A military briefing for a full year. When my dad was the artillery commander, they asked the second airborne to come visit. He was troubled. So i have touched royalty. Secretary wilkie is here for important testimony. Do i have the mic on . I can officially call the subcommittee on military construction, Veterans Affairs, and related agencies to order. I would like to welcome secretary wilkie, who is our witness this morning, joining us. Since this is our first hearing with some numbers participating remotely, i would like to begin by offering a brief explanation of how it will work, in order to benefit both members and the public. First, this hearing room has been configured to maintain the recommended six foot social distancing between members, witnesses, and other individuals in the room necessary to operate the hearing, which we have kept to a minimum. Some members have elected to use secure videoconferencing which allows them to participate remotely. For those on videoconference,
[inaudible conversations] thank you very much for being here and i particularly want to thank chairman barrasso because he allowed us to have the subcommittee hearing and for me to chai chair if this is a discn thats important to all of us that are here and so many of our colleagues. Information is power today, and we see it all over the globe when its used improperly it is used as a weapon. Democracy requires wellinformed electorate to function properly but to undermine the principle through socalled Disinformation Campaigns designed to mislead voters and in doing so delegitimize the democratic elections. Actors like russia systematically exploit the media and to distort the truth to an unsuspecting populace with regards to the coronavirus and this information is being spread is a high degree and anonymous and again if left unchecked it could be devastatingly effective. I established this organization it could help lead to the global disinformation effort and work with International P
Thats important to all of us that are here and so many of our colleagues. Information is power today, and we see it all over the globe when its used improperly it is used as a weapon. Democracy requires wellinformed electorate to function properly but to undermine the principle through socalled Disinformation Campaigns designed to mislead voters and in doing so delegitimize the democratic elections. Actors like russia systematically exploit the media and to distort the truth to an unsuspecting populace with regards to the coronavirus and this information is being spread is a high degree and anonymous and again if left unchecked it could be devastatingly effective. I established this organization it could help lead to the global disinformation effort and work with International Partners. The Bipartisan Legislation within the state department is now the law and to get it up and going we will hear more about that today but we are pleased that we are making progress. They lead, synchronize
Thank you very much for being here, and i want to thank him because he graciously allowed to have the subcommittee hearing and for me to be able to chair it. This is a discussion really important to so many of us here and so many of our colleagues. Information is power today, and we see it all over the globe when its used improperly, hes used as a weapon. Democracies like ours require a well informed electorate, but our enemies are increasingly trying to undermine that principle through socalled disinformation campaigns designed to mislead voters. Malign actors like russia systematically exploit social media, radio, television, and print to twist facts to suit their needs and distort the truth to an unsuspecting populous. Its not just about elections. We see it today with regard to the coronavirus and misinformation thats being spread. Its an interesting tactic because its inexpensive and yet can be very effective. It has a high degree of deniability. Its anonymous almost always and if
The subcommittee will come to order. Good morning all. Dr. Collins, welcome back to the labor hhs education appropriations subcommittee. Let me also welcome all of you, the five institute and Center Directors who are joining in this morning. Dr. Bianki, director of the u. S. Kenne kenne Kennedy Shriver National Institute and committee. Dr. Anthony fauci, director of the National Institute of allergy and infectious diseases. Dr. Gary gibbons, director of the national heart, lung and Blood Institute. Dr. Ned sharpless, director of the National Cancer institute, and director of the National Institute on drug abuse. Again, welcome, welcome, welcome to all of you. This is leader hoyer asked me this morning, he said do you have the nih coming . I said, yes, indeed. And he said, are you ultimately going to be able to get all the Institute Directors to come up. This is one of the most remarkable hearings that we have, and we thank you for the great work that you do and what a difference you ma