Congressman roy blau learned, clark, rankingn member cole, Ranking Member harris, congressman congresswoman butler, congresswoman mullen are, congresswoman gray. The subcommittee members participating remotely are congresswoman lois frankel and congresswoman Bonnie Watson coleman. Before i give an opening to offer ai require brief explanation of how the markup will work. Configuredm has been to maintain the recommended six foot social distancing between members, staff, and the press corps in the room. To usembers have opted secure video teleconferencing which allows them to participate remotely. For those on videoconference, once you start speaking, there will be a slight delay before you are displayed on the main screen. Speaking into the microphone activates the camera. Displaying the speaker on the main screen. Do not stop your remarks if you do not immediately see the screen switchover. If the screen does not change after several seconds, please muted. Re you are not to minimize background noise and ensure the correct speaker is displayed, we ask members participating by video remain on mute unless you have sought recognition. For members using the video option, you will notice a clock at the bottom of your screen that will show how much time is remaining. At one minute remaining, the clock will turn yellow. At 30 seconds remaining, i will gently tap the gavel to remind members their time is a most expired. When your time has expired the clock will turn red and i will move to recognize other members. In terms of speaking order, we will follow traditional order, chair and Ranking Member, then chairman Ranking Member and the full committee, then other members who wish to speak. Finally, there has been any mail address which has been and email address that has been set up for members who are here virtually, or who choose not to handle any paper. You can set anything you wish to submit in writing at any of the markups, including documents to be inserted in the record by unanimous consent, amendments, motions, other unanimous consent requests and so on. Been sent address has to your staff. You dont have to worry about it. I might remind members you must verbally request unanimous consent out loud separately from sending the document or written request to the email address. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate the technology and the platform. Myould like to turn to opening statement. The 2021 laborof health and Human Services education and related agencies bill is at the culmination of a lot of hard work from members and staff on both sides of the aisle. I want to thank my colleagues for being here, including my friend the Ranking Member, congressman tom cole, his friendship and our collaboration has allowed us to Work Together to advance americas needs. It is especially important during this tumultuous time that the Congress Continues its work to help our country succeed, to allow them to see that the congress is working on their behalf. We come today to this markup for the 2021 bill. I am going to bear with me, because i am going to deviate slightly from my remarks. Yesterday in the ag subcommittee i had the opportunity to recognize my dear friend nita lowey. Since labor hhs is clearly her favorite bill, i wanted to take a second to honor her decades of work. I received by appointment to this committee 25 years ago. At that time, there were three Democratic Women on the subcommittee, speaker pelosi, nita, and myself. We were trying to plot ways in which we could deal with Womens Health. A lot of the progress we made for women through this bill, through federal spending, started with side conversations that the three of us had. We were known as the delosis, pelosi. Theyo, and would see us on the floor oftentimes and they would say, what are they scheming . And we were scheming. Sometimes we talked about shoes and dresses. We were of that time, scheming, banding together, dreaming of the ways in which we includepand testing to women or invest in Early Childhood education. When nita became chair of the committee she had to decide which subcommittee she would keep. I joked about this being her favorite subcommittee, but it was genuinely a hard decision for her. She is so grounded in foreign policy, but we know so much of her passion and her lifes work stems from this bill. From access to quality education to the protections of working men and women, to the loweychool programs, nita has made this nation and the world a far better place because of her commitment on this subcommittee. I will miss her. We will all miss her. This is her last markup for labor hhs, but our friendship will endure. I love you, misses lowy mrs. Lowey. Thank you for being there for me and for others. Away, newm passed haven, connecticut, for the funeral service, nita lowey was right there. Thank you very much for allowing me to honor our good friend and our chair. 2021, the chairs mark includes 196. 5 billion in overall funding. That includes an increase of 2. 4 billion dollars above the 2020 enacted level, and 20. 8 billion dollars above the president s 2021 budget request. No more than ever, it is our job to give people a better chance at a better life. We will address the numbers, but it is also critical we speak about what they need, what they reflect of our mission. Are atnd its programs the center of the Health Crisis and the economic crisis. Both of which have exposed serious disparities. The virus continues to spike. 2. 9 million cases, tens of thousands of new cases are reported each day, 130,000 people in the United States have died. Biggestnavirus is the public Health Crisis we have experienced in the last century, and a few days ago, the president said 99 of cases were, quote, totally harmless. That is not true. Response, thehe administrations response to the coronavirus pandemic has been inconsistent. It has been incoherent, and above all, i believe it has been dangerous. In a typical Public Health emergency, it is historically the response would have been led by the cdc, the nations foremost Public Health agency based on science and Public Health expertise. However, the administration has sidelined the cdc in our response to the pandemic and chosen political expedience over Public Health. As a result, the u. S. Has had the worst response to coronavirus in many countries in the world. Honestly, when i said that to dr. Redfield a few weeks ago, i know that several in this room thought i was off base, but we are looking at the numbers now. What they were in march, when we had a state of emergency, and what they are now, on july 7, two point 9 million cases and 130,000 deaths. It is particularly egregious because our Public Health system should have been better prepared than almost any other in the world. But i am proud that in the absence of leadership from the white house, the congress has stepped in. Since march 6, the congress has emergencyr supplemental appropriations packages. The labor hhs committee is at the center of responding to appropriated have 280 billion for education, for health, for working people. I want to recognize and thank my colleagues and the Ranking Member and colleagues on the others of the aisle, because we passed those bills in a bipartisan way. We could add another 300 billion in the heroes bill, 197 billion dollars in health, 100 billion dollars in education, three point 1 billion in labor and we hope the senate will pass the heroes act in the president will sign it. We are building on those emergency supplemental packages. We worked to defeat this virus not to surrender to it, and to deliver the people in this country to the dawn of a inovery, not to abandon them an economic collapse. Making it safe for the economy to reopen. This bill supports some of our nations most critical programs. From Early Head Start to social security, they touch individuals and families throughout their lifespan. They create opportunity and they allow america to realize its values and its promise. Our members recognize that. The subcommittee received more than 15,000 requests for todays bill. From both sides of the aisle. We were able to fulfill either in total or in part, most of them. This bill has been informed by our briefings and hearings. Since the beginning of february, committee has had a dozen bipartisan briefing hearings including nine on the. Opic of covid working together, building on the efforts we have made thus far, we advanced the bill, making investments for the for health, for the nation, and to address the disparity in these areas that have been exposed by this virus. It is the mission of this bill. Let me move to the overview. Health, we approximately provided 96 billion dollars for programs at the department of health and Human Services. It is an increase of 1. 5 billion over the enacted level for 2020. In the bill, we seek to do more to help constituents access new treatments, new research, new protections, to help them and their families live healthier lives. To find to fight alzheimers, cancer, opioid addiction, gun violence, to support food safety, address maternal health, eliminate hivaids. Our nation faces Health Disparities. We seek to address them. For Early Childhood programs in todays bill we include an forease of 150 million head start. It is an increase of 100 million for child care. Millionncrease of 25 for preschool development grants. The first few years are essential to longterm outcomes for kids, but for our children to survive, we have to support them at this vulnerable time of crucial development. Especially when the twin health and Economic Crises we face have disrupted or exposed them to hardship, poverty, hunger, or trauma. So we invest in quality, affordable Early Childhood education and childcare. I dont know if folks have read the Washington Post on saturday, july 4, frontpage headline, lack of child care slowing recovery. Working parents swamped at home. Productivity slump pinned on schools and centers closing. The childcare crunch triggered by the pandemic has rapidly become a crisis for workers and companies. Hindering the economic recovery, it disproportionately harms women and threatens to leave deep scars for years to come. On childcare, not in this bill, we have put together standalone emergency bills. I introduced a bill with many in this room that provides 50 billion dollars for childcare stabilization funds within the existing child care and Development Block grant. Chairwoman lowey and representative clark introduced a bill to provide 10 billion for childcare infrastructure. Another critical component of which we are proud to support. Our Public Health infrastructure has failed. It has collapsed, which is why on an emergency basis, and congressman and i have talked about this and have discussed this for the last several billionwe provide 24. 4 in emergency supplemental appropriations to respond to the , to the centers for Disease Control and prevention, the National Institutes of health, the Biomedical Advanced Research and development authority, these moneys will support state and local Public Health departments of a Public Health laboratories, global Public Health activities for the resources to accelerate the development and production of vaccines and therapeutics. These are necessary to end this pandemic, to allow the country to return to economic and social activities. This also includes funding for Public Health emergency funds that would allow the secretary of hhs to draw down those dollars immediately, and not have to wait for congress to pass a supplemental. Emergencyn the funding, we want to ensure that the oversight and accountability , so scientists and the Public Health affiliate officials are in charge, not politicians. On education, we are witnessing the discussion around reopening schools. We need a safe space for children with trauma informed practices and resources to make up for lost learning time, especially for those youngsters who are the most vulnerable to slipping through the crack. That is what we are looking to address with education funding. The bill before us, 716 million to 73. 5 billion. That includes an increase for title i grants for k12 of 254 million above 2020. We know the title i grants are the cornerstone of all the federal k12 programs to help address those disparities and resources across school districts. Weboth sides of the aisle, are all committed to not eliminating this program, as was suggested in the president s budget. Special education, we provide an increase of 208 million. That would get us to about 14. 1 billion total. We wish we could have done more, considering the unbelievable challenges our children with disabilities are facing in this pandemic, their families are facing these difficulties with serious disruptions to their education, and it is our duty to be lifting them up. We eliminated a provision preventing federal funds to be used to overcome racial imbalance in our public schools. Higher education, we provide 45 million to increase over 2020 enacted level. For federal student aid programs to 24. 6 billion dollars, we provided 81 million increase to support institutes of Higher Education. Fornclude 1. 1 billion federal programs, 370 million for gear up. These programs are lifelines to low income students who are often the first in their families to go to college. There is deep support on both sides of the aisle for these initiatives. We include language, allowing incarcerated individuals to be eligible for pell grants and pursue a Higher Education. A prohibition has been on the books since 1994, but this bill takes steps to reduce recidivism and provide opportunity, and it was the request of many members. Career, technical, and adult education, we provide 25 Million Dollars above the 2020 level. For working americans, we must meet our obligations to working people. Unemployment remains higher than any in the previous periods since world war ii. During high employment it unemployment it is vital we provide good paying, safe, secure jobs. This bill provides an increase for the apartment of labor of 254 million above 2020. The investments help working people find good paying jobs. Million dollars increase for the Employment Training administration, including 50 million increase for workforce innovation and opportunity state grants, 10 million increase for registered apprenticeships as we try to block the administration from using these funds to support lowquality programs , alsoo evidencebased known as industry recognized apprenticeships. Our investments working people safe on the job. It is a responsible thing to do. We are responsible for the working conditions, and for their health. The administration has abandoned its obligations to people. These are the forgotten americans. The Migrant Workers on farms, the workers at Meat Processing plants, the men and women of this country at factories and retail, restaurants, clocking in and clocking out to feed their family and to support this nation. We are pushing to provide them with the protections they need, they deserved, and they have earned. Billion the bill 1. 7 for Worker Protection agencies, 12 million increase for osha, for enforcement efforts, more inspectors, and to expand worker Safety Training programs. We provide funding to help states meet the demand for Unemployment Insurance and inlude 925 million emergency contingency funding to help states deal with the massive spike in claims. It is vital that we provide this money for the people, to ensure that it gets to the people. Bill,e labor h education that includes strong oversight measures. We will not shirk our duty to ensure the accountability of taxpayer dollars. For example, the bill requires hhs to submit a weekly report on the inventory of ventilators and personal protective equipment in the Strategic National stockpile, as well as an annual professional judgment budget for necessary expenditures to maintain the minimum level of supplies and ppe, including in the case of a pandemic. I have to say a word about the discriminatory a policy. This is a longstanding issue of racial injustice, one that is routinely considered every year as a legislative rider. But we are in a moment to reckon with the norm, with tradition, and view it through the lens of Racial Justice. So although the bill includes the Hyde Amendment this year, let me be clear, we will fight amendment, tohyde ensure women of color and all women have access to the Reproductive Health that they deserve. I am proud to be a member of this institution, because of what we can do in moments like these. In moments of crisis, where federal leadership is vital yet missing, government must act, and we do so now as the virus is spiking. With this funding bill for 2021, we are building on our Emergency Response to provide emergency investment and longterm investment. We can and we must defeat the virus, and the Racial Disparities that have been exposed in health, education, and the economy. Let us do that together by advancing this bill. Just a second to say thank you to the staff for all of their hard work to get this bill done. To the majority staff, brad allen, jared bass, jennifer, stephen,ckie, roy, philip. The minority staff, susan ross and catherine salmond. Staff, oftentimes members take your word for granted. That does not happen by alchemy. We can only do it with your help and support. Thank you. It is my pleasure to turn to my colleague, the Ranking Member from oklahoma, for his opening remarks. Me offer a few extemporaneous observations before i get to my prepared remarks and begin with areas where we agree. We agree about our distinguished chair. We know we are her favorite children because she is always here. I remember when she became the democratic Ranking Member and we were in the majority, we happened to visit about what she should do, what committee would she take. On our side, we dont do it that way but obviously on the democratic side they do. She talked about how much she wanted to come to this committee and take the gavel. To be fair, at that point i wasnt the Ranking Member, i wasnt on this committee. My advice was, you have such a great relationship with kay granger on state and foreign ops and nothing ever seems to come out of labor h anyway. We have gone four or five years without producing a bill. Why dont you stay with a working partner that will produce something . I think indirectly, i led to your rise, madam chair, by talking the former Committee Chairman out of doing it. It has been a Wonderful Partnership between you two and on both sides of the aisle. Our sentiments are the same. Certainly, they are the same about the staff. I want to associate myself with your remarks, all of you on both sides of the aisle, the staff have worked extraordinarily hard under the most difficult circumstances that any committee has faced in modern congress. With a bill that, by its nature, tends to create some controversy and by its size and complexity, i think the only thing close to rivaling it is the defense department. I would argue this bill is more complex and touches more lives in more ways than that will does. You are to be commended for what you have done. I also want to reflect a little bit on this room that we are having this unusual subcommittee meeting in. I was a member of the House Armed Services committee for the first eight years of my career in the house. So i had the privilege of being in this room, and we talked about obviously, the Great Questions of war and peace and defending the American People and keeping them secure. I think this subcommittee is very appropriately meeting in this room. I think some of the responsibilities it has, particularly in places like the nih, in places like the center for Disease Control, the strategic stockpile, the Infectious Disease Rapid Response fund, are every bit as important in defending the American People as anything in the defense bill. Chair, you referred to me on many you have heard me on many occasions say you are more likely to die in a pandemic than a terrorist attack. That was a good phrase a few years ago. Adly, we know it is true we have seen it in the last 120 days in the United States where we have lost 130,000 americans to coronavirus. I would never question the bravery, service, and commitment of men and women in uniform because i know the risks they matt them on your trips around the world. We lost 7000 people in the world on the war on terror post9 11. Compare that to 130,000 in the matter of weeks. I think we understand the stakes of what this subcommittee does probably more profoundly, sadly, than perhaps we did even before. It has been brought home to everyone of us. I am extraordinarily proud of this subcommittee under both republican and democratic leadership. This subcommittee put more money in the nih, the cdc, the strategic stockpile. It came up with the Infectious Disease rapid fund, than either of the last two administrations asked for. I would suggest this subcommittee was more farseeing than either of the last two administrations. I think that has been the tradition on the subcommittee. It was true when newt gingrich. As speaker spending was doubled in a bipartisan manner. Was in congressional a congressional initiative. Congress has been ahead of administrations of both parties and what it has done on this committee. To associate myself with your pride and my pride in four bipartisan bills that were focused particularly the first one, but all of them had elements dealing with the jurisdiction under this subcommittee. The fact that we came together, there was certainly some negotiation. This is politics, this is an Election Year, there might be a sharp elbow here or there along the way. I know that as a shock to everybody, but the reality is, time, a, in a polarized difficult time, came together in an extraordinary way in a National Emergency and did four bipartisan bills together. I know my friends wanted to move faster than our side did to go to a fifth, but i am confident we will get to a fifth. If we dont, shame on us. I think another one is necessary, hopefully we will get that done before we all leave here on the break. I hope there is a lot of challenges associated, but again, the work of this subcommittee will be at the forefront of a lot of those decisions. There are lots of areas, as my friend from connecticut knows, the distinguished chair, where we agree. Notll take exception, we do have the worst response in the world. Im sorry, i look at the numbers and we have the thirdbiggest population on the planet. There are certainly countries that have done better. I think of japan, taiwan, south korea, i think of australia, i think of new zealand. There are advanced countries that have done much worse if you measure by deaths per million, which i think is the most reasonable deal. England and italy have done worse, france has done worse, belgium has done worse, the netherlands has done worse, i could go on and on. Then i look at other places around the world, and i doubt anybody here on either side of the aisle has a great deal of faith in the numbers we actually get out of china, russia, or iran. Lets be real, these are not countries that are in the habit of being transparent societies. Finally, i would tell you to look around, we are far from finished with this. Look around the world. If you think at the end of the day, things will be better in india or pakistan or most of latin or south america, i would suggest you are misreading what is happening. I would also suggest we are not getting complete data. Not because those countries wanted to see this. They are friends and allies and work to be transparent, but they dont have anywhere like the Public Health system we have in terms of collecting data or statistics. There was a lot of apples to oranges kind of comparisons that go on here. I would also suggest at the end of the day, and we are not at the end of this, lets wait and see how the fight for the vaccine works out and who actually leads the world in that. Who directed the resources. We are doing extraordinary things at warp speed. I know my friend that her talks in a regular basis to our leaders at the National Institute of health and the center for Disease Control and the secretary of health and Human Services. I dont make predictions. I will tell you there are they are more confident today than they were 90 days ago. Part of that is because of the unparalleled resources this subcommittee and Congress Working together placed in their hands, and the preparation made honestly over a number of years before we even knew this was coming. So we are in a political year. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. Mine is different on that and i would be remiss not to disagree with my friend in that area. But again, we agree on more than we disagree on, and i want to begin, madam chair, by congratulating you on your hard work on the chairmans mark. I want to thank you, as i know every member of this committee does, for a series of what i thought were really good hearings and briefings held under very difficult circumstances in the spring. I want to acknowledge that you face a difficult allocation due deale 201718 budget agreement, that obviously was made before anybody knew we were going to be facing these circumstances, so i am not critical of our major leaders on both sides that negotiated that deal. Obviously, that deal would have been tough under normal times. Throw in the unexpected coronavirus crisis, and i think you have been handed one of the toughest jobs in congress, because you have to fund some of the most important institutions that protect the American People from that. Ultimately, i think this will see us through in this very hard, very deadly, and very dangerous fight. So my friend and i, and she alluded to this in her remarks, both believe that cap should be listed on a select group of accounts so we can build up our Public Health infrastructure. The comparison i use is, the Defense Budget on december 1, 1941, was one thing. The Defense Budget on january 1, 19 42, was something quite different. There was an intervening event called pearl harbor, and it changed the way we looked at it and the stakes. We have had an intervening biomedical pearl harbor. That is what coronavirus he is. Us tens oft, it cost thousands of lives, more than most enemies could inflict upon us, and it has cost us trillions of dollars. Trillions of dollars. So not to invest in these critical accounts, and the chair and i have discussed which one is,ze we think there certainly fda, which is not our jurisdiction but that would be one of them. My friend pointed out the food protection chain, which she knows a lot about from her time committee. There are a series of accounts we should pull out and back and say, this is not going to apply. Lets do what we need to do within these accounts. Honestly, lets do a bigger part of it in the baseline, so we not only deal with the crisis come about we begin to construct the longterm system that we need to protect the Public Health of the American People. So far, that idea has not been taken up by the administration or leaders in either chamber, so for the moment, we have to live within the budget parameters we have. I want to recognize madam chair, the balanced approach you took in the bill, taking priorities of members of both sides of the aisle into account. Nevertheless, in its current form the bill contains several concerning provisions and i am unable to support them. While i plan to offer amendments in the full committee markup, i dont plan to offer any here today. I was pleased the bill continues funding for our important Public Health programs and infrastructure, including the Infectious Disease Rapid Response reserve fund. We saw how crucial this fund was a few months ago, when it enabled the cdc and the administration to respond to the coronavirus immediately without waiting for supplemental appropriation from congress. As the country continues to fight against coronavirus, it is critical we continue to support Public Health entities and continue our sustained investment in biomedical research. I am also pleased that the bill continues to increase in a number of important education programs, which my friend the chair knows i support. That includes trio, gear up, impact aid, special education for disabled students, programs for native american children, as well as head start i would suggest, which the minority leader wrote in an oped, we dont get our school and our care for children right, we wont restore the economy. Parents arent owing to come back to work unless they know andchildren are in a safe protected environment. Those are Wise Investments in addition to the investments you have made in the area of Public Health. I was disappointed to see funding for Charter Schools cut by so much, especially when we are increasing educational funding elsewhere. I hope this can be reversed as we move forward. I was extremely disappointed to see almost the entire increase for the National Institute of health is provided in the form of emergency spending. As i have said many times, continued, study growth at inflation plus rates building on what we have done in a bipartisan, bicameral investment over the last several years in our nations biomedical infrastructure is making a difference. It is this investment that will ultimately lead our researchers to find cures and treatments for maladies such as cancer, alzheimers, down syndrome, and other diseases and afflictions that plague our people and people all over the world. The increases provided over the last six years have positioned the nih to begin rapid Clinical Trials for the coronavirus pandemic. It is important this funding continues to prepare the nation for our next challenge. I fear using an emergency designation that has not been agreed upon by the other body and the administration is creating a false sense of accomplishment, and when these emergency funds dont materialize, nih will be left its basencrease of budget to go into conference with the other body. Levels we10 of the have achieved over the last five years. Given the funding constraints we are operating under, i think it will make it difficult to trajectory of funding this agency and i think that is unfortunate but i pledge, madam chair, i know you share my opinion, to see if we can get that number up as we deal with the administration and with our for eggs friends and colleagues in the other body. Im pleased the bill continues provisions that protect human life, particularly the Hyde Amendment, a subject i know we disagree but i think it is a matter of good faith that you that itin there to know makes possible for us to reach a deal, not just in our own chamber but across the rotunda with our friends in the senate. Retention of those protections are vital to ensuring a successful conference agreement. They can be approved by both bodies and signed into law by the president. I was disappointed to see language inserted throughout the bill that ties the hands of the administration in many ways. To thel forces a return obama era policies in title x Family Planning program. The bill ties the hands of the administration by not allowing to enforce regulations and waivers that protect deeply held religious beliefs of institutions that provide Vital Services funded in this bill. This forces the administration to reinstate grants awarded to controversial grantees during the obama and astray should like planned parenthood. It wires all Family Planning grantees to provide information on abortion to all pregnant women they serve, regardless of their religious beliefs. It prevents the administration from enforcing regulations related to labor policy that can improve jobtraining programs and clarify a jobtraining relationship. It restricts funding funding and micromanages the way the hhs administers the unaccompanied alien children program. These will need to be addressed in a bipartisan manner as the process moves forward to avoid a president ial veto. Im confident we can do that because we have done it before. Five times in a row. Closing, while the bill funds many good things, i am concerned at the extensive use of emergency funds and other budget tomicks making it difficult negotiate a bill with the other body. I temper that with the fact that we have been able to do that five times under your leadership, and under my and United Government in a partisan sense and divided government and a partisan sense. I believe it additional emergency spending for coronavirus needs to be negotiated as part of a freestanding supplemental and not part of a labor hhs 20 21 package. I feel the reliance on emergency us up for aetting yearlong continuing resolution, something i very much hope to avoid. I want to and on a positive note. I want to thank gentlelady and her staff for all their hard work. I pledge to work with you madam chair in good faith as we proceed through the legislative process. We have passed this bill through congress and avoided a continuing resolution for five consecutive years. It is a record to be proud of. It is my sincere hope you can continue to do so again. With that, i yield back my time. Delauro thank you for your comments. I would like to recognize the chair of the full appropriations committee. Lowey thank you, chair delauro. A brief comment, as wee the delosi team, were known as the time, was up to all kinds of special activities, which we wont share today. I remember, because Womens Health was important to all of , we discovered even the lab rats at the nih were all male and we were very concerned at the time, many of our bills focused on equity and Womens Health research between men and women. Wewe were concerned, and took action and we stayed with it and we made some changes, but we still have to keep up with it, because it slips sometimes. When the research is just on the rats rather than the female rats. I could tell many stories, which i wont, but we had quite a time on that committee. And it was difficult for me to make those difficult decisions as to whether i would chair this or foreign ops, but then i became chair of the whole committee, so they are all my children. And i really, during my years, i will keep this short, during my years in congress, i got to love all the committees. As you work on each of them, and you get involved in each of them, you are so proud of the work we do as members. To see the commitment from all of us, on each of the issues, makes me proud. Sometimes, most of the time, it is upsetting when i realize that the public just doesnt get it. You look at this team, and my good friend rosa delauro working with my good friend tom cole and all the wonderful members of this committee, how much we have done to make this a better world for all of us. We will keep some of these delosi activities among ourselves, but i thank you for referencing all the important work we have done and the partnership between the bipartisan partnership between my friend tom cole and you. We really worked together on this committee in a bipartisan way. I love this committee, because the work touches critical facets of life that are really important more now than ever as we respond to the covid19 crisis. Whether it is the medical innovations that will lead to cures and vaccines, investments to strengthen Public Health theastructure, or support schools, college affordability, childcare, or workplace protections, the bill before us builds on our commitment to invest for the people. That is what this bill is all about. It is why, when people come on this committee, whether they are democrat or republican, you really feel a tremendous opportunity to invest and make life better for people. In particular, this bill would provide an increase of 500 knowon to the nih, and i this is bipartisan agenda. I know my friend tom cole is passionate, as well as my friend rosa delauro and everyone on this committee. 5 billion in emergency spending for research, including to Fund Research projects that were interrupted by the covid19 pandemic. An increase of 232 million for cdc, including an increase of 10 million for the office on smoking and health to combat the ecigarette epidemic. That is an issue that we are all immersed in, in every, every district of this country. We all visit the high schools. Now it is in the junior high schools. I am worried that it is not getting much better. And how many youngsters, how many youngsters have become addicted to cigarettes . Cigars,nt mention because i know there is someone over there that introduces this well, we havesh. Spent some time together, and there is another member of this committee, and i never go we shouldnt actually acknowledge the fact that there are cigar smells in the office. I wont get into that. But i am glad we have been able to address this issue, as well. With an increase to the office on smoking and health to combat the ecigarette epidemic, as emergency billion in spending to support cdcs Public Health and Emergency Response activities. Nihmillion for cdc and the to fund lifesaving research on gun violence prevention, increases for public broadcasting. Some of you may have remembered when i even brought bernie to the committee. Support some help to public broadcasting and bert and ernie were very effective at talking to members of the committee. ,ead start, child care preschool development grants, vital funding for education including increases of 254 million for title i, 208 , 13 million for afterschool programs. This has been an extraordinary opportunity, not only to help the children in afterschool programs, but their families. Many are working, both the men and the women, single families, Single Member families, and these afterschool programs education,al, vital in addition to helping support working families. And an increase in the maximum pell award so more students can have access to unaffordable Higher Education and the bill would also reject the domestic ag rule, ensure title x grantees merits,pted on their not political ideology, and prevent providers from discriminating against patients. I knew my good friends would go into a lot of detail, and you are right, i love this bill. It is dear to my heart. There is so much talk about that. But thanks to your very indepth descriptions of the bill by both chaire delauro and my good fried tom cole, we will go on and discuss this bill further at other times. So let me just say, i look billrd to moving this through the appropriations process. I thank my friends for all the work you have done, and tall my wonderful colleagues who have made a very wise selection by choosing to serve on this outstanding committee. Thank you again, my friends and members of the delosi team for all the work we have done. Rep. Delauro congresswoman granger and i, we were asked, i was asked if i work with members across the aisle. It was about helicopters, russian helicopters, kay granger. Thank you, i know of your relationship with congresswoman lowy and it is an honor to serve with you and yield whatever time you need. Will be briefi because you used up all the time. [laughter] seriously, chairman delauro, thank you for this. There is a lot to talk about in this bill and im glad everyone got to see that. Health, Human Services, education. Thank you for sharing your experiences with someone that we congresswoman lowey. I learned as much from her as i learned from reading the bills. I want to thank vice Ranking Member of the full committee, tom cole, i appreciate his leadership on the committee and on this subcommittee to try to find Common Ground on really difficult issues and very important issues. That is what you have done. As a result of your Work Together, this bill funds priorities and concerns of members on both sides of the aisle, and many does many good things for the American People. It continues to Fund Important programs we have talked about that improve Public Health, sustain research on diseases such as cancer and alzheimers disease, funds are included to defend the nation against biological threats, investments in education are essential the country to remain competitive with the rest of the world and i appreciate the funding this bill provides for that purpose. I want to thank chairwoman delauro and lowey for including language that protects life. However, there are several position provisions that raise concern and unfortunately, this will make it impossible for me to support the bill in its current form. I hope we can work on these together. The house passed a 3 trillion emergency package to address the coronavirus a little over a month a go. When he 4 billion in emergency spending is talked on tacked onto the this is done without consultation with house republicans. We must have bipartisan conversations if we will address the pandemic in a serious way. Although the bill maintains important protections that prevent taxpayer dollars from being used for abortions, it contains other provisions i cant support like the bill forces a return to the policies of the Previous Administration for the title x Family Planning program. It ties the hands of the administration by preventing regulations that protect deeply held religious beliefs of institutions. We have to Work Together. It is very important we Work Together. These issues are too important to be divisive and not have the support they deserve. In closing, i would like to thank my staff, susan ross and catherine, and the majority staff, as well. They have been great to work with. Enke very much. Thank you very much. If. Delauro let me now ask there are other members who wish to make a statement. Congresswoman . You are recognized. I would like to begin by forking chairwoman lowey always fighting for a strong allocation for the labor hhs and education bill. For over 25 years, you have been a tireless champion for the programs and policies of this, the peoples bill. You have made a critical positive difference in the lives of so many people. It has been my honor to serve with you on this subcommittee since 2003. Your wisdom and your passion will be greatly missed, not just in this committee, but throughout the house of representatives also want to thank chairwoman delauro and Ranking Member cole for their leadership, and for being so responsive to members requests from both sides of the aisle. We are privileged to serve with two such dedicated Public Servants who understand the needs of the most vulnerable among us. I am appreciative of the remarkable subcommittee staff that have done the herculean job over the net the last four months, helping write four supplementals to address the pandemic while also drafting the fy 21 bill. I thank them for their hard work in helping produce such a strong appropriations bill during such a tumult u. S. And challenging time. I am particularly thankful for the increase in funding for underage drinking programs and for the augmentation of my bill. N screening phase all these programs are now at their highest funding levels which will enable them to reach even greater nobles of youth and families than in the past years even greater numbers of youth and families than in the past years. I also want to acknowledge the contributions the bill makes to the mothers of babies. The robust investment in Maternal Mortality reduction and breastfeeding support and the carveout to increase the diversity of the midwifery workforce. These allocations will move us closer to the goal of ensuring healthier outcomes for mothers and babies in all our communities. Im grateful for your commitment to strengthening our Public Health system in this bill. It will ensure we are not only able to overcome the current covid crisis but that we will also have the necessary infrastructure and resources to address all future Public Health challenges. You have crafted a bill which upholds our promise to americans by investing in workers needs, supporting the education of their children and assuring all our families and communities have access to Quality Health programs, and i am proud to 21 labor hhsfy appropriations bill. I yield back. Thank you, madam chair. I will be brief. I could not help but smile just for a second on the conversation about gender equality of the efforts here. I want to government the only male species representative on your side. Doing a great job. Keep it up. They are after you. Be careful. No, madam chair, i wanted to thank you and your staff and mr. Cole and his team for accommodating a lot of the requests that i had and our office had, not only just considering and giving us the consideration and thought but also including many of those. There is still one outstanding item that i know we are having a great conversation about that i want to share with this committee before we get into full committee that is of great importance to the entire georgia delegation, bipartisan. To recognize former senator isaacson in the renaming of a building at the centers for disease and control Disease Control and prevention after him. You may know, and i appreciate the comments about the it ist in the cdc located in georgia, but there has been no greater champion, i think, here than senator isaacson, and he and i have a really unique intersection of history. Had it not been for him, i probably would not have been involved in politics. Not many people know this story, but the First Political event i went to in my life was a senator isaacson event back in college. It was not expected in anyway because i was in college and a buddy of mine invited me to go because his dad was going. You know what it is like in college, youre just looking for a free meal maybe and some refreshments. I will tell you about that night because i think it is so important, and it really defines who the man is and why he deserves this tribute. That night, i was a political apolitical. Just a college student, just scrapping through life. It was 1990. It did not turn out the way he planned. I did not know much about the race, did not really keep up with it. All i know is when that night, a person who had given all he had in front of hundreds of supporters and except the outcome of an election, and it was that night that i saw a person of just great warmth, acceptance. Hes not one who blamed others or cast doubt or threw stones. Instead, he encouraged and uplifted and moved forward, and he captured me that night. Not only myself, but i know many others. It is because of him that i paid electedention to officials and politics and elections and campaigns and character of individuals, and theres no better person that could deserve this tribute than senator isaacson. I hope we get that opportunity to honor the entire georgia delegation with that at some point in committee. Thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you very much, madam chair. First of all, let me take a minute to salute our chair, who i have had the privilege to thee with also as part of state and foreign operations subcommittee. I want to say once again to you, chairwoman, first of all, im going to miss you tremendously. Second, i want to thank you for understanding the importance of racial diversity, being a champion for women of color. For, thank you understanding the caribbean and african and latin america deserve the type of attention in Funding Priorities and policy directions that we can provide to insist that we lead in Global Security and peace, so thank you very much. I have learned a lot from you, and i look forward to our continuing Work Together. Let me thank madam chair for putting forth this bill and putting forth many of the priorities in the agencies which have been underfunded, and i have to talk about this as i do at each and every hearing because i do at each and every moment, to talk about Racial Equity and justice and closing disparities based on race and ethnicity, and of how many governments Funding Priorities must be addressed and seen through a Racial Equity linens linens Racial Equity Racial Equity lens. This commit is oftentimes make decisions on Funding Priorities which really allow for, for example, Health Disparities relating to people of color, which is glaring under covid19. We dont fund the office of minority health, National Institute of minority health, everything that addresses Health Disparities, but you have really helped tremendously in your leadership. In this bill, for example, we have an increase of 6. 3 million for the office of minority health, an increase of 7. 8 Million Dollars more for the National Institute on minority health. So many people cannot figure out why we are seeing so many black and brown people die and contract coronavirus when we should have been investing millions and millions and millions more, so i want to thank you for understanding and hopefully putting us on the right track to make sure these underlying conditions on Health Disparities are no more. Also, i want to look at the funding for increased research on diseases that specifically impact people of color such as sickle, lung disease, lupus, heart disease, copd all of and Underlying Health issues we can address through this budget and the Funding Priorities. Under your leadership and your fighting for increased allocations i think will really begin to help reduce these disparities in terms of the diseases that specifically affect black and brown people in this country. Also, the social determinants of health care. Priority social determinants of health care as a priority. Poverty is one. Many of these counties and census tracts people of color live in, and they are disproportionately in terms of povertyimpacted by which are underlying social determinants for Health Disparities which we see each and every day, so once again, your broad view and understanding of how to begin to dismantle policies with Funding Priorities that, quite frankly, are perceived as being racist can be dealt with in this bill, and who truly understand that, and i thank you for that. Finally, i just want to thank making sure that the Hyde Amendment, which disproportionately impacts women of color, is seen and understood as a Racial Justice issue because it is. When any policy discriminates against anyone in this instance, black and brown women it is an issue of Racial Justice, and it has to be dismantled. It has to go away. Weve got to figure out how to do that because more and more people now, not only black and brown people, but people throughout our country, are beginning to recognize what systemic racism is and how it is manifested in the policies and programs of this government, and this committee has a real responsibility to respond and to do the right thing and to make equalhat theres truly justice for everyone in this country. That means black lives also matter. Thank you for that. Thank you very much. Just want to say it has been a pleasure working with the chair of the full committee, the gentlelady of new york where i was born and raised. Its always comfortable being with another new yorker at some point. And the chair of the subcommittee who shares a passion for health care that i share as well. We dont always agree on things. We certainly are not going to iree on a Hyde Amendment, tell you that, but the people share its always wonderful working with people who share a passion for america. We obviously are living through an interesting time, to say the least. The importance of this subcommittee is so clear now to the American People in the context of what is the first i ammic in a century, but going to associate myself with some of the remarks from the gentleman from oklahoma. Of aow about the risk pandemic before it was cool to think about it. Last year, we took a position on for instance, increasing the strategic and National Stockpile , which they did not agree with we thought was necessary. Retrospectively, we were absolutely right. The general and said the rest of us dying from bioterrorism pandemic is probably greater than the risk of us are dying from a connecticut war, and yet, our budget for the defense moretment is 100 times than our budget for florida or things we do there and we have to think about that going into the future. With regards to what this ofmittee does, the care Covid Patients and i know the president came under criticism for the 1 remark, but he was absolutely right in terms of what the infection fatality rate is now. We thought it was going to be 3 , 5 . Was 6. 6 atchina it the onset. The International Agreement now is that its going to be between. 5 and 1 , and given dr. Redfields transition to congress, we may have only. 1 of the cases out there. Our fatality rate might be less than. 5 . 99 is is actually actually an overestimation. And it is because of what this committee has done. To make sure we have research on convalescent plasma which is so by people andused ventilators, the use of remdesivir accelerated through Publicprivate Partnership and funded the route will decrease the fertility rate when given earlier, before people are ventilator. Dexamethasone, a drug i would routinely use in the operating room, pennies a dose, decreases the death rate by 1 3 in patients on ventilators. Thats astounding. We have vip analogs there are new therapies out there that will make it much less deadly than we first thought. That being said, we have 130 thousand deaths. Thats a significant number of people, and our mission should be to make sure that this rate goes as close to zero as it can, and it is because of the work of this committee. But i do believe that our considering a bill today that is far from bipartisan misses a tremendous opportunity. I urge you, look at the Approval Rating of congress this year. We started in the 20s. When we agreed in a bipartisan way to deal with covid in march and april, we went up into the 30s. Where we have not been in a long time. When we returned to partisanship with the heroes act, the next time, it was 25. Because america is watching. Are in an Election Year, but the current circumstance calls for leadership, not partisanship. If we were moving a bipartisan bill today to deal with covid through the next year because that is what this bill does. This bill has our vision of how we are going to get through this because we are not the it yet this would have flown through the senate, it would have been signed by the president , not subject to a continuing to wetion, not subject all have the feeling what is going to occur, this bill will not be resolved until after hopefully we dont get it the second wave, and we would have been on the sidelines because we dont have a bill that we can get through both houses easily. I think it is a tremendous opportunity we are missing. I just hope that i have some time between now and when we consider this bill later in full committee, we can realize the opportunity we are missing here because america is watching. We are going to set the standard. We are going to set the direction. It has been a very good direction. America leads the world in these therapies. These therapies, without American Research money, they would not have occurred. I believe we are missing an opportunity. Thank you again for your passion, madam chair. I hope that we can get this bill does not deserve to get caught up in the Election Year shenanigans. I yield back. Chair . M i was just going to go to the screen. For it. Thank you. Of those the chagrin who are sitting in what i assume is a stuffy room, let me thank you and Ranking Member cole for. Our initiative i thank you for your years and fabulous leadership. Want toe a few things i say about this bill, but i want to remind everybody that dr. That just said recently its a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death. While i appreciate all that we do in this committee, we do a lot to fund our health care system, i think i would like to join our cheerleadings comments chair ladys comments wishing that our president would show better leadership. That said, i would like to talk about this bill. Protects our that children, families, including funding for child care. I want to highlight three other issues. Americans ares of currently out of work with the highest Unemployment Rate since the great depression, families unable to pay their bills like pay their bills, buy their food or prescription drugs. Systems are antiquated and unable to respond to the need. Hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers have yet to receive a check in my home state more da, and many theyre desperately needed benefits. Second, covid19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the health of our seniors. Ins is especially true here south florida. Older americans are particularly vulnerable during this health. Risis they face higher hospitalization mortality rates, and they are encouraged to isolate themselves to keep themselves safe. Isolation can increase Mental Health depressionsuch as and anxiety, and this pandemic has made it more difficult for many seniors to obtain basics such as food and to fill alsoriptions, and it has fullit harder to receive care from caregivers. Third, i want to highlight some andrks, madam chair representative, concerning women and the need to access to reproductive care. Women, not politicians, must be in charge of their own reproductive destiny. When this bill thankfully continues to be funded, the administration is title 10to carry out familyplanning. I look forward to the day we can assure that all women have reproductive full care regardless of their income. With that said, im proud to support this bill as we move it through committee, and i yield back. Thank you, gentlelady. Anyone else on this side . No . Ok. No further discussion. Im assuming that there are no amendments. With no further discussion or amendment, i now would like to recognize congresswoman royal allard for a motion. I move that the will be favorably afforded to the full committee. All those in favor . Aye opposed . No. Have it. Es on that, we would request the as and nays the yeas and nays. [roll call vote] it would appear that the [indiscernible] bonnie . You have to unmute. Did unmute. Oh, now you have. On the bill. We got that. Thank you very, very much. Yes, no, i voted. Ok. Yeas are nine, nays are six, and the bill is approved. I want to say thank you to everyone and i have a couple of announcements to make. I ask unanimous consent staff be permitted to make technical changes to the measure just approved. Without objection, so ordered. Without objection. Ok. Please ensure that the materials before you are returned to the subcommittee staff before you leave the room. Know what you dont will happen. Thank you all very, very much. Be safe and lots of love. [indiscernible chatter] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] during the summer months, reach out to your elected officials with cspans congressional directory. It contains all the Contact Information you need to stay in touch with federal agencies and state governments. Order your copy online today at cspanstore. Org. When i speak of the threat from china, i mean the government of china and the Chinese Communist party. To understand this threat and how we must act to respond to it, the American People should remember three things first, we need to be clear i about the scope of the chinese governments ambition. China, the Chinese Communists party believes it is in a generational fight to surpass our country. That is sobering enough, but its waging that fight not through legitimate information, not through fair and lawful competition, and not by giving their citizens the freedom of thought and speech and creativity that we treasure here in the United States. In and, china is engaged effort to become the worlds only superpower by any means necessary. Fbi director Christopher Wray spoke today in an event hosted by the hudson institute. You can watch his entire remarks tonight starting at 8 00 eastern on cspan. Cspan has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and Public Policy events. You can watch all of cspans Public Affairs programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app and be part of the National Conversation through cspans daily washington journal programs or through our social media feeds. Cspan created by americas Cable Television companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Were going to talk next about the covid19of relief funds approved by congress over the past couple of months. We are joined by the Health Care Team manager for the Government Accountability office. Thanks for being with us this morning. Thanks for having me. Tell us why the gao did this report. The cares act which was passed in march requires us to provide ongoing oversight of
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