But i do want to say that its been one of the great honors of my life to have the opportunity to serve with a man of integrity and honor and decency and commitment to not only arizona, but the United States of america. I have seen jeff flake stand up for what he believes in knowing full well that there would be a political price to pay. I have seen him stand up for his family. Ive seen him stand up for his forebearers who were the early set he he early settlers of e state of arizona. There is a place called snowflake, arizona. Obviously the flake part comes from his direct predecessor. It is the flake families and families like them that came and worked and slaved and raised families and made arizona what it is. And it has never had a more deserving son than jeff flake and his beautiful wife cheryl and children. So i would just like to say, jeff, ive known you now for a number of years. I know you have served arizona and the country, and theres one thing that im absolutely sure of and that you will continue that service which is part of your family, its part of your view of america, its part of your willingness and desire to serve arizona, and one of the great privileges of my life has been to have the opportunity to know you and to serve with you. So as we look, all of us, at some point at our time that we have spent here, whether they be short or whether it be long, we look back and we think about what we could have done, what we should have done, what we might have done and the mistakes we made and the things were proud of. Well, in the flake service to this country when the flake service to this country is reviewed it will be one of honor, brilliance, patriotism and love of country. And i thank cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up wednesday morning, utah republican congressman Chris Stewart discusses u. S. Military operations in niger. And new York Democratic congressman paul tonko talks about the open point of order Opioid Epidemic in america. Sheenan will ilip discuss the release of j. F. K. Assassination documents. Be sure to watch washington journal live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern on wednesday morning. Join the discussion. Kevin hassett, thed of the president s down soifl economic advisors testified wednesday before the joint Economic Committee on tax reform. Live coverages begins at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on wednesday on cspan3, on cspan. Org or listen on the free cspan radio app. Wednesday, judge Fred Cavanaugh of the d. C. Circuit court of appeals talks about the role of the judiciary in maintaining the separation of powers between the three government branches. Well have live coverage of his speech at the heritage noundation at 5 30 p. M. Eastern on cspan3 or watch it online at cspan. Org and on the free cspan radio app. This week on q a they were shoving and jostle, their target was charl murray. And i was behind him. And it kind of intensified, he looked like he was going to fall to the ground. He was at the time a 75yearold man. I did what any decent human being would do when you see a 74yearold man on the verge of falling to the ground, grabbed him by the arm. Both to make sure he didnt fall but i was also afraid of being it was a large, i dont know how many but i was fearful of being separated from them and being left behind so i took his arm and when i did that, thats when it all tourned me. Somebody pulled my hair. Somebody body slammed me from the other direction. Professor ry college what happened last march in response to a scheduled talk by charles murray. Next, a hearing to assess the federal Governments Public Health preparedness for Hurricane Season. Recent hurricanes caused major damage to part poffs texas, florida, and puerto rico, which is home to several drug manufacturers whose facilities were severely damaged by the storms. The house energy and commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations heard from f. D. A. Commissioner dr. Scott goes leeb. The hearing is two hours and 35 minutes. Ill go ahead and get us started. We are here today to examine the department of health and Human ServicesPublic Health repairedness for and response to the 2017 Hurricane Season. In the last two months, texas, florida, puerto rico, and the u. S. Virgin islands have been devastated by hurricanes. I first want to express our heart felt sorrow for the millions of americans impact by these devastating storms and say that all members of this committee, on both sides of the aisle, stand with those affected by these hurricanes. I would also like to thank dr. Burgess and dr. Reeves, both members of the subcommittee who recently visited puerto rico to assess the impact these hurricanes have had and continue to have on americans. This committee has been conducting oversight of the federal response to the recent hurricanes since shortly after harvey made landfall in texas. Unfortunately, i expect that our work here will continue for years to come. The committees jurisdiction involves not just Public Health issues but rebuilding the electrical grid, addressing environmental cleanup and restoring telecommunications to name only a few. The people of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands continue to face a long road to recovery and many are living without power and Running Water. I believe we are going to be joined today by representative Jennifer Gonzalez from puerto rico, someone who knows all too well about the difficult challenges her home is facing. Thank you for being here at this important hearing. From coordinating overall response to insuring that individuals have the medical treatment they need to protecting the blood and pharmaceutical supply, to granting medical waivers hhs has been working tirelessly to provide medical care and services to individuals affected by the storms. The overwhelming majority of Health Care Facilities in the impacted areas went above and beyond to protect and cheat those in harms way yet media reports indicate that some Health Care Providers failed in their duty to protect their patients. There was a tragic situation at a nursing home in florida where 14 residents died after the facility lost its air conditioning and this despite a hospital across the street that never lost power or cooling. The response in puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands has involved numerous federal agencies working together with each other and state and local officials. For example, before Hurricane Maria made landfall in puerto rico and every day since hhs, the department of defense,the department of Veterans Affairs and federal Emergency Management agency have been coordinating with local Emergency Response officials to provide medical care and help reestablish the health care infrastructure. Hhs has worked with puerto ricos department of health to prioritize resources needed for dialysis facilities and have coordinate would fema to help ensure critical supplies are delivered where they are needed. Similar efforts are ongoing in the u. S. Virgin islands, as well. Many questions remain. Has the interagency response beeneffective from the hhs . Are we utilizing our resources in the most efficient and effective ways to help our fellow americans in puerto rico and u. S. Virgin islands in particular . It is critical that we understand the Public Health challenges ahead. Mold formation is likely in nearly all the effected regions. As we have seen after Hurricane Harvey there is increased risk of spread ofinfectious disease. Over one million americans are still without clean, safe Drinking Water. Rebuilding puerto rico and u. S. Virgin islands will take years. The Health Care Systems are in direcondition and most of the operational facilities need some degree of assistance. To make matters worse the electrical grid has been devastated which has significantly hampered recoveryefforts. We dont know the full extent of the damage let alone when we will have electricity and Running Water restored. We are trying to make sure we do Everything Possible to addressthe short and long term needs. Especially in the face of thePublic Health risk that resulted and will continue to resultfrom these storms. I would like to thank the witnesses for testifying today and i look forward to hearing your testimony. I yield five minutes for Opening Statement to the Ranking Memberfrom colorado. This 2017 Hurricane Season has been one of the most damagingon record. Hurricane harvey broke the record for the greatestamount of rain recorded from a single Tropical Storm or hurricane in the United States. Hurricane irma became strongestatlantic hurricane on record. Hurricane marias impact on puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands has been nothing lessthan catastrophic. Mr. Chairman, as you said, the scope of potential health risks caused by this ongoing crisis is still coming into focus. The infrastructure on puerto rico and theVirgin Islands remains decimated. Nearly 80 of puerto rico still doesnt have power. Hhs reported that a substantial number of puerto ricos hospitals are either nonoperational or require diesel to run generators. Over a third of puerto ricoenresidents lack access to Potable Water. Contaminated water isspreading contagious diseases. While i certainly appreciate the effort by volunteers including physicians and nurses volunteering their time with the teams i am concerned that poormanagement of the hurricane response at a federal level may be hindering response efforts. The federal government i believe probably does not have a complete picture of what Health Care Challenges exist because frankly most of the island of puerto rico lacks adequate communication. I think that this committee needs to hold further hearings to address the status of all these Vital Services that you talked about. I think as time goes on we should have field hearings on puerto rico in particular but also the vergeant islands as much of the recovery effort as you accurately describe involves jurisdiction of this committee. I cant stress enough how important it is for us to send our staff down there to investigate this and how important it is for members to go and investigate this. I was part of a group of members that went after Hurricane Katrina to new orleans to observe the Recovery Efforts. What we found through years of oversight on this subcommittee was that washingtons understanding regarding the situation on theground was very different than we were able to observe firsthand when we went into the basement of Charity Hospital and we saw what happened to those records. When we had field hearings and we saw what had happened to small businesspeople down there in new orleans. You just cannot substitutefor that. As we begin to think about our public responses, members of congress, we need to see what we are doing on the ground. Mr. Chairman, last week President Trump said the administration deserves a ten for its response to the devastation of Hurricane Maria. Given the fat thakt most residents lack power, nearly a million americans lack access to safe and reliable Drinking Water , i find that statement to be breathtaking. 14 related to a nursing home that were completely avoidable. We need to discuss that. We know we have about 50 deaths in puerto rico so far with the threat of bacterial infections growing. I am very concerned about puerto rico and the whole interplay between the folks that live u. S. Virgine islands and their migration and what that means for the health needs of everyone. On the island the Drinking Water issue is simply critical. I look forward to your expert testimony today and the committees work in the days thank you. Now recognize the chairman of the full committee. I thank the vice chairman for the support. I want to express my deepest sympathy for those impacted by the horrible storms particularly fellow citizens in puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands. This committee stands ready to assist in whatever way we can. We will continue to be diligent in the oversight in the work that the agencies are doing and the needs of the people. I am pleased that dr. Burgess has already been to puerto rico, visited some of the hospitals and looked at the health care issues. We know we have much more work to do and we hope tohear from all of you today about what is out there ahead, we need to uncover and get better solutions. Today we are examining continuing efforts to protect the Public Health in texas, florida, puerto rico and u. S. Virgin islands in the aftermath of hurricanes harvey, irma and maria. This is the first of series of meetings and in the coming weeks we will hold hearings before the energy and environment these matters. As vice chairman stated this committee will be conducting oversight of the rebuilding of puerto rico and theu. S. Virgin islands for years to come. The Public Health riskstypically associated with Natural Disasters are vary skpdinclude heightened incidences, diminished access to medical care and Long Term Mental Health trauma. These risks can beparticularly dangerous especially for vulnerable populationssuch as infants, dialysis patients, individuals who may beimmuneo suppressed and the elderly. We saw this in the after math of Hurricane Irma where 14 elderly residents lost their lives as a result of heat induced death issues after the facilitys air conditioning system failed during the storm. Last week this committee sent a bipartisan letter to the Nursing Homes owner requesting information on the facilitys Emergency Preparedness plan, inspection history and steps it took toprotect residents after the air conditioning system stopped working. We will hear while three major hurricanes to impact United States in 2017 were distinct events that present and continue to present their own unique challenges, many protocols necessary to conduct effective Public Health response are immutable. Federal agencies responding to disasters must be able to communicate effectively with each other and local, state and territorial officials to identify areas of need, insuring that individuals have adequate access to basic necessities such as food, water and medical supplies. As we head into recovery phase it is important we also carefully monitor patients as they transition from hospitals or under medical supervision back to their homes. News reports indicate more than 60 of puerto ricoens are now homeless as a result of the devastating hurricanes. We need to make sure when patients are discharged from hospitals that they have safe places to go and dont end up on the streets and back into the hospital. FollowingHurricane Maria various media reports called into question whether the federal government is adequately meeting its obligation to protect health and welfare of american citizens. On this matter i look to gain perspective from witnesses whohave been on the ground in the areas. Making sure the americans in need get the assistance they require cannot and should not be a partisan matter. If certain agencies arent pulling their weight we want to know. If there are federal laws or policies that are impeding the Recovery Efforts we want to know. We want to hear about any best practices that can be gleaned from ongoing Recovery Efforts to utilize in response to future Natural Disasters. Thanks to you and your teams for being on the ground trying to do the best you can in these horrible circumstances. We need to know the facts. What are the Lessons Learned and where do you need additional help. With that i yield back the balance of my time and look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. Before i do that, i would also like to welcome our newest member to the committee. Mr. Duncan was just approved by the house conference thismorning. And we are delighted to have you on board the committee. Thanks for being here today. I yield back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. That i recognize Ranking Member of the full committee. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you for holding this hearing on this critical issue. I hope this hearing is the first of manyhurricanerelated hearings as Congress Needs to hear further from hhs and other agencies regarding ongoing response and Recovery Efforts in all of the effected areas. I would like totake a moment to recognize the federal, state and local responders who are working hard to address the many Public Health issues which exist as response and recovery continues in all areas that were im