped out just like classrooms and dorm rooms to measure distance and exceed the requirements we will be doing that so it comes out one fourth the way weve done it we know outdoors is very differente and very hard to spread this outdoors but we will take an abundance of caution approach. I cannot tell you about Indoor Sports i dont see a way we can proceed on the basis we have been familiar with oin. I appreciate that. That is still ten or 20000 people altogether for events that could be a dangerous endeavor and compared to professional sports club decided to make a different decision that the topic worth talking about. I want to start by quickly thinking the Ranking Member to acknowledge what is happening in our country. We cannot afford the racist violence that has killed george floyd and Breanna Taylor and many others. Ay we must commit ourselves to change in this committee as well as others for her educationhe and in todays hearing with colleges and students across the country when and how colleges are safe to reopen i know its a hard question but there was a recent oped entitled why this to be an unacceptable breach so it makes like you have already decided you will reopen and in that oped you discuss how you will communicate with the undergraduate students to address workers or faculty those that are at risk and workers were often black or brown. For the dorms in the classrooms and they are particularly vulnerable when they have the power at the disproportionate rate. So with 17000 employees have to cannot work if i get sick and i have small children that need care whether because of their age or Previous Health conditions they may not feel safe coming on to a College Campus during a pandemic. So publicly do you have a plan aifor these workers . Thank you senator. Can you agree to continue to pay them if they cant come to work with a decide its too w risky . Im so glad you asked the question because first of all you could not have better expressed our o e entire philosophy and strategy i dont know if you are here for the opening presentation but i annunciated that then. Our entire strategy is built around the protection of the vulnerable that starts at faculty and staff starting next week we will have one one visits with our faculty to figure out we have a grid that estimates the degree of vulnerability some dont want to be on campus at all and we will make that accommodation. Let me understand you are planning to work it out one on one with your employees . The plan is entirely based on the protection of the vulnerable and that will include individual accommodations about those we have the most concernib. I thank you the answer is no. Yes it is very comprehensive. I havent seen that because my question is reallyn about who has power and a voice in these decisions so best practices are best practices only if everyone is at the table who will be affected when the plans are laid out. I just want to move on for the time being but i will follow up in writing to get a commitment Going Forward you will include the faculty and staff at the table and explain how this will intersect with their pay and safely reopen a campus. Doctor, staying on the topic inpower and accountabilityow a addition to Brown University are also the vice chair of the association of American University that last week from the American Council on education is a very powerful college urging congress to do quickly doing coalbed Liability Protection for Higher Education institutionsab. As you know college has behaved unreasonably under the circumstances automatic liability when somebody dies instead it isn liability only inin a pandemic a college doesnt take reasonable efforts to clean up common spaces or two separate desperately sick students. So when colleges lobby to change that standard and walk away from it even if they are extraordinarily careless with the lives of their students and if they take completely unreasonable risks if someone dies, what message does that send to our families and students . What it make you more comfortable or less comfortable as the parent of an incoming student . We are well over time but you take whatever time you need to answer that question. Thank you very much. I do not want protection from being careless that is not what we are about and is it careless if we dont follow guidelines . That is something that should not be protected in any shape or form. But the fact is we are in a brandnew pandemic weve never seen before we are in uncharted territory many institutions are verys nervous even if following the rules they will still be subjected to classaction lawsuits and they will probably prevail if they have done their my but the cost of defending those will take money away from lintuition, Financial Aid not tuition but Financial Aid and the support that we provide for our students. I am in favor of very carefully crafted Liability Protection in no way shape or form permits us to be careless with peoples lives. Thank you senator warren. I just want to ask unanimous consent for the statements on the record for americans for financial reform the student borrower protection and Public Citizen American Association for justice in georgetown law professor the public should know the college like any other institution. So ordered. Thank you mr. Chairman. And i will follow up a valid one to ask the safety of your employees and staff and universitieses as well as customers that are the students very important but to underline the way she phrase the question its not in the extreme interest of the university of this one businesses across the country to keep not only customer safe but employees as well and by the way it was stated it assumes there is not the agility or the ability to do both of them. My question is for president ntdaniels. Rest assured for the people that run the real economy they have in their own best interest to do all the things this bureaucratic approach has been to tamp down the economies to do two things at once. And i think that argument that you cannot argument operate safely to keep the disease that they may have been the underlying strategic error how we address that in the first place. President daniels, sometimes your plans dont work out the way you hope theyy will. Building a business over 37 years of things were going great in the moment come i said something will come along to derail it. Had the data not shown you something should change to bring students back to school, i think everything you have laid out sounds like a great plan. How does your involvement with Online Education i thank you call it perdue global is that a backup plan coming into play for your students that want to attend on campus . Tell me about that more broadly how you think that part of post secondary education might break the cost curve that is so tough to do with traditional education on campus. New global is a separate branch that serves a very different clientele. The typical student is a 33 yearold woman with a child and a job and Family Responsibilities its aimed at those who started college and did not finish. Helping them get to the finish line and a better station in life. We learned a lot about Online Education. As i mentioned we will be offering to those students who cant get here thiss fall, or choose not to come, an online option for the undergraduate education perdue global is aimed at working americans and i will say to your question with the damage we have done to this economy there may be a much greater market for a very affordable purely Online Education. How long do you think that cost curve will take with the involvement of online undergraduate from educating older students . Is that something that will be disruptive enough like healthcare, it costs double here in our country roughly what it does in most other countries with results that arent any better. Do we have that opportunity through disrupting education in a way, its the next most stubborn cost increase each year through technology or Something Different most of us might not see at this point in time . And the staggering cost of education has been an issue for quite some time. Thank you for noting we have not changed our tuition at purdue in the last eight years and have pledged a that will last at least through the ninth we are the least expensive then we were in 2012 the nominal terms. We been able to attract more students that affordability and accessibility is a real issue now in the wake of this terrible pandemic, it seems very clear there will be a new pressure on schools and everyone to find every way possible to make this Vital Service we sell more affordable. I cant imagine there are any other outcomes than that. Keep it up. Your leading the way trying to make something along with health care for most sfamilies, the demand is inelastic we all wanted. Ironic thats where cost the most in this country and we need to do much better. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chair for this important hearing into our witnesses come i have been very critical of the administrations handling of the Public Health side of this crisis theres no reason the United States should have more than 100,000 deaths. The reason our economy should have been hammered by this in the way that it has especially in other countries. Dhan since i have been critical i have to give credit where it is due, they have done some things i want to thank them for and some are right in this. Helping us to work out implementation in challenges to the cares act. You would remember after it i passedes, some thought the aid going to students might be taxable income the administration worked quickly with us to clarify that is not the case. Some universities trying to get ppp loans were told student workstudy would be counted as employees putting them over the 500 limit disqualifying them again the administration worked very quickly to ballet that concern i have to give credit where credit is due. Thank you just senator murphy for raising the football question thatqu is how this is complicated those who play football are amateurs. They are not getting paid. Those who play football are disproportionately minority. A number of articles in forbes in Sports Illustrated how football i especially is big money. Do not, because big conference football is big money risk the lives of amateurs who are minority going back before we can especially because the ncaa has figured this out. In a canceled spring sports a toll on the athletes if you want another year of eligibility you can get it and then to figure out ways and with that extra of eligibility. And for those student athletes if they wanted without izjeopardizing their health and now let me get to the critique. And it lays out so well the road to reopening is through testing. And there are other issues but the road to reopening colleges is through testing the cdc has a document that they have continually updated called considerations for institutions of Higher Education. It is a very comprehensive document. And through the zen cetacean on institutional settings. And those that reduce spread. And with the multiple sub points. What else do we have . Maintaining healthy operations. And the go through this document and not a mention preparing when someone gets sick theres not a single mention and testing so i get it the universities to test 16 the students they dont have nih they need guidance in how is the water system is safe for what to do when they get sick and with those testing protocols. And with that vulnerable population. And then with that mandate that is too restrictive my suspicion is this. It is more general with the administration they dont want testingoals for because they dont want to be measured against those goals. If you dont state the goals you will not get there and our cdc does a great disservice to colleges small medium and virge if they dont provide some basic guidance about a testing protocol what would look like. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chair thank you for having this hearing for all that you are doing to help students and communities and this is a deeply challenging time for this country. And during that Global Pandemic and historically serving as places of civil discourse because local communities and countries make the systems more equitable and just i look forward to working with all of you. So to the three College President s last week secretary divorce and with booker with the department of education that they receive the Financial Aid they are now eligible for during to the Economic Impact of covid19 specifically we asked to issue guidance to colleges to help ensure their Financial Aid eligibility is appropriately tested to update the online fast for form to have recent changes in income for Financial Aid applicants. Can you speak to how your students are economically impacted by covid19 . With that further Action Department of education that they get the Financial Aid they are eligible for . R . I we are in the process who have the desire to come to purdue will finally coming can manage it i dont think many have encountered significant economic setbacks and say express that intention. And that initiative that they lead and then to get that more swiftly and directly and draw the attention to every person that needsen that. No question to be negatively impacted and that survey went out five weeks after the majority were sent home and it was sent back to us while they were at home 70 percent and 73 percent said i need help. The Median Income drop they have less means to help them that they need the help as a result from covid19 and the effects of racism. So after the 2008 recession Financial Aid the maximum Unemployment Rate maximum is 10 percent we were headed at 20 percent also hearing some say i know that my fafsa is correct but is no longer an accurate portrayal of our economic circumstances. s we have to go back and revisit all of thendse awards. Now i want to turn to doctor benjamin and then what colleges need to do and with Contact Tracing on that strategy and then to ensure that students and faculty and staff recommend handwashing and wear masks and there would be spikes in cases on College Campuses what you believe should be in place and what can be done to ensure to spread the virus in their own communities. And with the state and local Health Departments and in many cases the community as well. And then to have prewritten guidelines and the protocols and that debate of who is managing that disease outbreak. But the state and local Health Department and not the universities don b and very welo be involved in that but if you dont have plans thatt best is a fair amount of planning up front and all those that they can think of would be important. I have lost sight of the clock. Thank you. We only have two senators remaining senator jones. I appreciate your leadership and also thanks to all the witnesses with the issues we are facing in America Today we are seeing rays of hope those that are peacefully demonstrating and then doing that walked arm in arm black and white those in all races and religions and i dont think the media focuses on that as much as the more violent protest amld so there is a ray of hope so i would like to ask you and follow up as you probably know i been one of the champions we have 13 and my state for the hpc recently and the couple of colleagues asking for additional 1 billiondollar funding so talk just a little bit how would that be used by the hcb you around the country with a shortfall with students are infrastructure infrastructure. And then trying to make the campus more safe so look at the numbers and where we are we need anywhere between 3,000,006,000,000 and then to convert to residential campusto and then we will use those funds and then at the high level and with that diverse for Money Management and Online Services and then for the students and our needs are significant. Let me follow up. And that senator murphy and senator mccain said so what steps will you try to take to minimize the risk to these athletes going in . And then you have to shut down a program what steps would you take to minimize the risk and second the loss of revenue it will be significant what can congress do to make up for that what we you plan on to do to make up that lost revenue not only football and basketball but all the other sports at purdue . And then initially between athletes and lots of testing very regular testing to spot any infection at the first possible moment and again we believe in the outdoor setting the fans have to enter in different ways and spaced in different ways that we do think that part is possible and consistent with safe practices but we are all inioe h very new water and then to change these directions as we all learn more. Im not sure a federal treasury that has already done what it has done wants to make those shortfalls for the lawn purdue has always operated a selfsufficient Athletic Program that never imposed of the and those that arent even interested in athletics. Eem and then to minimize this and then helping that hbcus. I was hoping that would be your answer. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today for our students and those that work at university. And that pandemic has severely impacted colleges and universities and while glad to vote for they cares act with a 6 billion a institutes of Higher Education with emergency Financial Aid and to have significant flexibility to determine how to distribute fundingnceed. For those that are most in need. Unfortunately the department of education has decided not only students that are eligible to receive federal Financial Aid qualify for cares act assistance student veterans individuals and the doctor recipients with the financial burden to support their peers and siblings and childrennt i l but in april with several members of the committee for this decision with Higher Education with that emergency Financial Aid to the undocumented students. So doctor paxson. You and the university with a protection for dreamers given us in the extraordinary situation we find ourselves, do you agreent that guidance excluding i dont agree at all. And those are the future of the country we should be protecting veterans and International Students. With this next question and then to serve the country to protect our nation to have families that they continue to get any support they need with applications for many reasons all kinds of reasons they dont know how to do that and then to exclude that. And then doctor hampton. And frankly we did not know about the impact on veterans i thank you for drawing our attention to that. Ot. A and with that previous question we are doing all we can to move money those two scholarships and Financial Assistance that whatever shape the applicants just two or three months ago we will need to do more. Senator i am not aware of any negative impact the ruling had for those that needed support that were not eligible for they cares act for the board of trustees. W thank you. We appreciate that all students are equally deserving and then they need to be supported we have not received any guidance but the intent would be to support students as well as we can provide us have a few seconds left i want to address the Digital Divide and those that lacked adequate broadband adequate access. And with that Digital Divide. We have done a lot of work to make sure all students have internet access. And everything we are focusing on and the High School Students in the area thats a huge problem. With those digital devices and hotspots. Governor daniels . Similar answer. They were fairly limited and to calm with individuals as far as i know it in each case and the population counties. And helping thoseo two struggle. Spinning you to senator murray and our staff for their cooperation and Technical Expertise and especially the four witnesses who all have demanding schedules and those of the American People. As doctor paxson and logan and benjamin. There is no more sure sign that the American Life is regaining itss rhythm and the 70 or 75 Million Students head back to use school and college is we believe they will go. And her focus to make sure they go safely. Talking kindergarten through 12h grade going back to School Safely. With tele learning and telemedicine looking ahead at the next pandemic continuing our oversight responsibility. The American Council on education to which one of the lisenators referred earlier that organization is the Umbrella Organization with most of the 6000 Higher Education in the country asking congress to consider a number off things and with that perfectly constructed Liability Protection for those institutions as a result of covid19. Also way heard that from virtually everyone of their Higher Educations ive had a discussion through teleconference in tennessee last week. The issue of testing came up and my advice to colleges doctor hampton talked about jackson tennessee i know that works to the public Health Department and waited about three minutes in line and got my negative test which was negative a couple of weeks ago. And colleges and universities in the own capacity to create test my advice is to be a part of the states plan and those testing needs for the next month. And then if needs cannot be met by the state and the federal government will help with that. For example with swabs or agents to testify before the committee we should have 10 million test capacity this month if my math is right the 500,000 test per day mentioned by doctorto benjamin. Also he anticipated they would be 40 or 50 million test available per month by september. In addition, doctor collins is heading up the National Institutes of health which we call the shark tank highly competitive environment new ways to create accurate rapid tests that are tens ofe millions so there is the ample supply this fall for universities. If there is a question for college or institution for testing, to become a part of your states plan let them look ahead and help with that. This is been very helpful. Now i have some words im supposed to repeat the record will remain open for ten days members may submit Additional Information within that time. June 10th covid19 going back to School Safely we are adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]
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