2019, of the following members on the part of the house to the canada United States interparliamentary gloup. The clerk mr. Meeks of new york. Mr. Peterson of minnesota. Mr. Defazio of oregon. Mr. Larsen of washington. Ms. Delbene of oregon. Mr. Morelle of new york. The speaker pro tempore the chair announces the speakers appointment pursuant to executive order 12131 that the following members on the part of the house to the president s export council. Clip mr. Larson of connecticut, ms. Delbene of oregon, mr. Gomez of california. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess subject to the call of the chair. The house is still working on technical changes to the Coronavirus Relief bill. It includes free coronavirus testing, paid medical and family leave, and increases food aid and unemployment insurance. Still waiting for house action on the bill. Then it will need to be considered by the senate, which canceled its planned recess this
Mrs. Maloney the committee will come to order. I thank our witnesses for returning this morning. We appreciate the recognition of our interest and oversight responsibilities. Yesterday, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. C. D. C. Has reported that we have 1,000 confirmed cases. That is up from 100 reported cases a week ago, a 900 increase. Americans are worried. They are scared. It is essential that we are able to hear directly from the Health Officials leading this effort. Im going to go to the republican side first, which is where we left off. Before i do that, without objection, the following three letters we sent on march 3 to h. H. S. And c. D. C. Requesting basic information including basic testing. We have not gotten response to those letters and with that, i represent mr. Higgins. I dont lead the task force. Its led by the Vice President of the United States. Mr. Higgins but youre the lead scientist . We have myself, dr. Redfield,
Crisis we face from the coronavirus is on a scale of a major war, and we must act accordingly. Nobody knows what the number of fatalities may end up being, or the number of people who may get ill, and we all hope that that number will be as low as possible. But we also have to face the truth, and that is that the number of casualties may actually be even higher than what the armed forces experienced in world war ii. In other words, we have a major, major crisis, and we must act accordingly. Therefore, it is an absolute moral imperative that our response as a government, as a society, as a business community, and as individual citizens meet the enormity of this crisis. As people stay or work from home and are directed to quarantine, it will be easy for us to feel like we are all alone. Im working at home, im not in my office. Or that we must only worry about ourselves and think that everybody else should fend for themselves. But in my view, that would be a tragic and dangerous mistake.
Collective memory in the middle east. I spent the weekend reading it. I couldnt put it down it was so interesting. If you havent read it after this evening im sure you will try to get the book if you havent already and i urge you to read it. Absolutely fascinating, very wellwritten, very well researched, there is a narrative flow to it and it is very troubling i have to say. I would like to announce unfortunately that our event in two days with ambassador dennis ross, is unable to come, he had a family emergency, so his lecture wednesday evening will be postponed until later. Wuhan is an Emmy Awardwinning journalist and writer on the middle east for 20 years for bbc, and the financial times. She reported from iraq, syria, lebanon and cover the war between israel and hezbollah earning enemy for International News coverage. She has also reported on the state department and american politics regularly traveling with secretaries of state including condoleezza rice, Hillary Clinton and john