Chairman grassley had put his epic streak of consecutive votes temporarily on hold for the sake of other people. Of course leadership and example setting are nothing newpl for te senior senator from iowa. Im confident our colleague will pick up exactly where he left off, resuming both his perfect attendance record and the tireless work for iowans that he represents. We all benefit so very much from his leadership. So the senate is back in session to finishe up 2020. 2020. The American People are counting on us to finish strong. We need to reach on federal government funding to avoid a lapse in basic programs and services. We need to finish the annual Defense Authorization to shore up the u. S. Militaries competitive advantage over our adversaries. Andd we need to continue processing wellqualified nominees for vacancies throughout the government especially, especially on the federal bench. These are important assignments but they are not the only assignments congress should not depend f
Bill gates sr. And i know you and everyone at the foundation is feeling that loss. He was a tremendous man who i think many of us in philanthropy had a chance to get to know in various ways but not as much as you probably did. I think we feel his loss greatly. Let me just express that loss to you. Thank you so much. He was a remarkable human being and a remarkable humanitarian. Thank you. Indeed. So we are here at this unprecedented moment, and that word gets overused but it is kind hard to imagine that we could have as many crises facing us all now. We have got obviously the health crisis. Er with got the economic crisis. We are going through a reckoning on social justice. Many of us are experiencing the wildfires and other signs of Climate Change that are striking the country. And thats only the tip of the iceberg. Your foundations care about some of these issues and working deeply on them and of course education is why we are here and it is central to what you all do. How do you wei
And others will appear remotely. Sie some members are appearing in person, let me first remind everybody that pursut to the latest guidancerom the house attending physician, all dividuals attending this hearing in person must wear a face mask. Members who are not wearing a face mask willot be recoized. Let me also make a few reminders for those members that are appearing in person. You will only see members and tnesses appearing remotely on the monitor in fro of you when they are speaking in what is knowas active speaker mode. A timer is visible directly in front of you. For the members appearing remotely i kw that you are all aware by now. But let me remi everyone of a few points first. You wille able to see each other speaking during the hearing. Whetr they are in person or remote as long as you haveour web said to active speaker mode. If you have any queions about this actation, please contact the Committee Staff immediately. Second, we have a timer that should be visible on yr scre
Is about 90 minutes. Good morning, everyone. And welcome to todays hybrid hearing of the National Security subcommittee. On the committee of oversight and government reform. Pursuant to the house rule, some members will appear in person and others will appear remotely. Since some members are appearing in person, let me first remind everybody that pursuant to the latest guidance from the house attending physician, all individuals attending this hearing in person must wear a face mask. Members who are not wearing a face mask will not be recognized. Let me also make a few reminders for those members that are appearing in person. You will only see members and witnesses appearing remotely on the monitor in front of you when they are speaking in what is known as active speaker mode. A timer is visible directly in front of you. For the members appearing remotely i know that you are all aware by now. But let me remind everyone of a few points first. You will be able to see each other speaking
Great question. I wanted to write a book that would be a first draft of the history of the long epidemics for the year of covid and beyond but that would speak to an interested reader, not just a specialist in the field. There are lots of specialists in the field and i thought my valueadded might be to translate from specialists in the field to reader who are fascinate by the blizzard of legal issues that werent really on most peoples anda until now. We never thought about pt epidemics but think about them now, particularly what we can learn from them andhat do we know when its going to be over. I want to begin, john, if i can, really at the end of your book, and then ill pivot book at the end of our interview to ask you more but this question. You write, america has two histories, one ugly,he other far more appealing. In the months and years ahead, americans will hold the power between them. Lets hope the make the right choice. Im going to be asking you more but what that right choice