Good afternoon, everyone. The subcommittee will come to order. T purpose of todays hearing is to receive testimony on 15 bills pending before the pin lands, are forest and mining subcommittee. Because of the large number of bills on todays agenda, i wont go through all of them right now, but the complete agenda will of course be included in the record. I want to note that we have a former member of our committee here, former senator mary landrieu, and we have members who will be joining us shortly who have another Committee Assignment at the moment and others who will be joining us telephonically. I also want to begin by recognizing the staggering loss of life that has occurred embedded within what has shaped up to be a really horrific wildfire season. More than 36 people have perished in infernos raging throughout the western United States this year, dozens more are missing. In oregon, my colleague senator widens home state, thousands have lost their homes and over half a Million Peop
Works subcommittee will address options to address the wild fires and Forest Management. This includes testimony from an interior Deputy Department official and deputy chief of the u. S. Forest service. Good afternoon, everyone. This subcommittee will come to t order. The purpose of todays hearing is to receiveands testimony on i bills pending beforece the publo lands force and mining subcommittee. Because of the large number of t bills onhe todays c agenda, it going to go through all of them right now. But the complete agenda will, of course, be included in the record. I want to note at the outset weve got a former member of our committee here, former senator from louisiana, longtime member of the senate and this committee is in the back. Weve got members who will be at t who have tly another Committee Assignment at the i moment. E. We have others who will be d eme joining us dtelephonically. As i want to recognize the staggering loss of life that has occurred embedded within what has
Microphones anytime you speak. During the any time hearing, the chairman the vice chairman of the committee, congressman kennedy will serve as chair until i am able to return. Beuments for the record can sent to Benjamin Tabor at the email address provided to staff. All documents will be entered into the record at the conclusion of the hearing. The chair will not recognize herself for an opening statement. Today the energy and Commerce Committee continues its oversight of the nations covid19 Pandemic Response. Examining the pursuit of a safe and effective covid19 vaccine that the American People can trust. In the eight months that we battled covid19, over 7 million americans have had the virus, and over 200,000 of them have lost their lives. Millions of the phase unemployment and have lost their Health Insurance, and families are still juggling childcare and virtual classrooms. The list of those most vulnerable to covid19s especially on the line as the virus continues to spread across
As of this morning, there were over 27 million confirmed cases covid19, and over 800,000 deaths. Have 6. 3 million confirmed cases and we are approaching 190,000 deaths. We have seen significant economic disruption to businesses and families and normal daytoday activities have been vastly altered. Leading experts have said we need a vaccine to return to normal. Which is why the topic of todays discussion is so critical. We will also discuss the lessons we are learning and developing a learning now in developing a covid19 vaccine, and the implications for future Vaccine Development. We have a short amount of time and a number of really terrific speakers. So why dont we go ahead and get started . Mark, why dont we begin with you. We have all heard about vaccines under development from pfizer, astrazeneca and the university of oxford, all of which are phasing phase three Clinical Trials. You have been working to develop a process to fasttrack safe and effective vaccines. Can you tell us w
This includes the National Fish Habitat Conservation through partnerships provision, a bill i championed. This title establishes a National Fish habitat board that supports a successful Publicprivate Partnership to restore fish habitat. I would like to thank the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources committee, rob bishop, and the Ranking Member of the subcommittee on water, oceans and wildlife, tom mcclintock. I would also like to to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their ceaseless effort and commitment to making sure we do everything we can to conserve prork tect and enhance the resources that we are in charge of taking care of. I look forward to continuing to advance other important provisions, but this bill hopefully will be on its way to the president s desk. As cochair of the Chesapeake Bay watershed task force i would specifically like to act modge my friends an colleagues in the bay delegation who labored so hard for so long to help clean up our great Che