Federal agencies are working in response to the coronaVirus Outbreak. Ken cuccinelli is acting deputy Homeland Security secretary, and dr. Robert kadlec is assistant health and Human Services secretary. They testified before a senate committee. Topics included supply chain management, sick pay support, and travel issues, specifically, how the coast guard is working with cruise lines. This is just over two hours. Good morning. This hearing will come to order. I want to thank the witnesses first and foremost for your efforts as theyre related to the current, i guess weve got to call it a pandemic at this point in time, right . With covid19, the coronavirus. I guess its important to put things in perspective and i ask to submit my Opening Statement to the record. But i think we oftentimes fail to recognize and put this in proper perspective, so let me just rattle off a couple figures here. Ebola. Total cases worldwide ended up being less than 29,000. Now, i remember in the midst of that crisis, we were talking about this thing spreading and could be a Million People, which obviously would have been a huge problem because ebola had a mortality rate of 40 . But in the end, because of really effective action on the part of the world health organization, the obama administration, we surged resources in there and prevented that from spreading, so less than 29,000 people actually contracted that. About 11,000 people died. Weve had other outbreaks of ebola, where were Getting Better at it. Weve developed i think some relatively effective vaccines that certainly help protect Health Workers and well talk a little bit about that, mr. Cuccinelli, in our Senate Briefings pointed out that thats a finite resource. The next deadliest virus weve been dealing with is the 2012 mers outbreak. Total cases were less than 2,500. 858 people died. So that had a mortality rate of 34 . 2003, we dealt with sars. 8,000 people affected, 774 people died, a mortality rate of 9. 6 . The average flu, you know, the seasonal flu these numbers are a wide dispersion of what happens. 9 to 49 Million People a year catch it. 140,000 to 810,000 people are hospitalized with it. Obviously anyone with Underlying Health conditions, the elderly are most affected by it, and we will lose there will be 12,000 to 60,000 fatalities per year with just seasonal flu. Another virus that certainly reached pandemic levels, sure sounded scary was the n 1 h 1 virus. The actual stats on that is about 60 million americans caught h1n1, over i think 200 million nationwide. Worldwide 150,000 to 175,000 people died from h1 globally, but the fatality rates were not that high. I mean, thousands died in the u. S. , but weve dealt with these things in the past. So, the current stats, as far as i have them, that we know about, 81,000 individuals have contracted and tested positive for covid19. Close to 3,000 deaths. The latest mortality rate is about 3. 4 , which is serious. I mean, the normal flu mortalitys about 0. 1 . So, this is definitely more virulent, a higher mortality rate, but i would caution everybody in terms of that mortality rate. This is just deaths from people we have tested. And we dont have the types of test kits or the numbers yet. Were developing them rapidly, thanks to, i think, reducing government regulatory burdens in terms of testing, getting the amount, and well talk a little bit about that. We definitely want to clarify that situation. But you know, my guess is the mortality rate, once its said and done, once we have a sense of how many people actually contract this or do not display symptoms or are very mild, particularly in young people, i think that mortality rate i would think would probably come down, but again, nobody knows. Theres an awful lot about this disease that nobody knows. So what im hoping we can accomplish in todays hearing is talk about this administrations response, which by the way, i think has been almost immediate. From what ive seen, my interaction, the accessibility of whether its acting secretary wolf, mr. Cuccinelli, members of the cdc, nih. Ive had access to them. Now, i have not abused that access, because i really want you working to mitigate this problem. But theyve been very accessible. I dont know how many briefings ive already attended. I appreciate we have two individuals here. You say, well, why dont we have like everybody representing every agency . Well, i want them to work. Theyve got a job to do, and i know theres been a lot of hearings, so youve been very accessible, that youve taken a wholeofgovernment approach. As ive said repeatedly, i certainly dont see the administration underresponding. In fact, youve taken unprecedented steps travel bans, quarantines for i think, is this correct, for the first time in 50 years . Unprecedented steps, so we have not underreacted. But i think this administration is fully aware of and cognizant of the cost of overreacting. So, the basic fact of the matter is, the chances of the administration getting it just right, reacting perfectly, is zero. It wont happen. But again, from my own knowledge, my own interaction, what weve seen in terms of the interaction with the senate and the house, this is an allgovernment approach, this is all hands on deck. This is not being ignored. I mean, you can just see the 8 billion response as opposed to the 2. 5 billion funding request. Funds are not going to be an issue. Congress will make sure the administration has the funds. In terms of priority of action, it is important that we are able to test so we know the extent of what the outbreak is. And i really want to talk about the regulatory issues, just the basic science issues. I was talking to dr. Kadlec in the front room. Theres a reason they call it medical practice. This doesnt just happen overnight. This is a whole new virus, just became known to mankind, what, three months ago, mr mr. Cuccinelli, you were saying . So it takes time to develop the tests to make sure the tests dont produce false positives. Then you have to manufacture them. So, im heartened by what im basically hearing, and i wont tell the figures now. I want to hear about those and we want to delve into those so we know what were really talking about in terms of what testing kits are available, how theyre going to be distributed throughout the nation, you know, kind of what the priority is for that distribution, so we really do get a sense by being able to test as many individuals as doctors want to test, because right now its been limited. Because theres limited number of tests, so theres pretty high criteria to test any patient. I want to talk about current travel restrictions. You know, obviously, this is Homeland Security committee. We want to talk about cbps role, tsas role, how youre cooperating with the cdc, what the screening measures are, what data were collecting. Mr. Cuccinelli, we talked about that, and youve reacted to our conversations. Were collecting more data so we can trace travelers that may have come in contact with people that are infected. So, we want to talk about all of those issues as relates to the department of Homeland Security. Again, testing is a top priority. But then, we also want to talk about the Current Issues with the supply chain, but also in the future. Once we have this all stabilized, we know where were at, you know, hopefully, this will prove to be somewhat seasonal, although there are indications it may not be. Once weve taken care of this and vaccines are developed and accessible to the public, which will be quite some time in the future, we really do need to take a look at the strategic stockpile, we need to take a look at the supply chains. We need to really ask ourselves, in a manufacturing process that is not laborintensive, why are so many of these precursor chemicals for drugs produced in india, which is now, according to a news report, blocking export of some of these chemicals as well . I see no reason for manufactured drugs approved by the fda for u. S. Use, that those things should be manufactured overseas. I just dont. And we have to learn from these types of situations and put in place either regulations or laws so were better prepared for the next pandemic, because there will be a next pandemic, because ive rattled off the ones weve already had to deal with. Again, i want to really thank the witnesses. Im hoping this is a really good discussion. Im hoping this is a clarifying discussion. This is about transparency, recognizing that you dont have all the answers because theres just things right now that are unknowable. But thank you again for your work in this. Thanks for appearing before our committee. With that, ill turn it over to our Ranking Member, senator peters. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you to our witnesses for being here today. The top priority of this committee and of your agencies is quite simple, keep americans safe. To be clear, this coronaVirus Outbreak in the United States is not currently widespread, but nevertheless, it does pose a significant threat to our Public Health and our Homeland Security, and we have to take it seriously. And im grateful for the efforts of your agencies and Public Health officials across the country to limit the sprez of this contagious virus. While we have seen growing numbers of cases in the United States, we have, thankfully, not seen widespread outbreak yet in this country. It is the job of this administration to work with congress and our state and local governments to do everything we can to limit the spread of this virus. It is clear to me that we should also prepare for a worstcase scenario and widespread infections. Assessing clear information about coronavirus has been a significant challenge for the public to date. The American People have a lot of questions. They want accurate, reliable information about the virus spread and what the government is actually doing to protect their health and safety. As we have learned from past epidemics and pandemics, outbreaks like this require an aggressive, coordinated, and comprehensive response as well as timely and trusted useful guidance from Public Health officials as well as security officials. In the coming weeks and months, your agencies will play a Critical Role in containing the outbreak, educating americans about this virus and protecting Public Health. Whether your response is timely and effective will truly be a matter of life and death. With that in mind, i appreciate you joining us today. My constituents in michigan and the American People want clear answers to some of the most pressing questions that they have right now. I look forward to hearing what steps your departments are taking to ensure that we have the right plans and that you have adequate resources to actually execute those plans in order to stop the spread of this highly contagious disease. Thank you again for taking time to be with us today. Thank you, senator peters. Is it the tradition of this committee to swear in witnesses, so if youll both stand, raise your right hand. Do you swear that the testimony you will give before this kmem kme will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god . I do. Please be seated. Our first witness is mr. Ken cuccinelli. Mr. Cuccinelli is the senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary at the u. S. Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Cuccinelli recently served as acting director of the u. S. Citizenship and immigration services. He previously served as the attorney general of the commonwealth of virginia. Mr. Cuccinelli. Chairman johnson, Ranking Member peters, and distinguished members of the committee, its my honor to appear before you today to testify about the work of dphs and what were doing to respond to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 19, known officially as covid19. Let me first say i am proud of the work of the men and women of dhs and our partners in the department of health and Human Services and across the government are doing to contain the spread of the disease, slow the spread of the disease, and to prepare for a domestic response. The departments top priority is the safety and security of the American People, and were committed to an aggressive, proactive, and preemptive, wholeofgovernment response in fulfilling that mission. As required by congress in 2018, President Trump signed the First Ever National biodefense strategy to build upon our ability to rapidly respond to and limit the impacts of bio incidents like the one were facing now. Were seeing the strategy pay dividends as we implement a wholeofgovernment response to this disease. Dhs is taking action at airports of entry to support hhs in slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus. Dhs is working to decrease the workload of Public Health officials, expedite the processing of u. S. Citizens returning from china, and above all, ensure that resources are focused on the health and safety of the American People. Dhs, including Customs Border protection, transportation security administration, continue to work very closely with our partners at cdc to route all admissible persons who have been in Mainland China and iran in the previous 14 days to 1 of 11 designated airports of entry where the federal government has focused Public Health resourceresources. Any admissible person whos been in hubei province, china, the past ten days is subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine where cdc has made arrangements with state and local authorities to ensure theyre provided proper medical care and Health Screening. Any admissible person whos been in the rest of Mainland China or iran within the previous 14 days undergoes Proactive Health screening at airports and if theyre asymptomatic, up to 14 days of monitoring to ensure they have not contracted the virus and dont pose a health threat. Dhs continues to facilitate enhanced Health Screening of travelers entering the United States who have recently been in china or iran. Travelers identified by cbp officers during their primary inspection are then referred to cwmd medical screeners. We have 500 of them, over 500 contracted and about 95 on duty at any given time. And for those that through medical screening are identified as particularly at risk, they are then referred to cdc personnel who are on site and have made arrangements with local Health Authorities. This has involved over 53,000 air travelers to date. We realize these actions could prolong travel times for some individuals. However, Public Health and Security Experts do agree these measures are necessary to contain the spread of the virus and protect the American People. To minimize disruptions, cbp and the air carriers are working to identify qualifying passengers before their scheduled flights. Dhs cwmd is supporting the enhanced screening efforts through agreements with state, local, and private ems, Public Health, and First Responder personnel. Thats where those 500 contractors come from. Cwmd established this capability in response to the ebola virus threat that was emerging last summer and these actions ensured a trained, vetted, and badged workforce was ready to rapidly deploy to support cdc with airport screening operations. Dhs was able to adapt this capability to quickly address the covid19 threat. Cwmd is also providing direct support to cdcs effort to collect passenger information at all 11 airports, allowing cdc to provide direct information to Public Health officials to facilitate Contact Tracing efforts. Cwmds efforts have significantly increased the accuracy of the data collected. Cbp and the u. S. Coast guard continue their work to recognize, detect, and assist individuals arriving through oyer land ports and waterways who may be carrying the virus, all in coordination with cdc. The coast guard continues to review all advanced notices of arrival. This is in a notice they get 96 hours before any ship comes to an american port. It gives a full accounting of the medical status of everyone on the ship. The captain of the port will communicate any concerns stemming from sick or deceased crew or passengers to their coast guard chain of command and the cognizant cdc quarantine station, who will coordinate with local Health Authorities to ensure continued facilitation of international trade, nonpassenger commercial vessels that have been in china or iran or embarked crew members who have been in china or iran within the previous 14 days with no sick crew members may be permitted to enter u. S. Waters and offload their cargo, reload, and depart the port. Since my time is up, ill go ahead and stop with the Opening Statement. We submitted it, covering a lot of this territory, and im happy to answer your questions. Thank you, mr. Cuccinelli. Our next witness is dr. Robert kadlec. Dr. Kadlec is the assistant secretary for preparedness and response for the u. S. Department of health and Human Services. Prior to joining the department in 2017, he