Transcripts For CSPAN2 CDC Director Robert Redfield Testifie

Redfield, director of the center for Disease Control and prevention and we thank you for being here this morning. Doctor redfield, to discuss the cdc and ongoing response to covid19. I also want to welcome the subcommittee members, Ranking Member congressman thomas paul andour full Committee Chair. I want to thank you to subcommittee members who are here in person as well as subcommittee members who are participating by secure video teleconference. Before i moved to my Opening Statements and because this is our first labor hhs and Education Appropriations Committee hearing with some members participating remotely, i would like to begin by offering a brief explanation of how it will work and in order to benefit those members and the public. This hearing room has been configured to maintain the recommended sixfoot 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 opted to use 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 mainstream. Do not stop your remark if you do not immediately see the screen switch over. If the screen does not change after several seconds, please make sure you are not muted. To minimize background noise and ensure the correct speaker is being displayed, we ask that the members who are participating by video remain on mute until it is your turn to ask questions. Please remember to mute your self at the conclusion of your question. Should you seek additional time, please unmute yourself so that i may recognize you area i want to remind all members and witnesses that the five minutes clock still applies. If there is a quality issue we will move to the next number until the issue is resolved and you will retain the balance of your time. So members, you take the video option you will notice a clock on the bottom of your screen that will show how much time is remaining. A one minute remaining at one minute remaining the clock will turn toyellow. 30 seconds remaining , i will gently tap the gavel to remind members that their time is almost expired. When your time has expired, the clock will turn red and i will move to recognize the next member. In terms of the speaking order we will follow our traditional order beginning with Opening Statements from the chair and Ranking Members and then a full Committee Chair and Ranking Member. We will then hear from our witness doctor redfield. And then we will proceed to questions. Members present at the time of the hearing, the hearing is called order will be recognized in order of senior ready. And finally members not present at the time the hearing is called to order. Now i would like to move to my Opening Statement. Before i make opening remarks, i want to reflect on today. This afternoon there is a Memorial Service for george lloyd. For the last few months, around the pandemic, we have been talking about how to get back to normal. However, what we can hear and the chance for justice and the cries for the quality is that going back is not good enough. This tectonic moment exposes so many wrongs. The inequalities andracial wrongs. And that as we fight. The virus, before us now. We must also fight the virus of injustice. Good morning. Welcome to the labor health and Human Services and education operation subcommittee. This is our second hearing to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus. And it is bipartisan. Let me commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle including the Ranking Member, congressman tom cole. With us this morning is doctor robert redfield. Director of the centers for Disease Control and prevention area the cdc. Doctor redfield for joining us today area our nation is in turmoil. The coronavirus is the biggest Public Health crisis we have experienced in at least a century. To be blunt, the federal response has been inconsistent and incoherent. A major focus of todays hearing is getting a better understanding of what has gone right and what has gone wrong these past five months. We need to learn from mistakes, not repeat them. We cannot stop the rest of this virus overnight. But in the months to come, we can spare the American People from unnecessary misery, illness and death. In a typical Public Health emergency , and systematically, the response would be led by the cdc. Our nations for most Public Health agencies, based on science and Public Health expertise. I am alarmed that this administration has sidelined the cdc in our response to the pandemic and chosen political expediency over Public Health. As a result, the us has had the worst response to coronavirus of any country in the world and it is particularly egregious because our Public Health system should have been better prepared than almost any other in the world. Over the last three years on a bipartisan basis this subcommittee has increased annual funding to the cdc by approximately 1. 1 billion. Increase of 17 percent since 2017. That included the first year of a new Public Health Modernization Initiative which will transform how the cdc collects, uses and analyzes Public Health data. We also created an Infectious Disease Rapid Response reserve fund to enable the cdc to respond to outbreaks quickly to protect Public Health. Ranking member cole and i have worked closely together, understanding the challenge to create that reserve fund and it was critical to funding early response activities at the outset of this pandemic. Since march, the congress has provided 7 and a half billion dollars in emergency supplemental funding directly to the cdc. And i might add in bipartisan fashion. But instead of Public Health expertise driving our response to the pandemic it appears cdc has beensidelined for political interests. That is dangerous. The stakes are too high. There are projections that Going Forward, 30,000 and more could die each month. That would mean another 100,000 dead over the summer months. Yesterday, the New York Times released a powerful and well researched expose of the consequences of the will lapse in the work of the cdc. Of these open with a quote, long considered the World Premiere Public Health agency the centers for Disease Control and prevention has fallen short in its response to the most urgent public emergency in its 74 year history. From the moment this pandemic restart sure, President Trump and his administrations response has been woefully inadequate, and advocating all responsibility. There was never any coordinated plan to address the pandemic and under this dangerous lack of leadership our nation surpasses 100,000 deaths from covid19. The most of anycountry in the world. It comes to Crucial Detail like acquiring tests and supplies, setting goals for how much of the population should be tested, facilitating Contact Tracing and isolation efforts and ensuring community that have been hit hardest and given the support they need there is no National Coordinated strategy. Our federal response cannot be defended, from a Public Health perspective. Other nations around the world from germany to south korea have found ways to keep people and their countries say. It appears as if the United States is just admitting feet. Is that acceptable . By simply accepting the preventable deaths of hundreds of thousands of americans to covid19, if the administration is asking us to accept that, in my view the answer is a decisive number for us to keep our people safe, our response needs to be led by the scientists and the Public Health experts at cdc. Our response needs to be based on reliable principles, not political appointees in the white house. It is our expectation that public expertise must be at the forefront of our national response. We need answers to vital questions, why has the administration accepted the world worse outcomes in the level of preventabledeaths that would have been unconscionable a few months ago . How is our country going to reopen when there is not a coordinated nationwide effort to test Contact Trace and isolate cases . Why are states disregarding cdc guidelines to reopening business and for social activity mark what are cdc guidelines not at the forefront . Why did cdcs guidelines on reopening come after states started to reopen or were already reopening . We are asking the cdc to lead the way and uphold its mission and i quote that mission, as a Nations Health Protection Agency cdc save lives and protect people from health threats, to accomplish our mission he conducts Critical Science and provide Health Information that our nation against expensive and Dangerous Health threats and response when needs arise. That is the highest mission and it is the right mission so let me say affirmatively that this Committee Supports the scientists and the Public Health officials at the cdc. Like doctor Nancy Messier and others who aretrying to provide sciencebased guidance to thecountry. What went wrong . Why has the cdc then left behind . When there was an early declaration of a public emergency by hhs on january 31st . When doctor messenier said its not a question of if this will happen but when it will happen. She said destruction to everyday lives may be severe but people might wantto start thinking about that now. Cdc produced high quality indepth publications. You need to take note of this. The cdcs morbidity and mortality weekly report, cdc experts have published evidence about universal testing at skilled and certain nursing facilities to interrupt transmission of covid19 as well as critically important work about super spreading events which are responsible for transmitting the majority of cases of booktv. Org. They eyed theyidentify the cause of some of the super spreading events , the larger events. The exposure and choir practice with the one people left to 32 confirmed and 20 probable cases, attendees at a church in arkansas. Workers in meat and poultry processing facilities. We cannot have a cdc that ails the public high quality specific technical guidance. We cannot have a cdc that has reports shall, edited , not scientifically driven or redrafted to suit political purposes. We cannot have a cdc that provides faulty Data Collection and reporting that we cannot have a cdc that fails in that transparency. We need federal leadership that is guided by Public Health. Ive expertise, realtime rigorous and transparent area that we need a cdc and we need it scientists and Public Health experts leading the way or all of us. And i am angry their experience and commitments have been pushed aside for a political agenda. That must change and i believe the congress has to change it. And we have to redirect our own course to set us on the path forward. I look forward to this important conversation and appreciate doctor redfield youre being here and i appreciate thanks for all of my colleagues and now i would like to recognize the Ranking Member of the subcommittee , congressman tom cole for any opening remarks that you would like to make. Iq madam chair and i want to argue for holding this hearing in the middle of a difficult time and you are to be commended for it, certainly doctor redfield being here and i want to associate my remarks or myself with your remarks about the tragic death of mister floyd and frankly the Health Care Disparities that this tragic pandemic has shown a bright light on this committee has worked on for many years and i know it concerns doctor redfield as a concerned everybody here and thats going to be clearly a major task for our Committee Going forward as it has been in the past butprobably with a higher sense of urgency. Good morning doctor redfield and i want to thank you again for coming to testify before us today. First id like to thank you for your Public Service. The director of the cdc is no easy job leading your agency once in a century event compounds the challenge. We let that agency with a steady hand in Uncertain Times and i want to thank you personally for your leadership. Im going to depart from my remarks a little bit because i think sometimes when were in the middle of something its hard to keep it in context but our performance has not been the worst in the world and depending on how you want to measure performance, quite frankly im sitting here looking at literally todays latest statistic and if you want to measure it by the basis of fatality or million population in the performance of the United Kingdom has been worse, italy has been worse, the performance of france has been worse, spain has been worse and the performance of belgium has been worse, performance of the netherlands has been worse, those are all advanced countries with sophisticated Healthcare Systems. I dont think you can take the chinese numbers quite frankly on face value and then beyond that and i say this with no criticism of the countries involved but i do worry a lot about india and pakistan, that part of the world. I worry about a lot about Subsaharan Africa and i think when this is done i worry about our friends in latin america and when this is all said and done going to see the numbers are probably worse in those places than they are in the United States simply because we have a more sophisticated Healthcare System though i have no problem with being critical or putting a flashlight on anything. We learn lessons that way but in america we always seem to think we are the first or best or worst at everything and in this case we may not be the best but i think were better than most and were certainly not the worst. The numbers simply dont bear that out area i hope today we can focus on future steps we can take together to ensure a sense of safety as our nation returns to work and school area after more than two months of staying inside, the American People need the guidance of the cdc more than ever to help us navigate the path ahead efforts to reopen our country and reignite our economic engines should be approached with caution and designed on each states unique circumstances based on sound data. This pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to our families, communities and economy and it will continue to do so for some time. The strain on our supply chains and devastating Economic Impact two hardworking americans have created challenges that will take months and in some cases years to address. However im encouraged to see state and local economies slowly and cautiously beginning to reopen and i also welcome the renewed focus on the need for usbased capacity and resilient supply chains area i look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to address these challenges and i also want to acknowledge the robust bipartisan congressional response in a deeply partisan climate, im pleased to see congress and the Trump Administration Work Together across party lines to deliver Critical Resources for the American Public in supplemental funding and resource programs like the highly successful paycheck protection program. We set aside our differences and delivered legislative actionto address the pandemic , passing record sums in record time and the consensus is clear, congress is capable , is as capable as ever or decisive action. The fight against transport is far from over. I hope the spirit of bipartisan cooperation can continue as we assess our past efforts and determine what more may be needed. While the federal government has provided some shortterm relief to help individuals, households, businesses and communities stay afloat during the training of extreme social distancing, our economies need to get moving again and americans need to get back to work. However any such efforts to reopen must continue to keep the health and safety of americans at the top of mind and not undo previous progress in slowing the spread of this coronavirus. This will indeed be a delica