Watch booktv this weekend on cspan2. President biden has picked Denis Mcdonough to head the Veterans Affairs department. He previously served as white house chief of staff during the last four years of the obama presidency. His confirmation hearing he was asked about veterans access to healthcare, modernization efforts in the das responds to covid19. This is just over two hours. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] i i want to call this evening to order. I want to welcome everybody. I appreciate all that are here, all those that are online. The purpose of this hearing is due from the i president s nominate to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs, Denis Mcdonough. Before i talk about him i just want to say i appreciate this committee all the reasons we sat on this committee thats been bipartisan and its been nonpolitical, and we tried to do the best by our veterans whether you are the republican side for the democratic side of the aisle. I particularly appreciate the re
Immigrants, or they can override state voting laws or let violent felons out of prison, things that have nothing to do with the coronavirus. Those are the two most important things we could do to help those who are still struggling with this virus get back to work until vaccines are approved and widely distributed. What will not help, what will not help, will is not designed to help was the 133 programs that have been so much of the point of discussion today. The 133 facilities have achieved their purpose. The reason we wrote it and members of this Committee Help drafted it was to fundamentally that the credit slowed to fundamentally credit where the businesses. It was not to subsidize failing businesses that were not going to be able to succeed before china unleashed this plague on the world. It wasnt to bailout fiscally irresponsible, mostly democratically led states and cities who mismanaged their finances for years or even decades. It was to stabilize credit markets. And i have to
Good morning. The committee has come to order. One thing, i want to thank the witnesses for your testimony. Those appearing in person, traveling to d. C. To give it orally, and, also, answer our questions. The title of this hearing now is, i guess, examining the u. S. Approach to early covid19 treatments. I thought it was i originally set out a title of early treatments for covid, a essential component of a covid solution. It was inevitable that the coronavirus pandemic to be politicized into the tragedy it was. From the start, i knew it was impossible to have a perfect response. We were facing a new virus. No one wanted to underreact, and as a result i feared the tendency would be overreact. The challenges facing us were daunting. Our National Strategic stockpile had been reduced during the h1n 1 pandemic. It took time to develop a test. The fact that a large percentage of people that become infected exhibit no symptoms made the coronavirus even more difficult to detect and contain. I
Covid solution. It was inevitable was inevitable that the coronavirus pandemic would be politicized and this is a tragedy that it was paid from the start i knew it was impossible to have a perfect response and we are facing a new virus that caused an entirely new disease. No one wanted to under react and as a result i fear the tendency would be to overreact and create Unrealistic Expectations regarding our ability to stop a highly contagious pathogen. The challenges facing us were daunting and our National Strategic stockpile have been reduced during the h1n1 pandemic and had not been replenished. It took time to develop reliable tests and even more time to Scale Production to meet the demand. The fact that a large percentage of people that become infected exhibited no symptoms made the coronavirus even more difficult to detect and contain. I have tried not to criticize the elected officials that have had the response ability to make very tough decisions with limited and highly imperfe
Okay, lets see here. Sorry about that. This meeting is being held by webex, pursuant to the governors executive order and proclamation declaring the existence of a local emergency during the coronavirus disease, the Fire Commissions regular meeting room at city hall is closed and meetings of the Fire Commission will convene remotely. You may watch live on www. Sfgovtv. Org and to participate by Public Comment by phone, please use the call in number 4156550001, access code 1465020961. Members s members of the pubc will have opportunities to participate during Public Comment. The public is asked to wait for the particular agenda item before making a comment on that item. Comments will be addressed in the order they are received. Members of the public can raise their hand by pressing star 3 and you will be queued. Callers will hear silence when waiting for your turn to speak. The operator will unmute you. When prompted, the callers will have the standard 3 minutes to provide comments. Ple