Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom 20200731

More than 152,000 americans have died. Sandra that hearing is about to be under way, what should we expect to hear from the experts this morning . Good morning, sandra and blake. You can expect fireworks to fly at times. Between their medical advice and these experts and the president s decision, actions, and words. Is titled the urgent need for a National Plan to contain the coronavirus being led by House Majority whip and chairman of his Committee Jim clyburn. This is of course a select committee on the Coronavirus Crisis who was recently created in the Republican House minority whip steve scalise. As you mentioned, the big witnesses, dr. Fauci who wil ard wearing a nationals mask set to testify after the administration previously refused to allow him to appear before the panel. And dr. Robert redfield and it is notable all three of these witnesses who will be in person coming after pelosi just set a new house mask mandate. We are expecting this to touch on a wide range of topics from School Reopenings to where we are with developing a vaccine, testing preparedness, and increasing hot spots. According to written testimony, dr. Fauci is worried about this coming fall. He will say this. There is covid19 and flulike activity at the same time, can have personal protective equipment and Health Care Safety in the context of likely ongoing covid19 activity for a flu vaccine is more important now than ever. We expect this to last until about noon. Will be two rounds of questions per member, each one gets 5 minutes each time. Its possible, watch also to see if we hear anymore about the differences between the president and dr. Fauci when it comes to sensitive subjects like their views on the drug hydroxychloroquine. Well see what comes. But, sandra . Sandra we will be watching for all of that. Thank you. Lets bring in dr. Marc siegel, professor of medicine at nyu langone health. We always hope to hear some good news to come from these hearings especially on the vaccine front. Rocketed that in just a moment but let me read you some of the words from dr. Faucis prepared remarks. What we are about to hear from him. While it remains unclear how long the pandemic will last, covid19 activity will likely continue for some time. Is also unclear what impact the ongoing covid19 pandemic will have on health care and Public Health systems during the upcoming influenza season. And that is a really important statement that he is about to make because the committee he is appearing before is divided about how to reopen schools and businesses. Can they convince them either way what needs to happen next . Actually, thats a really good point, sandra. For starters, i think dr. Fauci will bring up the issue of the flu season being added to the pile here and thats not a minor issue. Thats going to be about flu shot compliance, can we get the delivery of 300 million doses like we usually do, how can we use testing . And this is the most important thing. Can we tell two people have covid19 or do they have the flu . We have the flu tests available, can we get enough covid19 tests available so that i have on one hand the flu test on the other hand the covid19 test and i can say what a patient has and who to isolate and who to separate. Usually important in terms of any reopening that goes on in the fall. Sandra is you can see, dr. Fauci and others have arrived, arriving mast at the capitol this morning, looks like it should begin shortly. On Vaccine Development, we will be listening for that. A final thoughts . Looks like they are about to begin. That is a very positive. We see more and more being rolled out. Johnson johnson now entering the fray, hhs is giving them enough money, 2. 2 billion to have 100 million doses. We have at least five candidates that are moving forward at this stage three trials over the next few months and is very optimistic that we may very well have a vaccine by the beginning of next year. In terms of battling both the flu and covid19. Thats a note that everyone in the house should agree on hopefully and not be as divisive. At one final point, the fact that there is disagreement here from one person to the next from dr. Fauci to dr. Redfield to the president , i think that thats actually a positive. That informs a decision that can help across the board. Sandra you heard dr. Fauci earlier this week and the Associated Press interview say that he was disturbed by the flatout opposition in some parts of the country to wear masks. His message lately has been go back to the basics. Engage in social distancing, 6 feet apart, where your masks. On the Vaccine Development, he seems optimistic. He said this in his prepared testimony. The rigorous clinical testing to establish safety and efficacy means it might take some time for a license vaccine to be available to the general public, but there is growing optimism that one or more of these vaccine candidates will prove safe and effective by late 2020 or early 2021. He still talking about possibly seeing one that can work by the end of this year, doctor. I think he is a very cautious person and ive interviewed him on this exact issue multiple times and that absolutely breeds confidence pretty is not going to stick his neck out on this. They are showing great antibody response in terms of immunity. The question is when they are given to 30,000 people, will you see the protection against a virus itself and in primates, weve already seen that in a couple of candidates so i think there is scientific reason for his optimism there. And hot spots coming young people are spreading this sentencing in a new study that theres a lot of virus in the upper noses of Young Children. In Young Children are spreading this so masking becomes more more important in social distancing especially in the hot spots in the midwest. Sandra im sure you walk around and you get this question too, but there are so many people who are still so surprised at how difficult it is to get a test and how long it takes to get the results of that test even if you are able to get one. Where are we with testing in this country . Youre about to hear those medical experts of grilled on our countrys response and ability to test those individuals that want one. Thats been inadequate from the beginning. Even with over 50 million tests done today, its been inadequate and the second point you make is the key, the delay in getting the results. It takes three or four days or five days to know whether i have it or not, i dont know whether to isolate. I may have come in contact with other people. Speeding up the rapidity of this when we have a test out there that can give you results in 15 minutes. Thats a huge problem, and a lot of attention is being paid for that. You are going to see that addressed by admiral giroir to today. They are starting to roll out antigen testing where you can test an entire group of people at the same time. Thats what we do with the flu. You walk into my office, i test you, i tell you 10 minutes later on a rapid test whether you have a positive or not. We have the technology to do that for covid19. We dont have it in place yet. Ive been told over and over its going to be in place. That has to happen before we hit the fall. Theres no question. I think admiral giroir is optimistic about this so im interested to see what he has to say at the hearing. Sandra of course, saving lives, safety of the American People come first in all of this, dr. Siegel, but dr. Redfield is also expected to address what he has been addressing recently and the risks of not getting young people back to school, not getting them back into social environments or sports or the like, talking about the rising suicide rate. What are we hearing about that and what medical data do we have the support that that is a growing problem, dr. Siegel . Exactly as you just phrased it. Dr. Redfield said that we are going to lose more Young Children from suicide than covid19. The statistics will probably back that up, getting more and more calls to hotlines. Theres also no evidence that a child at home is less likely to spread it than a child at school or across the world weve seen that. You put children in school, they might be a way to decrease the spread at home and then adults can go back and do the work to do their job. At school, you also have nutrition, special needs taken care of, also can address Mental Health issues so a low risk of suicide. In a study that came out yesterday that i mentioned already in a major pediatric journal does show that Young Children are harboring the virus in their nostrils even if they are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. That doesnt mean the school shouldnt open, but it means more care has to be taken to what we are doing in the schools that open. Are the teachers being tested regularly . Are those that are high risk, may be teachers that are high risk or not they are. Are we teaching our children about masking, about social distancing, about sanitizing, using hand sanitizer. I look at this as a potential learning experience. Can we use schools as a way to teach our children social distancing . That will help with the flu, it will help with covid19, will help with all respiratory viruses. Its a huge mistake to keep the school shuttered across the country especially in areas that dont have a lot of the virus. Sandra this is the subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis as i mentioned divided about how to reopen our schools and businesses. Divisions in america, the chairman mr. Clyburn. Today, our select subcommittee is holding a hybrid hearing where some members will appear in person and others will appear remotely via webex. Since the members are appearing in person, let me first remind everyone pursuant to the latest guideline from house attending physicians, all individuals attending this hearing in person must wear a Face Covering. Members who are not wearing the Face Covering are not permitted to remain in the hearing room and will not be recognized to speak. Let me also make a few reminders about hybrid hearings. For those members appearing in person, you will be able to see members appearing remotely on the two monitors in front of y you. On one monitor, you will see all the members appearing remotely at once and what is known as webex has agreed to view mode. On the other monitor, you will see each person speaking during the hearing when they are speaking. Including the members who are appearing remotely. For those members appearing remotely, you can also see each person speaking during the hearing whether they are in person or remote as long as you have your webex set to active speaker mode. You have any questions about this, please contact staff immediately. Let me also remind everyone to house procedures that apply through hybrid hearings. For members appearing in person, a timer is visible in the room directly in front of you for those who may be remote, we have a timer that should be visible on your screen when youre in the active speaker thumbnail mode, and you have the time or created for members who may be appearing remotely, a few other reminders. The house rules require that we will see you, so please have your cameras turned on at all times. Not just when you are speaking. Members who are not recognized should remain muted to minimize background noise and feedback. I will recognize members verbally and members retain the right to seek recognition verbally. In regular order, members will be recognized in seniority order for questions. Whether to be recognized outside of our regular order, you may identify that in several ways. You may use the chat function to send a request. You may send an email to the majority staff. Or you may unmute your mic to receive recognition. Obviously, we do not want people talking over each other, so my preference is that members use the chat function or email to facilitate formal verbal recognition. Committee staff will ensure that i am made aware of the request and i will recognize you. Has members of the committee are likely aware, we expect votes to be called in the middle of this hearing. Im out of respect for members and witnesses time and because of the Long Duration of each vote during this Public Health emergency, i do not plan to reset the hearing anytime. Committee members including those while the vote is ongoing. Sufficient time to step out of the hearing, cast their vote, and return to the hearing. We will begin this here in just a moment when they tell me they are ready to begin the live stream. Sandra as we await the beginning of this hearing, we see nations Top Health Experts dr. Fauci about to testify along with dr. Redfield and admiral giroir. As is the times, this is a remote hearing for some among lawmakers that will be questioning from home, so they have to obviously get things together to enable those lawmakers who are remote to engage in this hybrid hearing. Weve got the prepared testimony from dr. Fauci. He is expected to tell this panel that it is unclear how long the coronavirus pandemic will last. Talking about the ability to reopen schools in the fall in a big focus of this hearing will be the coronavirus coinciding with the flu season which we have not experienced yet and the risks of that, so dr. Fauci is expected to weigh in on all of that. In dr. Redfield in recent days and weeks has been taking on the risks also to kids not going back to school. Admiral giroir and others speaking out on that matter as well. In dr. Fauci in recent days talking about additional measures saying go back to the basics, where your masks, social distance. One thing hes been bringing up as an additional measure is wearing goggles to prevent the spread of this virus into the eyes. As we await this to begin, your thoughts ahead of the testimony of dr. Fauci . One quick point to make is that admiral giroir is pediatrician so if dr. Redfield is an Infectious Disease specialist weighs in on schools reopening and the idea that cdc is actually in favor of that with precautions, you may see admiral giroir on that as a pediatrician. To dr. Faucis point about goggles, thats alarmed a lot of people. The science here is that you were using masks to protect other people in case you are infected. You have Something Like a barrier, even a tiny shield, it protects you from incoming. So thats the issue. Sandra the hearing was underway. Back to chairman clyburn. Still spreading rapidly across our country. It took nearly three months for the United States to go from one infection to 1 million. Now, more than 4 million with at least a million americans infected in just the last two weeks. In hospitalizations and are unacceptably high. Hospitals in some states are at risk of running out of beds, and some hospitals have reported they may be forced to choose which patients to treat and which to send home to die. Current course, experts predict another 150,000 americans could lose their lives from the coronavirus by the end of this year. My goal today is simple, to hear from our nations top Public Health experts on what steps we need to take to stop the unnecessary deaths of more americans. To improve our response, we need to identify and correct past failures, especially those that are ongoing. Regrettably, nearly six months after this virus claimed its First American life, the federal government has still not yet developed and implemented a National Strategy to protect the American People. The administration has failed on testing. Given warnings including from this committee that millions more tests when needed. At least 11 states including my home state of South Carolina are currently conducting less than 30 of the tests they needed to control the virus. The state cases surging, states now face severe testing shortages with times results were weak or longer. Some states have been forced to ration tests limiting them to only the sickest patients. Without widely available rapid testing, it is nearly impossible to control the spread of the virus and safely reopen our economy created yesterday, it was reported that back in april, the administration considered implementing the National Strategy but i decide not to do so because at the time, the virus was primarily spreading and blue states. Since the earliest days of this crisis, the Trump Administration has also refused to call on americans to take simple steps to stay safe like wearing a mask and social distancing social distancing. Instead, and the president has downplay the severity of the crisis claiming the virus will disappear sidelining Government Experts who disagree and seek to legitimize discredited remedies. When the Public Health agencies contradicted the white house with message for example when the cdc warned that fully reopening the schools present at the highest risk for spreading the coronavirus, the White House Pressed the agency to change their advice. The result of these decisions is that the virus has continue to rage out of control, and our nations economic misery has continued. And that brings us to todays hearing. It is clear the administrations approach of deferring to the states, sidelining the experts and rushing to reopen has prolong this virus and led to thousands of preventable deaths. In the United States stands out is among the worst in any country in the world. Of my question is where should we go from here . Today, i am calling for the administration to finally give america a comprehensive National Plan that prioritizes science over politics. That plan should include buying and distributing enough tests and protective gear for every american who needs them. And it should include a clear Public Health guidance to every american to help curb the spread of the virus. I am looking forward to hearing from our panel what common sense steps we can take as a country to control this virus and how the administrations plans to accomplish this goal. Todays witnesses have long distinguished careers from the both republican and democratic president s. Public health is not a protestant issue. And i hope that all members of the committee will join me in seeking the best Health Advice for the American People, not fighting political battles. We do not need to lose another 150,000 american lives. But if we do not make drastic changes now, this tragic outcome is well within the realm of possibility. The chair now recognizes the distinguished Ranking Member for his Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank our witnesses for being here. Before i open, i do want to mention, its our first meeting weve had since the passing of our dear friend and colleague john lewis. I know you personally were friends with him for roughly 60 years, and we all feel that loss, very fitting tributes yesterday, and he was a dear colleague, but also a key important part in the movement that has made american even greater nation, very fitting that our country has been paying such great tribute to a dear friend and an icon in the civil rights movement, our friend john lewis. I also want to think your team is because you represent what is on the front lines of president rouhanis plan to combat the Coronavirus Crisis. For anybody to suggest that there is not a plan. When you look at the title of todays hearing, urgent need for a plan, thats not the title of a hearing, thats a political narrative and a false political narrative at that. We wouldnt even be here today if there wasnt a plan because you are the people tasked with carrying out the plan. In fact, if you were sidelined, you wouldnt be here either and i know some people want to suggest that, but maybe they havent spent time reading different components of the plan. These are just a few, by the way. A few of the documents that your agencies have published to show states how to safely reopen, to show schools how to safely reopen, to show Nursing Homes how to care for their patients, which if all governors would follow those those guidelines, thousands more seniors in Nursing Homes would be alive today. Just five governors would have followed your plan that was developed by President Trump and is being carried out by you and your teams effectively. Let me thank you on behalf of the millions of American People who are alive today that wouldnt be alive if you werent carrying out President Trumps effective plan to keep americans safe as we learn about this virus, as we work to get a cure for this virus. And by the way, the cure, operation warp speed as part of President Trumps National Plan, and i think weve all seen just how close we are to a vaccine, which is revolutionary. Revolutionary and modern time to be this close to a vaccine. We wouldnt be here that close to a vaccine without President Trumps leadership and without the work of you and your teams to carry out that plan. So again, i appreciate the work that you continue to do every day. We learn more about a plan whether its a military plan for a football plan may you start the first play with a plan and then the plan has to change as things change along the way, and we are seeing that play out daily. When you look at the work thats been done we might not agree on each part of them, but weve had a number of hearings where weve talked through how to improve testing in one of the first we have on testing was back when america was may be conducting less than 200,000 tests a day. Today because of the work that you all have been doing and because of the president s plan, we are at over 800,000 tests per day and that number continues to grow. Nobodys stopping or resting on their laurels, but when you look at that trajectory again going from a virus that no one knew about just six months ago, china lied about doing that period where we could have learned a lot more, could have saved more lives while china was lying, i wish we would have hearings on that because thats a real fact, not a political talking point. Not only did china lie, they corrupted the World Health Organization. They were perpetuating that as well and made it harder for us. I remember being in a meeting in the white house before it was a Global Pandemic and we were talking about the desire to get some of our medical experts into china to find out what was really going on, and they wouldnt let you win. The Chinese Communist party wouldnt let you win when President Trump wanted to send medical experts into china before it spread into the United States. And that cost lives. Why are we having a hearing about that . Clearly, we talk about some of the other Different Things that were done to stop the spread. This president actually did develop an early plane called 15 days to stop the spread. One of the first organized plans to encourage states to pull back. Wasnt an easy plan for the president to have to issue, but it was necessary, and in fact, they were meetings in the white house, dr. Fauci and dr. Birx were there, that plan was being carried out determine maybe we need to go longer, go 30 more days. And by going 30 more days, you could save 1 million, may be 2 million more lives. And then President Trump announced that plan and then did save those lives. On how states could safely reopen. This part of the plan, by the way. To be some people are so busy reading tweets that they havent actually read the plan. Its really good guidance issued by a sum of the most recognized International Experts on disease prevention. Some of you here today represent parts of this plan, and so in opening up america again showed how states could safely reopen. The plan was developed by Public Health experts. Some complain that President Trump didnt have the power to force states to reopen see the administration actually released guidelines so that states had discretion. Each date we all understand how the tenth amendment works, each governor is in charge of their state. Nursing homes are regulated by the states, not by the federal government, but we give guidance and its been really good guidance and that guidance and save lives. We hear cities where people talk about the cries of the need for testing so lets talk about what hhs has done to lead on testing. Zero tests. To now over 800,000 tests a day. In a matter of just months. Over 52 million tests have been conducted nationally and nobody is slowing down, increasing that number. Over a million tests a day and they will have a hearing on how much progress weve made there and we want to continue to make progress. Dr. Gerard was in baton rouge with the Vice President talking about increased testing, even to limit the number of days has a goal to get below seven days for anybody to get results, and that number has narrowed dramatically and now more than half of america getting tested and getting results in less than 24 hours because of the rapid work that this team has done carrying out the president s plan. Testing is not just about numbers. Its about targeting testing the right people at the right time. To that point, the Trump Administration has begun distribution of rapid pointofcare test to Nursing Homes. Ive talked a nursing home heads recently who said that decision by the Trump Administration to purchase nursing and actual testing kit for every single nursing home in america, 15,000 Nursing Homes, each of them will have their own 15 minute tests. That will save lives. Thats part of this plan. On may 15th, 2020, President Trump announced operation warp speed, part of a very direct and National Plan to combat this deadly virus. Operation warp speed is a Publicprivate Partnership between several federal agencies to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of the covid19 vaccine as well as therapies, diagnostics, other things to direct a specific goal of delivering 300 million doses of a safe, effective fda proven vaccine for covid19 by january 2021, and we are seeing that happen at remarkable speed. Not just going to wait for fda approval, they are massproducing those vials right now is that if there is one of those vaccines, its ready to go. We dont start manufacturing at that point and cost us more weeks. We are actually ready to go. Some of that money was money we passed in the cares act that President Trump has used effectively to be ready as the vaccines are being developed and testing phases. Dr. Fauci, i look forward to hearing more about the stunning progress that weve seen researchers make on cures and vaccines. I know youve been involved in research and some of the most awful deadly viruses that weve known in the history of the world, hiv, ebola. Of course, now, corona. We still dont have a vaccine for hiv. Done remarkable work to give therapy so that people can extend their lives. But not a proven vaccine for so many of these. Years and years later and here we are six months into corona, and we are this close to a vaccine. So you look at where weve seen the Chinese Government. We hopefully will get into conversations about how costly it was, how many lives were lost because the Chinese Communist party lied to the world, not just the United States, but the world getting the World Health Organization to give false information in this critical early days. Why dont we now talk about moving into august . A lot of work is being done thao talk about how to safely open schools. More guidance was given as part of this plan by cdc to safely reopen schools. We saw the American Academy of pediatrics gave great guidance on how to safely reopen school and went further and talked about the damage to children when you dont reopen schools. So much damage being done to our children in those systems where they are talking about not reopening. Hopefully, we can shine some light and show those other School Systems how they can safely reopen and serve those children, millions and millions of children who are counting on us to get it right, those School Systems have to get it right. There is money Still Available at every state for sanitizer, for masks, for all the things you need to safely reopen. Its not about money, its the will and desire to do it. Youve been carrying out the president s plan every day we will learn more, every day we will continue to strive to address the new challenges but lets not forget the things that have already been done as part of this plan that have saved millions of lives. We mourn every loss, but lets also recognize the lands that wouldve been lost if you were in on job carrying out President Trumps plan to contain this to find a vaccine which we are on the brink of and to help safely reopen our economy, safely reopen our schools so we can get back to our way of life as we combat this deadly virus. With that, i look forward to hearing from our witnesses. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you, mr. Ranking member prayed i would now like to introduce our witnesses. Today, the select committee is pleased to welcome dr. Anthony fauci, the director of the National Institute of allergies and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of health. We welcome back admiral brett giroir, the assistant secretary for health at the department of health and Human Services. And finally, we welcome dr. Robert redfield, director of the centers for Disease Control and prevention. Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today. Will the witnesses please stand so i may swear the men. Please raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god . You may be seated. Let the record show that the witnesses all answered in the affirmative. Without objection, few written statements will be made part of the record. Dr. Fauci, you are recognized for your Opening Statement. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Ranking Members Police, members of the committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss with you today the role of the National Institutes of health and a Research Endeavor to address covid19. Our Strategic Plan which we put together several months ago embarks on four separate points. The first is to improve fundamental knowledge of the virus in the biology of the virus and the response to the virus. This has led to a delineation of the structure of the famous now spike protein which is the target of virtually all of the vaccines being produced today. To delineate the nature of the receptor in the body to which the virus binds, very important in understanding the path of for physiology and pathogenesis. In addition, a number of Natural History studies including the study that was started in may to understand the role of infection in children and what role they play in spreading the virus. In addition, weve been involved in the second component, which is the development of diagnostics and essays, one of which ill point out to you is the nih rapid acceleration of diagnostics referred to as a red x including that deemed to underserved populations which have very large investment of money to develop pointofcare diagnostics to facilitate even more diagnostic capability. Next is the characterization and testing of therapeutics. Is wellknown now that over the past several weeks, there have been two therapeutics that have passed randomized placebocontrolled trials for individuals late in the course of disease. One of these is remdesivir, a trial run by the nih which showed a statistically significant improvement in the time to survival in individuals who are hospitalized with pulmonary disease. That has now been part of the standard of care and individuals with moderate to advanced disease. In addition, a placebocontrolled randomized trial of dexamethasone showed an improvement in death rate in the highly significant manner individuals on respirators as well as those requiring oxygen. And finally, the development and testing of effective vaccines, several months ago we put together what we call a strategic approach to covid19 Vaccine Research and development. And the reason we did this is because we have multiple candidate vaccines that are moving along at a very rapid pace, and we wanted to make sure we learn from each other. Standardized protocols, safety monitoring boards, common primary and secondary end points and common individual laboratory tests. There are three separate platforms that are being pursued with government health, nucleic acid including moderna, viral factors, and protein subunits. One of these is the trial that started last monday, this past monday, the 27th to begin in a phase three trial. Its a trial that will go over several months involving 30,000 individuals. We hope that as the time we get into the late fall and early winter, we will have a vaccine that we can say would be safe and effective. One can never guarantee the safety or effectiveness unless you do the trial, but we are cautiously optimistic that this will be successful because in the early studies in humans, the phase one study clearly shows that individuals who are vaccinated mounted a neutralizing antibody response that was at least comparable and in many respects better than what we see in convalescent serum to to individuals who have recovered from covid19. As i mentioned in the phase three trial has already started. A 30,000 individuals are already starting to enroll. I might also conclude, members of the committee, to point out that there is a web site called coronavirus prevention network. Org where individuals can actually indicate their willingness to participate in the Clinical Trials and to make sure that we have a diverse representation. Already as of last night, there have been over 250,000 individuals who have registered their interest in being in these trials. I just want to use my last couple of seconds to urge anyone who is listening who wants to participate to please go to that web site and register so you can be part of the solution from this terrible scourge. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you very much, dr. Fauci. We will now hear from admiral gerard. Both are fine. Chairman clyburn, Ranking Members police, and distinguished members of the committee. Is good to see you all again. Testing is an essential component of americas Public Health response to covid19. Covid19. Testing enables clinical decisionmaking. Heralds impending outbreaks. Informs resource allocation and it assists in minimizing economic and social disruption. But we cannot test our way out of this or any other pandemic. Testing does not replace personal responsibility. Does not substitute for avoiding crowded indoor spaces or washing hands were wearing a mask. A negative test does not mean that you wont be positive tomorrow. A negative test does not substitute for avoiding crowds for wearing a mask or protecting the vulnerable with your actio actions. All of that being said as of this morning, the nation has performed over 59 million covid19 tests. Now averaging over 820,000 tests per day up from 850,000 tests per day when i appeared before this Committee Just earlier this month. Since march 12th, we have increased our daily testing over 32000 . Half of these tests are done in either pointofcare technologies and results in 15 minutes or less or local hospitals for which the turnaround time is generally within 24 hours. Labs that do half of the nations testing have become strained. Newly authorized techniques by pulling the novel extraction method, turnaround times are definitely improving. Two to three days. But numbers dont tell the complete story, this is not only about numbers, its about getting the right tests at the right time to the right person with timely and actionable results. We will continue to execute in accordance with our National Testing plan. This plan was initially outlined in the testing blueprint in america again and the addendum to that blueprint. It was in the federal requirements for each states testing plan. Our plan was further detailed in the administrations testing strategy report provided to congress on may 23rd. In short, we are one identifying newly emerging outbreaks early for swift action. Two, diagnosing covid19 rapidly and hospitalizing patients to accelerate receipt of those proven treatments. Three, protecting the vulnerable. About the elderly in high risk racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic minorities. I. Identifying those who are infectious coupled with Contact Tracing. Five, advancing state testing plans to achieve Overall National objectives as well as state specific goals. And six, supporting safe reopening of schools and businesses through surveillance testing that does not impinge upon the clinical diagnostic system. With a limited time i have remaining, i want to highlight two of these objectives. Protecting the elderly has been, is, and will continue to be a form of priority for this administration. And so on july 14th, we announce that every single nursing home in the nation would receive a pointofcare instrument and enough tests for the residents and staff to be tested. We are delivering on this promise. By the end of this week, we will have delivered according to schedule nearly 1 million pointofcare tests to 1,019 of the highest risks Nursing Homes with another 664 Nursing Homes scheduled for next week rated my next point about surveillance testing, we should separate the clinical diagnostic system from the Public Health Surveillance System. Diagnostics are for those who are hospitalized, symptomatic, or with high risk exposures. Surveillance testing can be for College Students or students in k12 or workers in environments that are not high risk or other similar situations. This type of surveillance can occur in labs Like University Research Labs or veterinary diagnostic labs. Outside of the fda authorization system at low cost and very high throughput. We are working closely with states and universities to implement this type of system and many of them like lsu already have. We have all the tools, the supplies, and the Regulatory Framework to enable a robust Surveillance System throughout the nation. In closing, we know how to flatten the curve, slow the spread, and save lives. Where a mask, practice social distancing, avoid crowded indoor spaces, practice good hygiene by washing your hands frequently. You feel sick, stay at home. And protect the elderly and vulnerable populations of all ages through your actions. I look forward to your questions and thank you for the opportunity to provide these remarks. Thank you, admiral jamar. Ranking Members Police and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today with my colleagues. On behalf of the cdc, i want to extend our deepest sympathies for the loss of our nations esteemed georgia congressman and your colleague john lewis. Our nation will remember him for his courage, his conviction, his patriotism, and his commitment to equity for all. The cdc also remembers him as a fierce advocate for Public Health. Working together, we are honored to continue his lifelong commitment to social justice by advancing Health Equity and mitigating the negative impacts of racism on Public Health in our nation. The three of us here are dedicated to providing initiatives to gain the upper hand on this pandemic in the United States and to protect all americans while dedicating greater attention to overcoming the Health Disparities experienced by populations at increased risk for this disease. We are seven months into this Global Pandemic, and it is with great humility that i share with you this is the most complex Public Health response this nation has undertaken in more than a century. This virus is indiscriminate regarding whom and when it strikes. We continue to learn its characteristics, its behavior, and its effect on americans across the socioeconomic spectrum. We are operating in a highly dynamic environment. We are adapting evidencebased strategies and pushing for Innovative Solutions to confront this unprecedented Public Health crisis. While i am optimistic and look forward to discussing the promise of the covid19 vaccine, i want to strongly emphasize that we are not defenseless now. We have powerful tools, and of all of us, not just some of us, but all of us embrace these tools, we will get a handle on this pandemic. I am appealing to all americans to be part of the Public Health solution. Wearing a simple mask properly, its critical to limiting the transmission. Be smart about social distancing and being in crowded spaces, stay 6 feet apart from others if possible and be vigilant about hand hygiene. And together, we can turn the tide of this pandemic. With emergency funding, the cdc has distributed more than 12 billion to the state, tribal, local, and Territorial Health departments to begin building the Public Health infrastructure this nation nee needs. More importantly that our nation deserves. This system has been under invested in for decades and needs to be put on a path for sustained funding now. Data monetization is underway to ensure realtime actual data and Data Analytics and to include predictive data analysis. Labs a restructuring instituting the necessary resilience to rapidly respond to emergencies, Public Health talent is being hired to enhance lab capacity, deployed cuttingedge technology solutions, and conduct effective communitybased Contact Tracing. A legion of Public Health care workers are deployed on the front lines of this pandemic and working 24 7 to protect the health and safety of americans. Cdc staff are on the ground in communities across the nation supporting Public Health partners with an array of expertise. Our state and local partners are committed to advocating and educating about the needs to embrace Public Health strategies that best serve families and their communities. Is essential workers, First Responders, and Health Care Professionals are steadfast and theres service, sacrifice, and commitment to save lives. Please take note and please tend to them as they are attending to us. We cannot afford to do it without them. As i recently told a group of cdc aspiring leaders this week, we are in the arena. We are dedicatin dedicated and d to doing our best and im confident that united, we will emerge better, stronger, and more resilient nation. Adversity requires all of us pushing harder, thinking differently, being innovative, and perhaps most importantly, always seemed impossible of what we can accomplish when we unite and work together. This pandemic has challenged us with its persistence, its uncertainty, and its unpredictability. And yet, i am confident that together we will prevail over this virus but we must lead together in the best interest of our children and our grandchildren, our great grandchildren, and our nations generations to come. Thank you, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you very much, dr. Redfield, and thanks to all of you for your testimonies. Submitted testimony and all entered into the record. I now recognize myself for 5 minutes for questions. On january 31st, 2020, exactly six months ago today, the secretary of health and Human Services declared the coronavirus outbreak, and i quote, a Public Health emergency for the entire United States. But rather than immediately bringing our nation together to tackle the problem, the Trump Administration downplayed the crisis, ignored scientific experts, and deferred to states and the private sector to lead the response. In dr. Fauci, on march 11th of this year, you testified before the Oversight Committee saying, and i quote, its going to get worse. I regret to say you are right. Did get worse. On march 11th, the country had confirmed just over 1200 cases and 31 deaths. Today. We have confirmed more than 4. 4 million cases, and we have just reached 150,000 deaths. Theres a chart i have appeared. This chart appears the number of new daily coronavirus cases in the United States are those in europe. Shows just how much worse the outbreak has been in the United States. The European Union, here the United States. And here is where we are on the way. We started up while the european countries, European Union flat tone and is going down. While europe has largely contain the virus, the United States has seen a contingent rise in new cases. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman for the answer to that question is really somewhat complex, but ill try to very briefly go through what i believe are at least some of the factors that were involved. You look at what happened in europe when they shut down or lock down and went to shelter in place, however you want to describe it, they really did it to the tune of 95 plus percent of the country did that. When you actually look at what we did even though we shut down, even though it created a new degree of difficulty, we really functionally shut down only 50 in the sense of the totality of the country, which means when we reached our peak as they did, they came down almost to a low baseline as he was shown very clearly, but take a look at what happened to our baseline. We came up, down, then plateaued at about 20,000 cases a day. So we started off with a very difficult baseline of transmission that was going on at the time that we tried to open up the country. And when we opened up the country, what we saw particularly most recently in the Southern States was an increase of cases to 20, 30, 40, and in a couple of weeks up to 70,000 per day then narrow down between 50 and 60. The reasons for that are complex. Some states did it very well and some states that did not. And when i say did not, i mean we put out as Ranking Member scalise mentioned the guidelines of the gateway phase one, phase two, and phase three. Some are followed very carefully and some were not in those situations in which they were not, that led to the surgeon you are showing on your chart they are. And what are the reasons is not doing some of the things that dr. Redfield mentioned in his Opening Statement. Universally wearing masks, avoiding crowds, physical distancing, et cetera, et cetera. So its a complicated reason why those charts are that way and hopefully as we are going forward, we can turn those around, and i do believe we can, mr. Chairman, by doing some of the fundamental things that we are talking about. Easy things to do that were mentioned by dr. Redfield. Thank you. Thank you very much. At the risk of going over my time, what im going to do is yield to you, mr. Ranking member, for 5 minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman and i can come appreciate all of you being here. When we talk about President Trumps team that he has been relying on to help put together this plan and this is just a small part of the plan, there are thousands and thousands more pages online of various aspects of President Trumps plan to combat the coronavirus, but we have of course dr. Fauci, dr. Giroir, dr. Redfield, theres a whole array of doctors, medical experts, best in the world that are helping work with President Trump to develop this plan. Is that correct if i could ask any of you . By the way come over any of you sidelined from coming here . I know some people try to use that term that i havent heard of anybody sidelined. You were sidelined, please share it because i havent seen that. Good to see all of you here. Dr. Fauci, let me ask you about some of the decisions that you work with President Trump on in the whole team did. I know when you go back to the beginning of this, the china band was very heavily discussed. Were you involved in working with President Trump on deciding to ban flights from china . Yes, sir. I was. Do you agree on that decision . I do. Do you believe that saved lives . Yes, i do. Did you agree to the decision when we saw the spread in europe and the president recommended that we extend that to europe, did you participate in that discussion . I was actively involved in that discussion, sir. Do you think that decision saved lives . Yes, i do. Was the United Kingdom have an outbreak that there had to be a tough decision made. We are part that decision . I was. Do you agree with that decision as well . I do. That that save lives . Yes. When you look at the 15 days to slow the spread, initially started at 15, we are part of the decision to implement that decision . I was very much involved in that. Then when President Trump met with you and dr. Birx to extend that another 30 days, do you agree with that decision that President Trump made to extend that . Yes, i was very much involved, and i agree with it. So weve heard a lot about disagreements among clearly many decisions made. In fact, internationally respected doctors that are involved in each of those decisions come decisions, is that correct . By and large, would you say you have been in agreement on most of those decisions . We were in agreement on virtually all of those. No i want to ask you dr. Giroir on the testing that you have been involved in to help carry out parts of President Trumps plan. You just talked about over a million testing machines, 15 minute machines that will be brought into Nursing Homes across this country. I know ultimately, it will be 15,000 over 1,000 machines that will be delivered already. Is that plan in place and moving forward based on President Trumps guidance . It is. On that money in part was taken from the cares act, the bill that we work with President Trump to pass in a bipartisan way to this congress, is that correct . Esther, thats correct. Ive heard specifically for nursing home directors that told me this decision will save more lives in Nursing Homes. Have you heard the same . There is no question. I dont think any single decision has had more positive feedback than that one. I know early off, put out guidelines back in march, these were just part of the many guidelines that they have put out on guidance to prevent covid spread in Nursing Homes. We know 45 governors follow this guidance to 85 governors did not follow this guidance, and we saw in those states tens of thousands of seniors in Nursing Homes died who shouldnt have died. This guidance was followed by those governors, do you think they wouldve save more lives . As i have testified here before, i think its a very concerning practice to send an infectious person back to a nursing home. Thank you, and i wish those governors were to follow the guidance that President Trumps team put part of a major overall plan. Dr. Redfield, i want to talk to you about reopening schools. I know youve been very involved in this. Cdc has put out multiple documents of guidance were safely reopening schools. A checklist for parents, check list for teachers, guidance for k12 School Administrators on the use of cloth face masks in schools. I know some people want to make that controversial. This is President Trumps plan to safely reopening schools talking about the use of masks. Here youve got school decisionmaking tools for parents, caregivers, and guardians. These all parts of the president s plan to safely reopen schools . Have you been involved in developing that with President Trump . Do you think that schools should safely reopen this fall with in Person Learning . Yes. I think its important to realize its in the Public Health best interest of k12 soonest to get back in facetoface learning. Theres really very significant Public Health consequences of the school closure. For example, they lack the ability to detect child abuse that occurs and is detected often in schools. Do you know how much child abuse will not be detected if children arent returning to the school . Clearly, seeing less reporting of it and its a direct consequence of the school closures. 7. 1 million kids get their Mental Health service at schools. Nutritional support as we mentioned from schools. An increase in drug use disorder and suicide and adolescent out of individual so i think its really important to realize its not Public Health versus the economy, its Public Health versus Public Health to get the schools open. We have to do it safely and weve got to be able to accommodate creative i appreciate that i know we are out of time. I hope the schools follow President Trump to help those kids by safely reopening. With that, i think our witness is an annual back. Thank you, Ranking Member. The chair now recognizes mr. Maloney for 5 minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and thank you mr. Ranking member, and i want to thank all of our witnesses today, particularly dr. Fauci who was born in the great city of new york and the beautiful borough of brooklyn. New yorkers are very proud that you are a new york raised new york doctor before you became americas doctor, and i must say that as the chairman mentioned when we had our hearing on march 11th which i was privileged to chair when i asked you how was it going to go, you said its going to get worse and worse and worse and the next day, everybody started closing down. Sports clubs, museums, and treating it with the seriousness of the disease had to be treated with. At that hearing when asked about testing, you said, and i quote we are not really geared up to do what we need right now in fact, you said and you called a failing. Now it is five months later. Where would you rate us now in our efforts . I know my city and other cities have worked diligently trying to respond. Where would you put us now with testing, what do we have to do to continue to get better . I think you can get a more detailed response from the admiral but things are considerably different and improved now than it was several months ago both for the numbers of tests that have been improved as well as for the efforts that are going into expanding our capability. In other words, to more prudently have screening testing done in one segment as well as testing to determine diagnosis and followup in others. But doctor is much more qualified. I would like to now move to vaccines. Thats the challenge now, and i recall reading one of your reports on aids, and you said i will never retire until we have a vaccine. We still dont have a vaccine for aids. Ebola took five years. How realistic is a vaccine . Isnt dreaming, or is it a reality . Are the protocols as safe as they possibly could be as weve always had for vaccines, could you give us an honest assessment of where our country is in Vaccine Development . Its reality, congresswoman maloney. I believe it will occur. The difference between hiv and coronavirus is so different that i dont think you can compare them because the body does not make a good immune response against hiv so it made vaccines about them in very difficult where is the body does make a robust immune response against coronavirus which tells us that i believe that we can get to that goal. I noticed some people of this seems like it is so fast, that they might be compromising safety and scientific integrity, and i can tell you that is absolutely not the case. The rapidity with which we are doing it is a result of very different technologies and getting from the time we recognized this pathogen in the beginning of january to the time we were able to get into a phase one trial the time we were able to do phase two and then as i mentioned just this past monday, we started phase three. That was not reckless rushing. That was technology and doing things in a way that does not compromise any of the steps. So i believe it is realistic as i mentioned to my Opening Statement that the early data from the phase one trial shows that this candidate, and im sure other candidates will do it also. This is not the only vaccine. There are more than one. There were about a dozen, five or six at the federal government is actively involved with going into phase three trials over the next few months as i mentioned, one of which is already in. The response that was induced was really quite favorable, and as ive said often and ill repeat it for the record now, theres never a guarantee that youre going to get a safe and effective vaccine but for everything we seem now in the animal data as well as the early human data, we feel cautiously optimistic that we will have a vaccine by the end of this year and as we go into 2021. So i dont think its dreaming, congresswoman. I believe its a reality and shown to be a reality. Thats very good news. The second step is how do we distribute it and reports are that china and russia are involved in their tests and they have advanced tests across the world testing in brazil, indonesia for their vaccines, should they develop one earlier, would we manufacture it here . When we develop it, how do we plan to distribute it . We also have to think about the world because if we dont cure it in the world, then we havent cured it. So the step forward after the vaccines developed. A couple of questions they were all try to answer quickly. The first thing is i do hope that the chinese on the russians are actually testing the vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone. Because claims of having a vaccine ready to distribute before you do testing i think is problematic at best. In we are going very quickly. I do not believe that they will be vaccines so far ahead of us that we will have to depend on other countries to get us vaccines. I believe the program that is being sponsored by us right now and being directed and implemented by us is going at a very rapid speed. Prudent, but rapid. With regard to distribution, already, there are plans as was mentioned by Ranking Members of the lease that we are taking at risk, financial risk, not safety risk, but financial risk, the development of doses of vaccine right now as we speak so that we will be ready by the time we do show safety and efficacy will be able to distribute it. And it will be done by a number of mechanisms, the standard mechanism working with a recommendation together with the cdc now being complemented by recommendations from the National Academy of medicine and in collaboration with the department of defense and the cdc working together, it will be distributed. Thank you. My time has expired. Thank you very much, dr. Fauci. The chair now recognizes for 5 minutes. Thank you. Thank you for your service and thank you for being here today. I think arguably the most important thing the federal government is working on right now is ensuring and im an optimist that we are going to use the term when and not if when it comes to getting a vaccine grade shown through trials to be safe and effective that we have manufacturing Distribution Capabilities to go and get it across the nation quickly prayed i believe that. President trump has already announced operation warp speed to achieve the goal of delivering 300 million doses of an improved vaccines by 2021. Is leveraging the full strength of the public and private sectors, the partnerships that are there and becoming partnerships and it is unprecedented in this country and i salute that. Astrazeneca told the energy and Commerce Committee a few days ago that this deal stipulates it will sell 300 million doses the government had no profit. Johnson johnson similarly provided the vaccine on a notforprofit price and other companies have also promised low prices. Between the promises for low prices and existing Government Programs that cover the cost of a vaccine, is it safe to say that every american will be able to get a vaccine once its approved . Given what youve mentioned, which i agree with, the promises of the country about hundreds of millions of doses, i believe ultimately over a period of time in 2021 if we have and i think we will have a safe and effective vaccine that americans will be able to get it. I dont think that will have everybody getting it immediately in the beginning. Probably will be phased in, and thats the reason why we have the committee is to do that prioritization of who should get it first. But ultimately within a reasonable period of time, the plans now allow for any american who needs a vaccine to get it within the year 2021. That is the plan. Staying on the topic of vaccine, its my understanding that operation warp speed enabled Clinical Trials for the most promising vaccine candidates to be run simultaneously which will get a vaccine to the market much faster than normal. In my understanding from listening to you just a few minutes ago, we have eliminated no safety steps in the vaccine approval process, correct . That is correct. Just to be clear, the folks that are watching this are hearing this clearly, concisely, and truthfully from you, the fda has not compromising Safety Standards in order to speed up vaccine process approval, correct . I would say it a different way. In we had the nah are doing the vaccine studies with the companies. The fda will look at that data and on a sciencebased decision will make a determination as to the safety and efficacy and whether or not it will be approved. So the fda is a sciencebased decision maker. As far as you know in that. I agree, the fda is not compromising Safety Standards . No. No way, no how is the fda compromising Safety Standards and they are based on science. Historically, the fda has based their decisions on science. And they will do it this time also. I appreciate it prayed thank you for your assurances that we will have a safe and affordable and widely available vaccine for the American People. All america is hoping this comes through thats why im so disappointed we have seen some on the other side of the aisle speculate allow that the administration might rush an unsafe vaccine to the market before the election to help President Trump politically. This irresponsible rhetoric only serves to plant irrational fears in the minds of americans. Im worried that enough of these types of attacks could result in people avoiding an improved vaccine when it does come to market, when it is available for americans. Dr. Fauci, can you address this once and for all . Wed and demonstration approve a vaccine thats not safe and do you share my concern about the danger of undermining faith in the vaccine and Development Process . The commission of fda dr. Stephen hahn has assured me and has spoken publicly that he would make sure any decision on the part of the fda will be based on sound Scientific Data proving the safety and efficacy. He has told me that and hes been very public about that. Given that, i think the American Public should be assured that in the process of determining the safety and efficacy, the proper steps have been taken to determine that and when a vaccine becomes available, its important for their own health and for the health of the country to take the vaccine. I appreciate that. I cant let this moment pass without bringing it to all of our attention again into the chairman that just last week, the Justice Department indicted two chinese nationals for hacking companies that are working on a vaccine. We sent a strong message to china this will not be tolerated. Im glad the administration took action by naming and shaming those involved as well as closing down a chinese consulate that was a hub for intellectual property and trade secret theft. We must hold china accountable, mr. Chairman. We have to. Before a close, can you commit to holding a hearing on the threat of chinese espionage on vaccine products . Mr. Chairman . Whoever is sitting in for mr. Chairman . Will you promise me that we will hold a hearing on the threat of chinese espionage on vaccine producers . The chairman is not here to answer the question. You have a few seconds left, your time has expired. This is a grave threat. For the record, this is a grave threat to our country and china is hacking our companies. I hope that chairman will take my recommendation. I yield back. Thank you very much. I will not recognize myself for 5 minutes. On july 10th, the Trump Administration ordered hospitals to change how they report hospitalization rates, testing numbers, and other data related to the coronavirus. Instead of reporting to the cdc which hospitals have done for more than a decade, they were instructed to start reporting the data to the Trump Administration directly, specifically department of health and Human Services. They were given just two days to prepare for this drastic change, leading Health Groups warned that the changes in data reporting will worsen our ability to mitigate, suppress, and recover from a national Public Health emergency. Other experts are concerned that this decision may have been made so the Trump Administration could control and high data. Fights politically inconvenient. Dr. Redfield, when did you first learn that the Administration Plan to move the data from the cdc to a different portal run by hhs . We werent directly involved in the final decision, but what i can say is that cdc then and now continues to have access to all data, does all Data Analytics, so there is no restriction of any of the data, and that data we continue to forward a face to the American Public. When did you first learn . When were you first told . Again, it is a mention, i wasnt involved in the decision. In i dont remember the exact date. Am i to understand that you were not told it all . I was told once the secretarys office made the decision that that was a decision, and we work together. How long was that . I dont remember, but i can get back to you the exact date. We did work in cooperation to help make sure. Did you agree with this decision, dr. Redfield . I think it was an important decision. Do you agree with the decision . Yes, i said its an important decision. Did you discuss this change with Vice President pence or secretary azar . Not directly. Indirectly . I talk directly with the individuals responsible within the secretarys office. Did you discuss it with Vice President pence . No. That you discuss it with secretary azar . No. Who told you about the reasons for this change . I think we collectively understood the reasons, if i can answer, is there was substantial advancements in therapeutics with remdesivir, which made it really important to be able to understand who was newly hospitalized in real time that day so allocations of remdesivir to get to that hospital. I thank you very much for that. So you developed their reasons, no one dictated the reasons are told you the reasons for the change, you came up with the reasons . Yes, i think it was important that we were able to enter real time be able to know where remdesivir needed to go on a system that we had developed at the national Health Care Safety network that we do. So were you told about the changes, why they were being done, or did you and others develop the changes . Who told you . We worked cooperatively together, the members of the hhs and cdc in recognizing the importance of these. Only have so much time for the Trump Administration has threatened to cut off the supplies of remdesivir. The hospitals that do not follow the new reporting mandates. This is the only drug known to successfully treat the coronavirus bridge to the patient be denied access to a potentially lifesaving drug like rimmed a severe because a hospital was unable to comply with the sudden change in hhs reporting requirements . My understanding as we continue to do everything to make sure remdesivir gets to all patients that would potentially benefit from it. But do you agree they may not be able to get them to patients because of the way the information was given and the time frame it was given an . I would disagree. I think the reason the changes were made was to ensure individuals could get access to remdesivir in a timely fashion. Would you agree that we basically this is the only drug known to successfully treat the coronavirus. Should they have access to remdesivir because a hospital is unable to comply with the sudden change in hhs reporting requirements . Again, im trying to say i think the intent and the consequences that patients are not denied access so to make sure that we have distribution to the hospitals. Thank you very much. Ive used my time. Next, we will hear from mr. Foster, i believe. You are recognized for 5 minutes. Think you and thank you witnesses for being here. I appreciate your testimony and expertise. On tuesday, july the 14th, you stated that right now, we are seeing far greater suicides and we are deaths from covid. Seeing a far greater from Drug Overdose then we have is background and we are seeing deaths from covid. Since the pandemic began, alcohol sales have increased by more than 205 and suspected overdoses have claimed 18 . Ive said this almost every hearing. We need to make sure we are looking at both sides of this health care issue, targeting our approach to take care of covid but also need to make sure we are looking at the severe unintended consequences like Substance Abuse, domestic violence, child abuse that are occurring due to the economic shutdowns to place across the country because these instances will be around far longer than the virus itself. So dr. Redfield, do you believe the blanket shutdowns happening around the country are committing to drastic increases in Substance Abuse and suicide, lack of cancer screenings and treatments in operations and other things like that that we still have left out of the picture here as a result of our total focus on covid . I think it for the question. I think it is really important as we reopen america now that we are much more surgical about those situations that are curtailed. As you mentioned, we clearly have consequences for the decreased immunization and children, clearly consequences for the lack of cancer screening, clearly consequences for delayed surgeries that were elective that now are consequences to Substance Abuse and Mental Health services. So it is important as we reopen our nation that we really ensure that there is not these unintended consequences that i think the reality is due to cure during march, april, and may. There was an article in one of the local magazines with regards to trying to quantify that figure, and they came up with 65 people that were dying due to lack of health care that was either being postponed, denied, waived, whatever versus our total focus on covid. Dr. Fauci, i have watched a number of your press conferences, and i have seen you articulate a lot about covid, but ive never seen you talk about this other part of the health care spectrum that we need to be concerned also, would you like to comment on that and give your position on that and . I actually have commented on that when ive said most recently talking about schools that i think the default position was trying as best as we possibly can and the teachers to open the schools for the very reasons that i think you mentioned and dr. Redfield mentioned because of the negative consequences on children from a psychological standpoint as well as the unintended consequences on families. One of the problems we all have here on this committee as we are sitting here looking at the consequences of a problem that we have with covid looking at the consequences we have are not attending to the Health Care Needs of the rest of society, and we have to sit here and figure out how to be managed blake how do we look at both sides of blake how do we from 30,000 feet make sure everybody is taken care of, and in our position, what would you recommend how we should approach this problem . I just want to echo what dr. Fauci said earlier. We think that we can do five things, we can accomplish as much as we did shutting down this nation. And where Face Covering. All those things will put us back. We can get back without these unintended consequences. The face mask, the social distancing, staying smart about gatherings, and staying out of crowded bars in crowded restaurants. We did those five things, weve done modeling data, we get the same bang for the buck as if we just shut the entire economy down. Okay. You commented quite a bit this morning already on the School Openings in your comment was is not about the economy or Public Health, its a book health versus Public Health. Ive got some grandkids who i want to go back to school for their own health and i think you made the comment you have grandchildren in the hope to see that happen as well. Would you like to comment on the other part of this again, the unintended consequences of the problems with child abuse not being reported because a lot of it is reported by teachers . Weve seen it go down, seen emergency cases go up as a result of this, can you comment on some of that, please . Mech i just want to reemphasize because i dont think i can emphasize it enough as the director for centers of Disease Control, it is in the Public Health interest of the students to get these schools back open for facetoface learning. Mental health service, 7. 1 million kids get it in school. Nutrition, we talked about. Reporting of child abuse, sexual abuse, mandatory in schools. The isolation that these adolescents are feeling that now is associated with increase in Drug Overdose, that is over increased suicides. I think it is really important as a grandfather of 11 grandkids, i want these kids back in school. I have one grandchild with cystic fibrosis. I wanted done smartly, but i think we have to be honest that the Public Health interest of the students in this nation right now is to get a quality education in facetoface learning and we need to get on with it. The gentlemans time has expired. The chair and recognizes for 5 minutes ms. Velasquez. Thank you, mr. Chairman and Ranking Member. Gentlemen, it has been six months since this crisis began, yet new infections are still climbing in many states. Many hospitals are at capacity and thousands of americans are dying. I am concerned about widespread delays and test results contributing to these problems. In arizona, the test Positivity Rate is over 20 , but test results there have been delayed by up to 16 days. In florida, many hospitals in the state are near or at capacity, but results can take over a week. In georgia, some companies have reported average processing times of five to ten days. Dr. Fauci, you said in a recent interview, and i quote, if youre going to do Contact Tracing and the test comes back in five to seven days, you might as well not do Contact Tracing because its already too late. Dr. Fauci, if a fiveday testing delay delay is too long, then is it fair to say that a 16 date delay is absurd . What are the consequences from this delay . I believe you can get a more detailed answer from admiral giroir, but as i said before, that is a delay that would interfere with the effect of Contact Tracing and trying to decrease that, but the exact numbers of the delay i believe admiral giroir has more precise information on that. Yes, sir. What are the consequences from these delays . Thank you. As i talked about, half the tests are done at point of care were in hospitals which are pretty rapid, the current data we have from these large commercial labs are that 59 of all tests are reported within three days, 76 within five days, and i am sure there is an outlier at 12 to 16 days because that happens, but its very atypical in in the cities you talked about. That is not what we are hearing from places like arizona, florida, and georgia. I get the data every single morning from every single state and can tell you specifically what that is, and we have surged testing. We have broad federal resources in phoenix thats why its totally gone down in miami, totally gone down in jacksonville. Reclaiming my time dr. Redfield, i would like to turn to you. The cdc has comprehensive information about the wait times for test results in all 50 states. I couldnt quite hear you, sorry. Does the cdc have comprehensive information about the wait times for test results in all 50 states . I would refer to that question back to the admiral. Sir . Yes, we have comprehensive information on the wait times in all 50 states from the large commercial. And do you publish this data . We talk about it always. You dont think it would be important . We talk about that frequently. So if you would like to see that, im very happy to do that. It would be great so that those that are making decisions on the state and city level we have access to that information because it is important to understand it. They do have that information. From the commercial labs when they place an order, they are told exactly what the expected wait time is for that order. So we cannot expect to reopen the economy safely if the virus is spreading unchecked. Testing, Contact Tracing, and isolation will not be effective unless we have a turnaround time for a test. I dont want to talk about puerto rico, thats another story. Chairman powell said this week that the path of the economy is going to depend to a very high extent on the course of the virus and on the message that we take to keep it in check. He said also that the fed will use its full range of tools to steer the economy out of recession. Gentlemen, if the federal government using its full range of tools to get the virus under control like other countries have . Many states are reconsidering their reopening plans after experiencing a shocking increase in new cases and being unable to stop the spread. Dr. Fauci, what role does the lack of testing and Contact Tracing play in the states inability to virus . Testing and Contact Tracing is one of a number of tools that i used two control the kind of surgeon we have seen, but i would also like to point out, to reemphasize again what i said in my Opening Statement that we could do a really good job of controlling it if we paid attention to five fundamental principles, one of which is what were doing here with masks, crowds, distance, bars, washing hands. That is critical. Testing is absolutely an important part of it. I understand that, but the largest, most important pulpit is the one on pennsylvania avenue. Doesnt matter what you say if what you said is undermined by the president of the United States. The gentle ladies time has expired. The chair now recognizes for 5 minutes mr. Jordan. Dr. Fauci, the protests increase the spread of the vir virus . Du protests increase the spread of the virus . I think i can make a general statement. Have a million protesters, that number of people increasing the spread of the virus. Crowding together particularly when not wearing a mask contributes to the spread of the virus. Should we limit the protesting . Im not sure what you mean. How do we say limit the protest . To the government limit the protesting . I dont think thats relevant. You just said if it increases the spread of the virus. Im just asking should be limited . Im not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way. You make all kinds of recommendations, comments on dating and baseball and everything you can imagine. You just said protests increase the spread, should we try to limit the protests . I would leave that to people who have more of a position to do that. I can tell you. The government has stopped people from going to church, dr. Fauci. Last week in the Calvary Chapel case, five liberal said it was okay for nevada to limit Church Services. Justice gorsuch said it best, theres no world in which the constitution permits nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel. Is there a world where the constitution says you can favor one First Amendment liberty protesting over another practicing your faith . Im not favoring anybody over anybody. Im just making a statement that is a broad statement that avoid crowds of any type no matter where you are because that leads to the acquisition and transmission. And i dont judge one crowd versus another crowd. When youre in a crowd particularly if you are not wearing a mask, that increases the spread. Its a simple question, should we limit the protests . The government is limiting people going to church. There has been no violence that i can see at church. I havent seen people doing a Church Service go out and harm Police Officers or burn buildings but we know for 63 days, nine weeks has been happening in portland. One night in chicago, 49 officers were injured, but no limit to protests, but you cant go to church on sunday. I dont know how many times i can answer that. I am not going to opine on limiting anything. Youve opined on a lot of things. This is something that directly impacts the spread of the virus and im asking your position on the protests. Im not going to opine on limiting anything. Im telling you what is the danger, and you can make your own conclusion about that. He should stay away from crowds no matter where the crowds are. The government has stopped people from going to work. Just in new jersey four days ago, ian smith and Frank Trombetta were arrested for opening up trying to operate their business, their gym. They were arrested. But my bet is if these two individuals who own this gym or outside just in front of their gym and all the people who are working out in their gym or outside protesting, they would have been just fine but because they were in the gym working out, they got arrested. Do you think thats okay . Im not going to opine on who gets arrested and who does not. You get where im going . Im telling you is a Public Health official i say crowds. Do you see the inconsistency . There is no inconsistency, congressman. So youre allowed to protest millions of people on one day in crowds yelling and screaming but you try to run your business and you get arrested and if you stood right outside that same business and protested, he wouldnt get arrested . He wouldnt see the inconsistency there . I dont understand what youre asking me as a Public Health official to opine on who should get arrested or not. Thats not my position. Youve advocated for certain businesses to be shut down. Im just asking you on your position on the protests. I havent seen one weve heard a lot about hair salons but i havent seen one hairstylist to between haircuts goes out and attacks police are set something on fire, weve seen all kind of that stuff during protests and we know the protests increase the spread of the virus. You said that. I said crowds. I didnt say specifically. I didnt say protests do anything. So they dont increase the spread of the virus . I didnt say that, youre putting words in my mouth. I just want an answer to the question, do they increase and spread to the virus . I dont have Scientific Evidence of anything. Crowds are known particularly when you dont have a mask to increase the acquisition and transmission. No matter what. So you dont have a position on whether the protests increase the spread of the virus or dont increase the spread of the virus . I am saying that crowds wherever the crowds are can give you an increase probability that there is going to be acquisition and transmission. Do you understand americas concern . Protesting just according to democrats is just fine, but you cant go to work, you cant go to school, you cant go to church. Theres limits placed on all three of those fundamental activities, but protesting is just fine. The gentlemans time has expired, but i would just ask the gentleman to just think about his question and put it in reference to crowds at political meetings, at fundraisers without masks in texas, nobody wearing a mask, nobody social distancing, but a fundraiser. Would that be problematic . With that, i yield 5 minutes to mr. Foster. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Dr. Fauci and dr. Redfield, im a scientist as you are, and so you know how important it is that when a great scientific breakthrough reaches, that the proper credit is given not just of those who claim credit but to the long list of federally funded researchers who have made these breakthroughs possible and also to the enlightened federal employees and those who funded that research. I remember when we had newspaper headlines about all of their miraculous cures and cancer immunotherapy where i gave a floor speech on the u. S. House saying this was great, but equally great for that decades of federally funded research and the researchers who made those clinical breakthroughs possible, and also frankly that some of the credit goes to the democratic and republican members of congress who resisted the proposals for massive budget cuts to science that were proposed by republicans for years and by the trump and Mick Mulvaney budget cuts since then. In the case of the vaccines that have been so much of the news this week, the story does not start with operation warp speed. Does not even start with a historic 63 day sprint from the publication of the viral genome to the first patient injected by the test vaccines. This print i believe began when President Trump this began when President Trump was still ridiculing the idea of the pandemic. The spread actually started when dedicated employees at nih and motor and a who understood the danger of covid19 and working day and night, the story of federal investments actually starts i believe back in 2009 when president obama who was at the time unhappy with the speed of response to the h1n h1n1 swie flu epidemic convened his scientific advisor, which they did back in those days, and famously asked them if you guys are so smart, how come you still make vaccines with chicken eggs . So one year later in august 2,010th, put out a report on reengineering vaccine pandemics which emphasize the report of new technologies to make vaccines and therapeutics available far faster and a pandemic. Heeding the advice of the Scientific Panel which they did back in those days in 2013, the Obama Administration aborted 25 million grant to a startup called moderna to develop their vaccine platform for pandemic response. This was followed in 2015 by 125 Million Investment so that by the end of the Obama Administration, they had vaccines and therapeutics under tests in both animals and humans. So why is it that the Obama Administration prioritized vaccines and therapeutics . First off, its their speed of development, which we saw realized in the 63 day sprint. Is the speed of manufacture which has to do with the high yields of in vitro transcription reactions. And their potency. Scientifically, the exciting news of the last few months is that a potent human immune response can come from doses as low as 30 micrograms of the vaccine. So what does that mean . What it means is that this 1 liter bottle if it were full of the vaccine would contain over 30 million doses. This is enough to vaccinate every one of americans, doctors, and First Responders and seniors over 75 years old, and that is why the Obama Administration invested in the vaccines and therapeutics starting back in 2009 and without those investments, project warp speed would not have squat. Dr. Fauci, would you agree that when there are great medical breakthroughs, the public needs to be reminded about the long line of federal r d that has led to vaccine and therapeutic that we are obtaining . Yes, congressman, and even goes beyond what youre saying. Everything you say is very well taken, and i think its a good time to recognize the fact that the generosity of congress through multiple administrations both democratic and republican and whether or not the congress was controlled by democrats or republicans support for Biomedical Research that goes back decades leading to everything that you are talking about, but even before then, some of the antibody work, some of the work that is being done with the molecules that are directly antiviral molecules, we often forget that when we think of the product as i think youve appropriately pointed out. What advancement should we be making now to make sure we are better prepared for future pandemics and how can we support those investments with a kind of science budget cuts that we are seeing proposed in the trump and Mick Mulvaney budgets . I hope we dont get cuts, but we have been very. Theyve been proposed again and again. Okay. It looks like my time is up. Mr. Chairman, over here. I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a story from june 5th, 2020 underscoring what dr. Fauci wouldnt answer today. Dr. Fauci says large protests taking place across the country are perfect set up for covid19. Of he said that a month ago, thats a story from Business Insider but also ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the june 12 story dr. Fauci tells abc powerhouse politics that attending rallies, protests is risky even though today his position seems to have changed. Obviously has change on many things many times of the last several months. I would ask to enter those two articles into the record. I would yield to dr. Fauci. Like i said, any crowd, any crowd, whether a protest, but any crowd in which we have people close together without masks is a risk, and i will stick by that statement. Its a Public Health statement. Its not a judgment on why you were there in the crowd, it is a statement related to the fact that you are in the crowd. Thank you, dr. Fauci. I didnt ask him a question and you let him respond to it i was making unanimous consent. And im going to run this meeting. I would like a chance to respond. Im going to chair this meeting. Without objection, your statements, whatever youve got there will be entered into the record. And without objection, in a gathering, whether you are protesting or whether you are politicking in a gathering will be risky, and that is what the man has said. Thats not whats happening. Thats my point. Youre telling me people cant go to church, can go to work. That gentleman is out of order. That goes for the democrats and republicans prayed ill make the decision as to who was out of order. Im going to be as gentlemanly as you will allow me to be. I appreciate it. Thank you. With that, i yield 5 minutes to mr. Green. Thank you, Ranking Member and witnesses for your Amazing Service to our country. First dr. Fauci, there was a bit of an uproar about a picture of you at the nationals game without your mask on. I think you were seated with your wife, you had a close friend there was no one else nearby you. And that gentleman who was with you had his mask on. I think you have said in the press since you took it off to take a drink of water. I just want to point out according to an article in the new england journal of medicine, and i quote, significant exposure to covid19 means facetoface contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic covid19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes and some say more than 10 minutes or 30 minutes, the chance of catching covid19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. The science seems to be pretty clear, we should absolutely wear masks when we are in close contact with those outside of our household. I think that was the conclusion of that discussion. Its not a crime to pull your mask off to take a drink of water in 100degree temperature when you were seated next to your wife and someone else as they. I make the point to show how the media has created all of this hype which has led to some officials across the country making decisions that are not based on science, and there are real consequences to those. If people are hot, they shouldnt get heat stroke and not their mask off. Id like to move on to some other troubling actions that were done this week. This week, the chairman of the committee sent four letters all to republican governors and red states demanding extensive documents related to coronavirus response. The White House Coronavirus Task Force Report has 21 states listed in the socalled red zone. This isnt about transparency, its about ridiculing states including my home state of tennessee and it distorts the truth. The letter singled out four g. O. P. States but what about the other 17 states . Why didnt california get included in the letter . Theyve seen an explosion and positive cases. They are in this bike, in the 21 listed red zone states targeting only republican governors when clearly 17 other states, many of whom are democrat are also experiencing spikes and in the red zone shows this effort has nothing to do with getting answers and as the chairman has said in his opening comments, politics over science. No scientist who wants the truth samples just republicans. Honestly, it is a laughable partisan strike. Also compounds that insult to all americans for the failure of this committee to look at the real culprit. As i said in previous testimony, Columbia University study showed that 66 of american deaths could have been prevented if china had spoken up one week earlier. In thats thousands of american lives that could have been saved. So instead of addressing the cause of 66 of our casualties, the select committee on the coronavirus and now four state governors all republican when we know other blue states are in the exact same situation. This is the definition of partisanship, but i can hear it now. Didnt the right send a letter to certain governors, and yes we did. We sent it to every single governor who refused to follow the trump plan, emphasis on plan and send covid positive patients back to Nursing Homes, killing patients. We didnt select just a few of those beautiful i applaud congressman foster who approached me as a physicia phyn with the administration to assist in the execution of operation warp speed plan. Thats how we should be functioning. That kind of bipartisan action. Finally, on a positive note, i wanted to mention a swedish study and asked dr. Fauci some questions about that because i think it really illuminates some of the exciting findings in science. A type of white blood cell that regulates immune response, a swedish study found that many people with mild asymptomatic covid demonstrate socalled t cell immunity to the coronavirus bear the study further found that twice as many who tested positive for antibodies to t cell immunity, so we know there are tons of people out there with immunity that we are testing. I would love if you could comment, educate america and all of us a little bit on t cell immunity and what the ramifications are to the plans, thank you. Thank you very much, sir. I will quickly try to answer that. There are two limbs of the immune response. One is an antibody which is a protein that is made by the selves of the body to bind to the virus and is usually the hallmark of protection against infection. Theres another lamb of the immune response called a cellular response in thats t cells and they have the ability of suppressing or killing cells that are infected and preventing the cells that are infected from making new viruses. So there are two parts of it. Even though one is generally felt to be protecting against the initial infection, the other is an important complement, and youre right, the swedes came out with a paper from nih grantees that just came out in the journal showing the same thing, that individuals who were infected and recovered had t cell responses but importantly, it was also detected in nonexposed individuals, which means that may be there was some memory from other coronavirus that are benign, cold viruses that you are exposed to that might, and i say might explain why some people, even children might be protected that they had exposure thats not measured in antibodies but measured by t cells. This is work that we really need to pursue and we are just at the cusp of understanding the importance of this type of response in covid19. Thank you. Thank you. The gentlemans time has expired and as i yield for 5 minutes, may i address a letter which i have responded to, you have an answer from me. You have not seen the answer . Okay. Since you put that on the record here, let me put my response on the record. My response had to do with the states that have refused to comply with the critical recommendations from the task force and all 4 have governors who have publicly stated that they do not plan to comply. Through contrast of that, we did not send a letter to those states that did indicate that they will comply with the task force and three of those states had republican governors and they did not get a letter from us, so this has nothing to do with partisanship, but the political response rather than responding to science and ill respond to it. For calling this hearing on the urgent need for National Plan a stack of paper is not a plan. A large and unwieldy stack of paper is not a plan. A plan is a comprehensive and coordinated strategy for victory, and we havent seen anything like a plan, blaming other countries is not a plan, blaming china is not a plan. Not even a good excuse for the lethal incompetence of President Trump. In chinas early coverup of the disease only deepens the responsibility and complicity of President Trump who on 37 different occasions as demonstrated by submissions to this committee defended and excused and praised the Chinese Government and president xi. A plan is a plan, and we havent heard what the plan is, and this is what has bedeviled us from the beginning. Mr. Chairman, weve got 4. 4 million cases. We lead the world in case count. We leave the world in death count. In more than 153,000 americans are dead right now. 54 Million People filed for Unemployment Benefits. We have seen a onethird drop in gdp, a onethird drop, unprecedented in economic activity. The chart behind me demonstrates the astonishing and terrifying growth of this disease. Took us 90 days to reach 1 million cases. Took us 44 days to reach 2 million cases. Took 26 days to reach 3 million cases, and it took us only 15 days to reach 4 million cases. Director redfield, when do you estimate we will get the 5 million cases . Whats next . Thank you, congressman. I think one thing ive learned about this virus is its not predictable. I will say one thing thats important, what happens next is really dependent upon if the American Public fully embraces what weve asked, if they fully embrace those five steps, we will get control of this pandemic. I think you for that and i think both of you and dr. Fauci for announcing the imperative of people wearing their masks when out in public and everybody maintaining social distancing and following Public Health protocols, but the Public Health officials have been subjected to harassment and even seen some today have been subjected to ridicule had have been subjected to ludicrous and absurd contradiction. So i want to go through some of the propaganda and disinformation quickly dressed as a Public Service announcement because america is watching you and dr. Fauci, why dont i start with you . Our children almost immune to the disease . Yes or no because i have a lot to get through. Our children almost immune to the disease . You have to be more precise. Do children get infected . Yes, they do. Hundreds and thousands of children been infected . Hundreds of thousands of children infected, so they are not almost immune to the disease. Is covid19 going to magically disappear, dr. Fauci . I do not believe it would disappear because it is such a highly transmissible virus. Is unlikely it is going to disappear. Does wearing a mask give people covid19 . Is wearing a mask give it . No. Not to my knowledge. Is covid19 a hoax . No. Should people take hydroxychloroquine as a cure for covid19 . The overwhelming cumulative evidence of properly conducted a randomized controlled trials indicate no therapeutic efficacy of hydroxychloroquine. And people cure themselves of covid19 by injecting themselves with disinfectant . Or bleach . No. Are you safe from the disease if you go to one of the aforementioned large assemblies, crowds, demonstrations without a mask on and not observing social distancing if you sign a waiver and that you wont sue the sponsor of the event . Im not so sure those things are connected but ill repeat what ive said multiple times that being in a crowd particularly without a mask is a risk for acquisition and transmission. But signing a waiver doesnt confer any kind of immunity on you from being infected by the disease . No, of course not. Okay. Dr. Fauci, the european governments are in a completely different place where theyve got the disease on the run. In fact, the Asian Countries have the disease on the run. I saw some remarkable figures almost every other country on earth is doing far better than the United States except for brazil whose president has followed President Trumps policies, but we have 153,000 dead. Canada, our nextdoor neighbor has less than 9,000. We have 17 times the number of deaths from it. China which of course is much larger than the United States has lost 4,661 people. We lost 153,000 people. Our rate of death is 36 times higher than china and on and on. Do we have the Financial Resources in a scientific expertise to do what other governments have done to bring the infection rate down to something manageable so the end is in sight of this nightmare . I do believe we have the tools and theres been a considerable degree. So what is the difference, why are all of these other countries defeating the disease and we are not . Why do we not have a plan, a strategy for victory to win to be covid19 . I believe i addressed that in not only my Opening Statement but also in response to the question of the congressman, and that is when you look at the comparison between asia and europe has is shown by the chairman poster up there that when they shut down, they shut down to the tune of 49 getting their baseline down to tens of hundreds of cases per day. When we did it, we got it down but unfortunately, our baseline was 20,000 a day. We are getting somewhere but would you agree with me that the critical difference is either the presence or the absence of social cohesion and Political Leadership to actually develop a plan, execute it, and stick to it. I think there is such a diversity of response in this country from different states that we really did not have a unified bring everything down. The gentlemans time has expired but dr. Fauci, if youd like to add more to his question. No, i think i just answered the question. The end of it was essentially do we need to stop these disgraceful th attacks on Public Health officials . The gentlemans time has expired. I recognized mr. Kemp. Think youre to the witness is coming out here today. A quick question to the threeyear view of yes and no if youre able to. It comes from a constituent of mine and the constituent asked me, and i wanted to ask you, would you assess that our federal government, the cdc included is doing Everything Possible to respond to the coronavirus . Sandra we are going to take a quick break from this hearing happening on capitol hill and go to washington where Kayleigh Mcenany is holding a White House Press briefing. She is giving an update on the Coronavirus Relief package, lets listen in. 5 billion which was deemed insufficient so if democrats were interested in extending Unemployment Insurance and helping the American People, they wouldve endorsed the Martha Mcsally bill and extended this by a week to give us time because we tried to extend this in perpetuity while we also focused on evictions. What do you say to those americans . They need to be calling the offices of Chuck Schumer in nancy pelosi insane get to work and stop engaging in politics on the backs of hardworking americans who deserve these checks and lost their jobs there were no fault of their own. Thats a question for Mitch Mcconnell, he said thats going to be a part of any bill but that is Mitch Mcconnells priority, this president is very keenly focused on Unemployment Insurance and Martha Mcsally has had a great of what republicans are focused on. Counting ballots in the election, why isnt the president on this bright house doing everything it can to secure more funding for staffing and other resources to make sure that we can have a safe and proper election . With this white house is focused on is making sure that our election is not riddled with voting fraud and that the timetable is not hung up here. There are several lawsuits that the campaign has engaged on and i would point you to the campaign. My question is what is the white house doing to get more resources for funding and staff to make sure the president says there will be a secure and safe election . States run their elections, and it is up to states to make sure that they have the capacity. But what this white house is focused on is ensuring that what Jeffrey Toobin has said at the new yorker, new yorks primary vote count chaos signals trouble for november and as he noted, you want to talk about the president , but democrats control the State Government of new york. They are responsible for creating whats unfolding now and that is certain to get worse in november. The states need to get their act together when it comes to elections, and as we see in new york where we are five weeks out from that election and we still dont know the outcome of a congressional race and that is not what we want to see. You asked why i was asking about the president print im asking because you work for the president. The question is the association of the organization and 28 and 2012, supported barack obama and joe biden. In 2015, didnt support either candidate and now in 2020, endorsing President Trump. So what does the white house attribute to the change of support . Clearly a change in the democratic party. When you look at the polling, defunding the police, abc news, 64 opposed defunding the police, Huffington Post 67 oppose, 59 oppose but make no mistake, democrats want to defund our Law Enforcement when it comes at a time were 64 of americans say they are concerned that growing criticism of Americas Police will lead to a shortage of Police Officers and reduce Public Safety in a community where they live. The American People have seen very clearly where they stand at an unacceptable place and i think this administration has shown a Great Respect for Law Enforcement who every day are out there defending and protecting our streets and democrat run cities that have turned abundantly chaotic because of their lack of support and respect for Law Enforcement. Can you explain why the white house did not counter with a comprehensive plan of its own . The white house was focused on two things, the Unemployment Insurance, why not have a complementary proposal to counter with the democrats put on the table . The more comprehensive plan at the white house was hoping to see in the priorities like tax rebates, Unemployment Benefits, and hands hiring and retention payroll private workplace tax credits, restaurant donations and others are all part of the heels act so there is a comprehensive plan that was put forward by republicans on the hill with several white house priorities in it but right now at this day at this moment, our focus is making sure that americans who have lost their jobs get their paychecks. Its why you heard the chief of staff say weve made four proposals, democrats have made precisely zero. Is the white house still behind that . The president still supports. Is there anything you can agree with, are there any points of unity so far . They have presented zero plans, so we presented 4, they presented zero, so do we agree with them . It seems they dont agree with us. The white house supports Unemployment Insurance, supports ensuring americans dont get evicted but went to the democrats support . What did they stand for . So far, theyve offered zero, nothing except rejecting Martha Mcsallys bill to ensure that it goes to receiving those checks continue receiving them. The right has decided on a cap on what youre really sending . Not that im aware of. The president has said he wants to make sure money gets to the American People. The Trump Administration wants 377 million in Coronavirus Relief bill for the longdelayed modernization of the west wing. How was that a priority in terms of the coronavirus pandemic, the bill which doesnt seem to have much support from capitol hill as well . Two things, and im glad you asked that because i do want to give you some details about those two items in particular. When it comes to the fbi building which has been a long discussed issue, i would note that the three previous covid bills that have been passed had plenty of other things in them that were not related to covid, one of those examples is Harbor Maintenance trust fund. This is not a redline for us. Was part of the initial bill but certainly not a redline. Several times so far as unemployment, insurance making sure americans do not get evicted. As it pertains to white house renovations, many of those pertaining to safety protocols, filtration systems, enhanced communication ability, and needs that we saw that were highlighted during the pandemic, but make no mistake, 377 million proposal will not stand in the way of ensuring that the American People get their checks. That is a priority, ensuring that americans do not get evicted, that is our number one and number two goal. Thank you, kaylee. I just wanted to confirm reports that made an offer to extend Unemployment Insurance by four months. As he mentioned, there were four that were made. I wanted to talk about this, the Israeli Government wrote the twitter ceo asking to remove a tweet from irans Supreme Leader calling for the of the israeli people. The Company Refused to do that because they are on current affairs. About whether the government is restricting and glorifying violence and spreading disinformation and have you spoken to the president about any action about social Media Companies . Was very eyeopening and when they are not willing to assess these tweets, they are willing to assess President Trumps tweets is really appalling and it just speaks to their overwhelming blinding bias against conservatives and against this president , and we are taking action for proposed regulatory changes to hold social Media Companies accountable for their censorsh censorship. And this petition that was previously reported on earlier in the week asked them to end the loophole that allowed social Media Companies to escape civil lawsuits for their own speech, fact checks, and the platforming. And speaks to hold them to liability as a speaker or publisher if they act as editors of content on their platforms or remove lawful speech based on politics. Very good work by the New York Post and highlighting that issue. To follow up on that question, you said the administration is still behind, but if you are considering putting him in an acting role . I have nothing to say except that the president still supports him. Reports of russian bounties, and yet the white house has done nothing to push back on putin, what is the delay . As ive answered probably a dozen times from this podium, that intelligence is unverified, dissenting opinions on media, saying there is no corroborating evidence validating allegations and recent press articles have not been verified as substantiated as a similar, this president asked. Not afraid to stand up when their adversaries have directly targeted u. S. Coalition partners, they did not hesitate to act, look at syria in 2018 when dozens of russian mercenaries were killed in a retaliatory defensive strike. He has continually stood up to russia, will continue to do so, and this president will always protect our men and women and will act on verified intelligence. Colorado, hawaii, oregon, utah, and washington all have automatic mail and ballot systems. The white house has made their position clear their concerns over the universal system, does the white house think that those elections are fraudulent or more at risk . Always, a male and ballot system, mass mail out ballots are going to be more at risk of fraud. Look at l. A. County where 112 of l. A. County is registered. That means you have 12 of excess ballots floating around that we know at least 12 that are not accurate ballots that were mailed out. This is a very basic concept, and its one of the media has done a very good job reporting on, not just Jeffrey Toobin at the new yorker. You also have the Washington Post article where the president held up yesterday that said the results that theyve seen say there is an unexpected stress test of mail balloting systems, many of which were designed to handle only a small portion of the vote and are not ready to scale up in response to a pandemic for the Washington Post. Theres another great abc piece, they could cause pennsylvania to sound alarm about november, expansion of mail an in voting would delay the race, votes still werent all tallied up after one week. They fear election nightmare so mass mail in voting certainly subject of fraud and good work on the part of abc, cbs, Washington Post, and the new yorker for highlighting the fraud that is at play, the delays that are at play and those are after all the facts. Is there any situation in which the white house would walk away from negotiations . I wont get into the middle of negotiations, and i will leave that to the chief into the secretary secretary of treasury, but there is a lot of passion because we are passionate about making sure americans are taken care of. I for the president personally talk about this. Is his goal to make sure that those who have lost their jobs get the payment and those who through no fault of their own do not get evicted from their homes. So again, those are two big priorities for the president. Thank you so much. I have a question. It doesnt show that, and what do you them . The one thing i would say is the president has made clear we are at a place where we want all americans to make sure that they socially distance and that they make sure they engage in mitigation tactics, and the president has been clear on that. You look at we have a ventilator shortage. We had a ventilator surplus. We were told there was a testing shortage and it turns out weve done almost 60 million tests. This president lead on the development of remdesivir. We just saw promising signs from convalescent plasma where therapeutics are advanced on the best of the world and thats why you look at the case fatality rate which the president often talks about, using that tells a big story when the u. S. Case fatality rate is at 3. 4 , the world is at 4 average in the e. U. At 9. 7 , that is a testament to our therapeutics but we encourage every american to engage in mitigation efforts and it is patriotic as the president said to wear a mask especially when you cant socially distance. Another question on the travel ban. There is a movement growing, they and their families separated because of a travel ban or separated during this period they are asking the administration for a waiver. I havent spoken to the president about those specific cases, but this president will always put america first, this president put in place the travel ban to protect american lives. In the travel ban has saved american lives and that is our goal at this moment. Thank you. Two quick questions for you. Herman cain passed away yesterday and obviously, he had tested positive for covid19s after attending the president s rally in tulsa. Officials there have connect at the rally to a spike in cases. Is there any concern that herman cain may have contracted coronavirus got the president s rally and is the task force doing any followup to track other potential cases from that event . Herman cain is the absolute embodiment of the american dream. We are grieved and very saddened by his passing. He was raised in atlanta, georgia, on a small farm, left with just the clothes on his back, his mother was a housekeeper, he rose to be an extremely successful businessman and someone who was contending for the nomination of our party and i would refer you to a post on herman cains web site and said i realize people will speculate about the tulsa rally but herman did a lot of traveling in the past week. I dont think theres any way to trace this to one specific contact that because the infection. Youll never know. So i will not politicize herman cains passing and i would just note the great contributions hes made to our sick society, always remembering him and his legacy will stand. Another point, obviously the president s tweet yesterday seem to poke at the idea of delaying the election. He later said he supports no date change whatsoever. Given the ambiguity and confusion there, could you just say unequivocally whether or not the white house wants to see the date change in state 100 the fact that is not something they support . The president answered this three times yesterday. He says i want to date more than anyone, dont want to delay and want to have an election and in local interview, he says no one wants the date of the election more than me because he believes november 3rd will be the moment the American People acknowledge the great successes of this administration. Thank you. Does the president support the chinese backed Hong Kong Government interfering in their election . I do have an answer for you on the hong kong election, we condemn the hong kongs decision to delay for one year and disqualify opposition candidates. This action undermines the democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned hong kongs prosperity, and this is only the most recent in a growing list of broken promises by beijing which promised autonomy and freedom to the hong kong people until 2047 and signing the joint declaration great i think its appropriate as we see this play out on the hill, this testimony by our doctors to just acknowledge the work of this administration. I acknowledge the ventilators, and i talked about testing and just Great American industry coming together and coming together and working to get us through this tragic pandemic, and we grieve when even one life is lost and when they were zero reported cases in the United States, they issued and what were pelosi and Chuck Schumer doing . They were calling on the g. O. P. To support testifying, zero reported cases on january 17th, the cdc implements Public Health entry screenings at three major u. S. Airports. What were democrats doing . Democrats were preparing to file their first brief in the impeachment inquiry when there was one reported case in the United States on january 21st, cdc and what were democrats doing . Chuck schumer was calling for witnesses and the impeachment trial and pelosi released a statement criticizing Mitch Mcconnell for his trial rules and finally, when there were seven reported cases in the United States, issued travel restrictions on china in the first mandatory quarantine in more than 50 years and those saved american lives. What were democrats doing . Pelosi was introducing the no band act which would reduce limitations on the president s of the right to restrict aliens into the United States. And what are Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi doing now . Stopping americans from getting their Unemployment Insurance. And its despicable in time for them to come to the negotiating table. Thank you very much. In sandra that is the White House Press briefing coming to a conclusion after mark meadows leading negotiatios on another round of Coronavirus Relief or the American People stepped out and he did not take questions, but he said we have to get serious about negotiations. We are willing to engage, he said. Mitch mcconnell put forth oneweek extension for unemployment. Chuck schumer disagreed. Kayleigh mcenany reiterating her view that democrats have presented zero plans. Nancy pelosi has been briefing as well. She just said talks on the other side for the next Coronavirus Relief bill she says were not bickering, having discussions about serious policy differences. I know you all characterize this as bickering, but we are standing our ground. So fair to say, no sign of progress as that mi midnight deadline is approaching. The president now meeting with the National Association of police at the white house and we will be monitoring that event. We are seeing a lot happen on capitol hill and beyond. Good morning. You saw Kayleigh Mcenany giving her typical Closing Argument before the end of the briefing theyre comparing with the democrats were doing early on in the Coronavirus Crisis with what the white house has been doing for the president has also been watching the proceedings up on capitol hill, didnt like it when the chairman of South Carolina brought out a chart that showed the number of infections in the United States and suggested it was a feeling of the white house for the numbers getting that hyper the president reading somebody please tell congressman clyburn who doesnt have a clue that the chart he put up indicating more cases for the u. S. And europe is because we do much more testing than any other country in the world, an argument that the president has made time and time again. Chief of staff mark meadows coming out to point out the negotiations between republicans, the white house, and house and Senate Democrats over a coronavirus phase for relief bill which appeared to be going nowhere at this point. The chief of staff saying the white house put forward for different proposals last night, each of which was rejected by the democrats, one of those proposals was support for the Martha Mcsally measure which would extend the enhanced Unemployment Benefits of 600 a week for one week to allow more time for negotiations to continue, but the democrats rejected that one. Dont forget that in the overall, the republicans want to see that 600 enhancement reduced by twothirds down to 200 a week. The democrats are crying foul about that. The republicans argument is that if you are giving somebody an extra 600 a week over and above what they are making in their job, theyre not going to come back to work, and that is affecting a lot of Small Businesses across america as they try to reopen. One of the other things that mark meadows was complaining about was the amount of money that republicans had in their bill for schools and Higher Education institutions of 105 billion. That not being enough or democrats even though the 3 trillion bill that they passed back in may had 100 billion. So the republicans are offering more but the democrats are now saying no, that was then and this is now. We dont want 100 billion, we want 400 billion. One of the other things that appears to be a redline for the republicans at least, not quite sure about the white house because there were reports they might be willing to give it up was this idea of Liability Protection for companies, Small Businesses, churches, schools, and the like. So what would happen if someone contracted coronavirus when they went back to work where they went back to school or they were in a congregation for a Church Service. The republicans are saying in the senate, thats a redline. Not sure exactly where the white house is on that. Kayleigh mcenany was asked about that enter for that whole issue to Mitch Mcconnell. At the same time, weve got complaints still about regarding possible delay of the elections. Theyd idea that friday at noon here started, kick off your shoes, have a long lunch and hit the golf course, doesnt happen around here. Sandra theres no doubt these negotiations have not lead anywhere as far as what we just saw from the white house, mark meadows, Kayleigh Mcenany and now nancy pelosi continued as well with her briefing. She has just said that they do not understand referencing republicans the gravity of the situation. This is a Freight Train and she said that is picking up steam that must be stopped. So the president will now be meeting with police at the white house this afternoon. And thats a big one because this organization of Police Association in 2008 and 2012 endorsed barack obama and joe biden. They didnt endorse anybody in 2016, but now they have come out and they are endorsing President Trump on the Vice President mike pence for reelection and the fraternal order of police or the Police Benevolent association in florida today will be announcing its specific endorsement of the president. We have the head of that union on this morning, and he floated the idea to his membership and it was unanimous consent to endorse President Trump so in florida and across the nation with these Police Associations, this is a big change and when the president obviously is very happy to see. Sandra that will be happening in the cabinet room, going to monitor that and play that back for a viewers once we have it. Meanwhile, the hearing continues on capitol hill. We will be monitoring that as well. John roberts of the white house forest, great to see you. Blake we also continue to monitor the hearing here in washington, d. C. , the coronavirus hearing among the three of the top members of the Coronavirus Task force. Kayleigh mcenany and mark meadows taken to the podium there. A little bit of a break, but they are back now but i want to bring on dr. Marc siegel for analysis as to what we heard one about the first hour and a half or so of that hearing. Thank you for joining us. Good to be back with you. Blake i want to walk you through a couple headlines at least as i saw it. Dr. Anthony fauci saying that he is cautiously optimistic that they will be a vaccine either by the end of this year or at the beginning of next year and whenever they might be a vaccine, he says in 2021, there was a reasonable period of time that whoever wants to get the vaccine would be able to take it at that point. Dr. Fauci and the cdc director also saying that they believe it is imperative that k12 schools or grades resume in person this Upcoming School year. What did you make of what weve heard so far . So both of those points are really important. Dr. Fauci on the vaccine made an extremely important point thats never been made publicly before. He compared it to the hiv vaccine and said with coronavirus, we are seeing the antibodies. We are seeing what you need, the neutralizing antibodies. Thats the reason for his optimism. Theres a strong immune response already when you were getting over this virus, and you can almost feel his excitement about these vaccine candidates. So that was very impressive. He is also said to me about schools reopening and the word he used is when ive used which is the default should be that schools reopening. Theres too much Public Health damage by not considering that and dr. Fauci acknowledge that today, that there is absolutely a huge Public Health cost for keeping the schools closed and dr. Redfield said that as well. Blake they both did, but i want to jump on that for a second because they talked about k12 schools and creates which is important, but i can say this selfishly as well that theres a lot of parents in this country, millions of them with two, three, and 4yearolds as well. What do you do with those children . Thats even more of a problem because again, theyre so much care that is needed at home and there is care with going to day care facilities, and we dont believe that very Young Children are spreading the virus as much as older children or that they get very sick from it. Dr. Siegel, got to leave it there. The hearing continues in washington. We continue to monitor it. Sandra the Ranking Member of this House Committee steve scalise, the congressman from louisiana is talking and continues to waive a stack of papers and documents that he says the Trump Administrations plan on how to safely reopen the country and schools. Lets step back in and listen to the hearing. I would urge any local School System making their decisions to go look at the cdc guidelines, go look at all of the data that is out there for teachers, for students how to safely reopen. You can do it. You owe it to those kids, 50,000 kids in the district of columbia, over 50 million children are counting on us to do this. Can be done. You have to go do it. You are which of those kids being denied that opportunity. Dont deny them. You need money, there is billions of dollars sitting out there for supplies to keep the school safe. Go make it happen. Dr. Fauci, i want to talk to about operation warp speed and first, want to thank you for your Opening Statement talking about 250,000 people have signed up for those Clinical Trials. What is that web site if someone wants to be a part of this trial . Coronavirus treatment prevention. Org. Now to ask about i know a lot of people dont really know the details and again of all of these plans that are out there, i know some people including some people in this room disagreed with President Trumps decision to stop flights from china for example as you testified earlier, it was the right decision and it saves lives, i guess they were okay of lives wouldve been lost, but that decision saved lives. The plan saved lives. When we talk about warp speed, i do think its really important to note because some people are concerned there might be some cutting of corners to get to a quicker vaccine. Clearly, thats not the case. But what President Trump really has done is remove red tape so that agencies like the fda can laser focus on putting their efforts behind mining a vaccine, President Trumps work for example to make sure that Clinical Trials can be run simultaneously on the most promising candidates. A very targeted plan to quickly find a vaccine that is safe. So if you want to talk about operation warp speed, how safe its been and how that is helping us to move forward, is red tape being removed by the plan that President Trump has . Yes, it is. As i mentioned, and i will reconfirm it right now is that the speed is not at all at the compromising of safety nor scientific integrity. Getting from the sequence the vaccine production was record speed, had nothing to do with safety, had nothing to do with cutting corners. From the vaccine to the phase one again was in record speed only because the red tape was really avoided and as we got into phase three, the same thing. Have you seen concerns about china trying to steal that information, has an investigation going on, seen cases where chinas trying to steal this information and clearly a threat that President Trump is taking on, what have you seen . I have heard theyre trying to hack into their web sites and the online components of people who are developing vaccines. Ive just heard that. I have no proof of that. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. The chair now recognizes for 5 minutes. Thank you very much. Let me first say that i was pleased to hear the very warm comments about john lewis this morning. We have been memorializing him in so many different ways. But between the press and everybody else, weve been doing him justice for the sacrifices that he has made. This virus is not democrat or republican. Im going to send my condolences to the family of herman cain who was a president ial candidate, a good friend of the president who happen to have been at the rally in tulsa june 20th with no mask on with a group of people around him with no mask on. And hes dead. He died. I am told he was in good health and he of course contacted the virus as a result of his attendance without a mask layer. My condolences to his family because this is not democrat or republican. I just want to remind the committee that i spoke earlier about the manipulation of hospitalization data, what the president has done basically ordering and i drafted an amendment 7617, one of the fiscal year 2021 packages that includes the department of health and Human Services. My amendment which prohibits anyone from being requiring acute care facilities reporting covid19 data under requirements imposed by the Trump Administrations, a new rule was adopted. I look forward to avoiding suffering care let me go forward and say that i am alarmed about the way that the president s handling socalled information about children and their ability to return to school. This is a president who first called the pandemic a hoax, this is a president who said it was just going to disappear. This is a president who said you dont really need masks, didnt believe in them. Hes got religion in the last few days. This is a president who disregarded social distancing. This is a president who recommended hydroxychloroquine as a cure, and this is a president who went so far as to say disinfectant could be used. So now, this president who expects us to believe him rather than the medical experts is saying the children are almost immune. Is that an expert medical conclusion, dr. Fauci . Net children whatever that means. That children are almost immune from this virus . Generally, when you see your person is immune, they are protected from getting infected. And children to get infected. And so this is not an expert medical conclusion that we have had documented somewhere . If you talk in general that children are immune, we do know that so therefore there not immune. I must just say, Congress Woman when children get infected when you look at consequences, they generally do much better because if you look at the hospitalizations that children have a much, much lower rate of hospitalizations and adults and the curve goes way up as you get older and older and when you get to the age group of children emma they generally do not get serious disease. I understand that, and ive been listening and i do understand what you just described but what i was asking really was about this president s latest comments that children are almost immune. I think i got the answer to that. Let me just say that this billions of dollars that youre talking about in every state, i dont know where they are, but you keep referring to supplies. Hits more than about supplies. Its more than about being able to wash her hands. Its about space and whether or not all of the schools have the space to do the social distancing. Its about whether or not children are going to wear masks and how thats going to be enforced. Its about how you keep children from gathering. Its about how do you feed them . It is about more than the fact that they need some supplies. With a gentle lady yield . Clearly, that is all part of what is laid out in cdc guidelines and the American Academy of pediatrics guidelines where they lay out those guidelines for how to do those. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Let me just say this. All of the professionals are saying that this is a decision that must be made about parents and the communities with the educators, et cetera. You cannot hand down and answer from the federal government that would protect these children. One decision by the federal government is not sufficient to force the schools to open. I yield back. I think the gentle lady for yielding back there before i go to mr. Jordan, let me say i understand you need to leave in 4 minutes. Would there be anything youd like to enter into the record before we leave . No pair the reason im leaving is because we have a meeting virtually with all 6,100 of the commissioned corps officers whom i have the honor to lead along with Surgeon General adams. We have done over 7,200 deployments of 4,000 individuals, and the other 2,000 are hard at work taking care of people have qualified Health Centers or in the prisons. So i mean no disrespect by weaving, but this is a crunch time for our officers on the front line of the pandemic, and i really appreciate the opportunity to recognize them and also to be with my brothers and sisters in uniform. We thank you for your service and thank you so much for that. You might find need to be the biggest rooster in the United States congress for a federally qualified community Health Centers. I consider them to be the ultimate safety net in health care, and i have been that way since ive been in congress. I go back over 50 years with community Health Centers and i believe in them and thank you so much for bringing them into the process. With that, i yield to mr. Jordan, 5 minutes. The right to protest is important, i have engaged in it with fellow citizens, peacefully assembling to talk about important Public Policy issues. My guess is everyone on this committee had everyone in the United States congress has done the same thing, but i think all of the First Amendment is important. Democrats seem to think is just the right to protest. You think about the freedoms we have in the First Amendment, freedom of religion, freedom to petition your government, freedom of speech, all of them are important and whats interesting to me is the very first one the founders mentioned was your right to practice your faith, but government is putting all kinds of limits on americas ability to do that and democrats are just fine with it. In fact, democrat mayors and governors have been sued over limiting peoples right to freedom of religion. I want consistency. Im concerned about the whole constitution, democrat mayors and governors limiting americas right to exercise their Second Amendment liberties, closing down stores that allow people to exercise and purchase firearms and exercise their Second Amendment liberties. And i think its important that americans get an education. We have democrats who say cant go back to school, kids cant go get what they need to put them on the path to achieving the american dream, but they can protest. Everyone can protest. In portland, the Teachers Union says we dont want to go back to school and teach kids, but theyve encouraged teachers to go protest. The nine protests going on in portland where they burn the city every single night or just last weekend, three officers were blinded by the lasers that some of these Peaceful Protesters used, so im concerned about americans. Both kinds of americans right now arent permitted to go to work. Maybe its a small business, putting their numbers on the line, employees whose families are counting on them running the business and what does the government do . They arrest them if they want to run their business, just ask ian smith and Frank Trombetta who run a business in new jersey. So the ability to engage in their livelihoods, the ability to have kids get an education, just as important in my mind is protesting. I just wish the democrats would look at all the rights we enjoy as americans and make sure they are dealt with in a consistent fashion. This idea that we are limiting what people can do to sing their faith, run their business, employ people, engage in their likelihood after they pour their entire lives, families resources into it is just wrong. You know who else has to go to work . You know who else has to go to work . Law enforcement has to go to work. Are you guys tracking whats happening to Law Enforcement at all with these protest . And im not talking about the 49 Police Officers who were attacked two weeks ago in chicago, not talking about the three who were blinded this past weekend at portland, not even talking about what the seattle chief of police said when she said she cant deploy, had to do an adjusted deployment because the protests are so bad and the defunding concept that is happening around our country and these municipal cities, said she had to do be there, whats happening to them, not talking about the violence, but the exposure they have the coronavirus, dr. Fauci . Im sorry, what was the question . Are you tracking whats happening to the Police Officers on their exposure to the coronavirus while they are out doing their job . I dont do tracking of the infection. Thats probably more of a cdc question. Is not a concern . You talk about park police under siege, Law Enforcement and our municipalities that have been attacked, but im just talking about the exposure to the virus as well and people are yelling and screaming in their face, are you concerned about that . As i said before, im concerned about any crowds, particularly people who dont wear masks, concerned more about indoor crowds than i am for outdoor crowds, but crowds without masks or problem. Dr. Redfield . We continue to look at the variety of number of First Responders and some of our surveys looking at antibodies to try to understand what the virus attack rate is. So you do have that information . We are doing new york and detroit. What are Law Enforcement is having to endure particularly at these protests, not just the violence, but the exposure they are getting to the violence from the protesters and i would wish we would get some, something from the other side, the silence of whats happening at these protests and the impact its having on our Law Enforcement i think is just unfortunate. I hope they join us in speaking out against the defund the police concept and everything whats happening to Law Enforcement around the country. The gentlemans time has expired, i am waiting on you to tell me the difference between a First Responder and an essential worker. Just think about that for a moment. With that, i yield 5 minutes to miss malone a. I think the chairman and the Ranking Member for this incredibly important hearing and for all of our participants and witnesses. And one is what is the task force doing in relation to safeguarding elections . We are going to be all voting in november. Some states have vote by mail. Other states do not, and many people prefer to vote in person, and we have guidelines that say social distancing of xp but could it be changed to 3 feet if it is going to be more of a hurried participation . But i think it would be helpful to the American Public if the task force considered and came out with clear guidelines for the professionals working in the board of elections across the country and the people participating in voting. So i am making that request. You want to comment on it now or get back to us. Id be happy to get back to you on that. We can discuss this at a Task Force Meeting if youd like and get back to you. Into the public, i would say. If i could just comment, cdc did in march and updated in june guidelines for polling facilities and looking at that to see if they need to be updated more. We do have that coming out this week looking at the primary results in wisconsin, so this is an area we are trying to make sure the people who go to Polling Centers devote understand the importance of the guidance we can give. That would be very, very helpful. Secondly, as a former teacher, im concerned about the contradiction and messaging. As a teacher, we are taught to get your facts straight and then communicated very simply and directly. So the task force will come out with a very important and relevant information and i try to follow it all religiously, but then it is countered by other leaders, and this i think underscores or undermines the ability of the public to respond, and maybe you can get back to me on that. But i also want to talk about something i think is very important that people are really not discussing, and that is the turnaround time on testing. In new york, we are working very hard not only in supplying the tests, but also trying to trace and isolate, and the professionals working in this area say they have to wait so long especially if its a private test from qwest or something, the turnaround time is a week or 16 days in some cases, so then they cant really trace because by the time they get the results of the test to start tracing and isolating, its too late. So i like both of you to comment on it. This is something that my city is working very hard to respond professionally to everything you are recommending, but they tell me they are having a terrible time trying to implement the tracing and isolation, and they nail it on the turnaround time from the test to slow. Thank you for the question. Admiral giroir had actually address that but maybe i could summarize what he had said both in his Opening Statement and upon response to a question. Theres no doubt if you have to wait multiple days for the result of a test and the test is done in the context of Contact Tracing that is in many respects if you have to wait that long, a person has already been out in the community for that period of time. One of the ways to prevent that and mitigate that a bit is if a person goes in for a test, they should assume it might be positive and should essentially isolate themselves before they go back until they get the results of the test but in response to that as admiral giroir had said, the reason is that there is such a surge of demand for tests that they are trying to overcome by trying to separate the testing for surveillance and give it to one group and that the testing that has to do to determine if an individual is infected to be able to cut that down. He explained that, but as i said, he is much more capable of giving us the precise numbers. But it is an issue if you cant get it within a 24 to 48 hour period. Thank you, you look back. Thank you to the gentle lady for yielding back. The chair now recognizes for 5 minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. One of the words i use to try and discuss this issue, the covid problem with people is always perspective. Trying to keep in perspective the disease, the solutions, the other things that are out there, and this is why it was a question a while ago with regards to tension on covid and the seeming lack of that for a while on the rest of our Health Care Needs. Another situation that i think is concerning is as we open up our schools, one of the things that we look at the damage and the concern we have for the Childrens Health care, research on football injuries. Almost in the same neighborhood with the deaths not taken into account the other severe and lifetime injuries that are sustained by young men playing football in high school versus the total deaths that would be anticipated from reopening our schools. I dont see any outcry about that. So perspective to me is something we always need to consider. One of the things that concerns me also is i wish that admiral giroir was here and i asked him a question last time he was here and didnt have a time to continue our discussion with regards to the perverse incentive for medical folks to claim that somebody died of covid versus an automobile accident, as long as you have covid in your system, you can blame covid and get more money as the attending physician, hospital, whatever. He acknowledges that the statistics from the state are inflated. We found that the of colorado, who was a democrat actually did research on this and so they had to get rid of 12 of the deaths in the state. Would you like to comment on that a little bit about the perverse incentive and is there an effort to try and do Something Different in a way that these deaths are recorded so we actually have better records and better numbers to go with . Thank you, congressman. Weve seen this and other disease processes, somebody may have a heart attack but also have hiv and they would prefer it for hiv because there is greater reimbursement. I do think there is some reality to that. When it comes to death reporting, its how the physician to find it in the death Certificate International Health Statistics group here in hyattsville. We review all those death certificates, so i think its probably less operable in the cause of death. I wouldnt not say there are some cases. And when it to hospital reimbursement, they get discharged, there could be some play in that for sure. The admiral certainly acknowledge that the last time he was here, so i think thats very concerning. Dr. Fauci, one of the things, you made a comment a while ago about hydroxychloroquine and i have an article here that quotes the Henry Ford Health system who did extensive study on hydroxychloroquine and they say it significantly reduces the death rate of covid patients. The study was highly analyzed in peerreviewed unlike many other studies, and including the executive officer said as doctors and scientists, we look at the data for insight in the data here is clear, there was a benefit to using the drug is a treatment for hospitalized and sick patients and in talking with a lot of older doctors who had been around a while and i trust their judgment and their use of hydroxychloroquine, they say the initial studies didnt really use zinc with it and they say that zinc is an enabler to be able to help hydroxychloroquine actually do its job of going after and reducing deaths in patients. Had a long conversation with the doctor earlier in the week and said as long as zinc as they, it does work and without it, it is minimally effective. Would you like to comment on . Thank you for the opportunity to comment. The Henry Ford Hospital study that was published was a noncontrolled retrospective cohort study that was confounded by a number of issues, including the fact that many of the people receiving hydroxychloroquine were also receiving corticosteroids, which we know from another study gives a clear benefit in reducing deaths with advanced disease. So, that study is a flawed study, and i think anyone who examines it carefully will see its not a randomized placebocontrolled trial. It doesnt matter, you can peer review something that is a bad study. The fact is it is not a randomized placebocontrolled trial. The point that i think is important, because we all want to keep an open mind, any and all of the randomized placebocontrolled trials, which is the Gold Standard of determining something is effective, none of them have shown any efficacy for hydroxychloroquine. Having said that, i will state, when i do see a randomized placebocontrolled trial that looks at any aspect of hydroxychloroquine, either early study, middle study, or late, if that randomized placebocontrolled trial shows efficacy, i would be the first one to admit it and to promote it. But i have not seen yet a randomized placebocontrolled trial that has done that, and, in fact, every randomized trial that has looked at it has shown no efficacy. I just have to go with the data. I dont have any horse in the game one way or the other. I just look at the data. Thank you very much. I yield. The gentlemans time has expired. The chair now recognizes, for 5 minutes, ms. Velasquez. You will yield to kim . Mr. Kim is now recognized for 5 minutes. Thank you. I wanted to start here picking up where i left off. I started my last question line asking each of you of the federal government was doing Everything Possible to be able to respond. He said, within the given abilities of our government, that we wear. The reason i wanted to address this, when we talk about a National Testing strategy or greater coordination on personal protective equipment, what ive heard over and over again is that its about where the responsibility is. If its the responsibility of the federal government or of states or localities. When i talk to the people in my district, what they want to know is about capabilities. They really dont want to just see this kind of blame game between different parts of our government. The main thing they want to ask is, are we doing everything humanly possible to be able to address this crisis . Is every level of government, including the federal government, doing everything they can to do this . If we are not, the American People deserve to know why. Dr. Fauci, i wanted to go back to you, here. Just to be clear, when i ask you this, and you said that, within the capabilities, that we were,t