Colleagues attentions attendance and participation. I welcome our distinguished panel of witnesses. Mr. Y we will hear from stephen barry, president and chief executive officer of the competitive cares organization and the chief executive officer of the Rural Broadband association. Mr. Gene kimmelman, Senior Advisor on public knowledge, who will be appearing, testifying remotely. Jonathan spalter, of u. S. T and ceo broad,. Covid19 crisis has changed life dramatically for almost every american. As the administration and the centers for Disease Control and prevention encourage social distancing to prevent spread of the virus, normal activities like work, school, Healthcare Services are increasingly taking place online. This has caused a huge uptick in the use of broadband. One estimate shows average Broadband Usage is up by 47 since the pandemic began. Good news is that theres been some progress in connecting all americans. The fcc has recently released broadband deployment report shows
Begin as we always do. The numbers are courtesy of Johns Hopkins university, which has been keeping track of this pandemic since the beginning. 4. 3 million cases worldwide. The confirmed cases around the globe, 296,000. We will get to your calls across a moment. Joining us from nashville is dr. William schaffner. Preventivefessor of medicine as Vanderbilt University school of medicine. Guest good to be with you. Host i want to begin with some news for the president from the president. Andsenate Health Education Pension Committee hearing, Anthony Fauci said he had concerns about schools reopening potentially too soon. Today, the president had this reaction. Trump to make, donald trump it is not an acceptable answer. The only thing that would be acceptable is professors, teachers, etc. Of a certain age. I think they have to be careful. Because this is a disease that attacks age, that attacks health. If you have a heart problem, diabetes, if you are of a certain age, it certainly is much
Confronting congress and the nation. The purpose of the program is not to provide or advocate for any particular political positi position. It is nonpartisan. It is intended to inform policymakers and the public about the sorts of issues they are dealing with. I want to first give a few thanks first to the Melon Foundation for providing the funding that makes these briefings possible. I also want to thank our assistant jeffrey who is outside this room for helping to make the arrangements. I want to thank the office of Jerry Connolly which booked the room. And i want to remind or explain why there were index cards on your seats and why i passed other index cards around. What we will do after the presentations by the speakers we will get questions, answer questions, but we would like you to write those questions on the index cards rather than ask them in front of the audience. Keep your index cards ready and jot down questions when they come to mind. And so now i will turn this over to m
The committee will come to order. Good morning to everyone and without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time. With that, i will now recognize myself for my Opening Statement. I am honored to be convening todays hearing. My very first as chairwoman. As we continue to mourn the loss of our dear friend and colleague, chairman elijah cummings. And as i sit here today in his chair, i am mindful of his Lifelong Mission to seek not only Common Ground but higher ground. With that in mind, i am very pleased to hold todays hearing on an issue we have been fighting for, for many years. The need for comprehensive paid, family, and medical leave. It is an important its important for people to understand the Current Situation in our country. Right now, we are one of only two nations in the world that does not provide our workers with any form of paid family or medical leave. The United States and papua new guinea. I remember when i was pregnant with my f
Oversight and president ial misconduct. This is part of an ongoing series by the National History center that brings historical issues thatto congress is currently addressing. Centerd stress that the is a strictly nonpartisan entity and is the purpose of this program and the others we do in the series are not to advocate for any particular policies, but to provide Historical Context that can help inform policymakers and the public as they deal with difficult issues. Toore handing this over james banner, i want to thank the support of the mellon foundation, which makes the series possible. I also want to thank rachel at the back of the room, the assistant director who has organized this. And i want to thank the office of congressman Jerry Connolly who booked the room today. Will beo note that we collecting questions on note cards. If you have not received one and need it, let me know. The second half of the hour q a, we have q1 day, write down your question. James banner good morning. I