Transcripts For CSPAN3 CDC Director Redfield Testifies On Co

It has been several year, march of 2016, since our last hearing on the budget of the nations leading Public Health agency. Before i do a formal welcome and so forth, i want to i was made aware of this issue which is really very, very troubling and that is that the administration has ordered the Immigration Court to immediately remove coronavirus posters and it just says that the Immigration Court staff nationwide have been ordered by the administration to take down coronavirus posters from courtrooms and waiting areas. The executive office for immigration review which falls under the department of justice told all judges and Staff Members in an email monday that all of the coronavirus posters which explain in english and spanish thousand prevent catching and spreading the virus had to be removed immediately. I just want to say that whatever ones view is on any issue that we face in this nation, whatever your personal views are, whatever your ideology is, that we cannot, we cannot in this Public Health crisis play fast and loose with peoples health. No matter what we believe, it is a moral responsibility for us to make sure that everyone is protected. Just came to my attention. Dr. Redfield, we welcome you, to to have you here and your colleagues that are with you, dr. Ileana arias, associate public director for science and horia, nce, dr. Debra dr. Chery berger. I might say, i also want to messienier who isnt here but she did help provide with us a bipartisan briefing we had for the subcommittee in february. Sorry not to see her here as well. In fact before we proceed to c. D. C. s f. Y. 2021 budget request let me start where where well all probably starting today, with covid19. I want to commend the thousands of Public Health experts on the state and federal level who are working so hard to keep us safe during this outbreak. That includes you, dr. Redfield, as well as all of the c. D. C. Staff. We are in a crisis and there are questions about our preparedness and ongoing response effort. Im very concerned, i think we all are, abour nations testing capabilities for coronavirus. Other country have been testing thousands of people for weeks but the u. S. Is behind the curve. The low number of positive tests in the u. S. Is likely a byproduct of undertesting as opposed to an accurate count of the prevalence of coronavirus in the United States. My understanding is that the testing kits are being distributed across the country. But the delay is unacceptable. Why the c. D. C. Develops a new test for covid19, the the majority of the initial test kits were faulty and there were weeks of delays before replacement kits were sent out. During this time, c. D. C. Maintained a narrow testing criteria that makes us ask if the health of our country was further put at risk because of the actions. I expect therell be a lot of questions today about testing and those delays. Another concern is Emergency Funding. The congress came together last week and we passed an 8. 3 billion emergency supplemental on a bipartisan and bicameral basis. It includes 2. 2 billion for the centers for Disease Control and prevention. This funding will support c. D. C. As well as state and local Health Departments who are critical to responding to this outbreak and to saving lives. But when this crisis arose, the c. D. C. Had only 105 million available in the Infectious Diseases rapt response reserve fund. The supplemental added 300 million. Ive been a leader for years on a Public Health Emergency Fund and have repeatedly introduced legislation, the Public Health emergency act, to provide 5 billion in Emergency Funding for the Public Health Emergency Fund. So that you can act with alack rahity and flexibility. We can only imagine where wed be if we had had 5 billion at the outset instead of 105 million in the Rapid Response reserve fund. The former Shadow Health minister of south africa who is a global Public Health expert has said of Public Health infrastructure and i quote, why do we lurch from crisis to crisis and lapse into complacency in between . This outbreak is a reminder of the importance of a wellprepared, welltrained, welltrusted, wellfunded Public Health system. It goes beyond covid19. Professionals at c. D. C. Day in and day out are working to combat foodborne illnesses, influenza, to promote healthy lifestyles, to reduce and prevent the use of Tobacco Products and on and on. Its important work. An its why we are proud of what we were able to do and this committee in increasing c. D. C. s funding in 2020 by 636 million, 9 above the 2019 level and was done on a bipartisan basis. Some of those highlights include for the first time in more than 20 years funding specifically to support firearm injury and mortality Prevention Research. The first year of a multiyear effort to support modernization of Public Health data surveillance an analytics at c. D. C. s state and local Health Departments. And the first year of a Multiyear Initiative to reduce transmission of h. I. V. By 90 of over the next 0 years. The establishment of a Suicide Prevention program, tobacco prevention, specifically given the ecigarettes and vaping among young people. Increases for global disease detection, thats Global Health security, as you outlined in your remarks dr. Redfield, the Global Health security is critical to our national security. And the Infectious Disease Rapid Response reserve fund. Unfortunately the president s 2021 Budget Proposal reverses its progress. The budget proposes to cut c. D. C. By 693 million, 9 below the 2020 appropriations. Despite the presentation the president s budget which claims that Infectious Disease, Global Health and preparedness were prioritied in c. D. C. s request key programs would be cut, the Public Health Data Initiative, the Public Health work force program, the Infectious Disease Rapid Response reserve fund that allowed c. D. C. To quickly respond to covid19. This subcommittee will not be sur suing the administrations proposed cuts. The cut from our Public Health infrastructure in an outbreak is beyond consideration. Instead we, together, intend to invest in the c. D. C. And our nations Public Health system. We will not lurch from crisis to crisis and lapse into complacency in between. We cannot. This coronavirus outbreak makes that clear. I will step there. We look forward to your discussions of budget and other policy areas around your jurisdiction and preept your being all being here today. Before we before we turn to you, let me turn to my colleague, the Ranking Member of the subcommitteing, my colleague from oklahoma, congressman tom cole. Mr. Cole thank you, madam chair. Ill make a few remarks off the cuff before i get to my prepared statement. This is an area that i think my chair and i certainly strongly gree on. Im never critical of somebody who presents the president s budget, its your job. I call it the o. M. B. s budget to be fair. Ill state for the record that im quite sure we wont be cutting the c. D. C. Any time soon. I suspect quite the opposite well be building on the thing this is committee has done over the last few years. We had a discussion within o. M. B. , director mulvaney, and made the point whatever budget you send up here were going to increase spend on n. I. H. And strategic stockpile and we added Rapid Response strategic fund. I think overall they were good decisions. I think were seeing the benefit of them now. I suspect well stay on that course. What you do, and i thank all of ou for doing it and theres and the professionals you lead. Re indispensable dr. Red feed and i have had this discussion before, i think of you as the biomedical equivalent of the pentagon. What woe we do there protects the American People one way, what we do here protects them another way and frankly on a daytoday basis a more immediate and impactful way. We are more likely to have the problem were dealing with now than to have the kind of threat to the lives of americans. So again thank you for what you do. I suspect this committee on a bipartisan basis will continue to make these investments Going Forward. Good morning, dr. Redfield. Thank you for womanning to be with us this morning. I almost was going to do what i did with frances collings, how was your week, i think about you guys a lot, we know this has been a stressful time for you. I know coronavirus is at the forefront of everyones mind this morning. You and the Public Health experts at c. D. C. Are front and center in defending our people. In addition to hearing about coronavirus this morning im hoping we can also discuss other priorities. I know we all share. Such as reducing opioid abuse and overdose deaths, addressing the threat of antibiotic resistance and preventing the growing problems soshed with chronic diseases, all critical Public Health issues for our country. As the United States continues to monitor and respond to coronavirus, im encouraged that congress and the Administration Work together across party lines to deliver Critical Resources for the days and weeks ahead. Such a highly polarized and partisan environment, im very encourages that we could set aside differences and quickly deliver on such a high priority item for the health an safe i have to the American People. It took just nine days, the ad for the administration to submit information regarding a supplemental appropriation need and bipartisan, bicameral congressional action. The vote in the house was overwhelming as it was in the senate. And i hope you can continue, and i suspect you can continue to count on bipartisan, robust support to aid in your efforts to keep your our communities prepared and able to respond. Fortunately, long before the coronavirus ever infected its first patient, congress was already preparing for this sort of Public Health emergency in a bipartisan way. Five years ago, congress began shaping policies and prioritizing investment in our readiness, including boosting funding year after year for the National Institute of health, center for Disease Control an prevention and Strategic National stockpile. Perhaps our greatest lifeline these past few weeks was the prior establishment of and investment in the Infectious Disease rapid respond reserve fund which was immediately visible to you, the c. D. C. , our number one Public Health defender. Indeed, because congress had the tools in place ready to deploy at a moments notice, the administration has been able to direct a swift and decisive response from day one, not lose anything time protecting our citizens. Ill associate myself with the chairman. Ill like this fund to be larger, we originally proposed 300 million. I know we both living within budget realities would have liked to have done more. Im please congress did the 300 million in the supplemental and Going Forward i hope we can build on that given what weve got to work with. We have many priorities here. But again, the jut come we cot was the aim in our creation of the reserve fund. While its unfortunate we had to use the fund, im glad the resources were available. I hope more are available in the future. While theres still a long road ahead with many unknowns, im encouraged that one of those unknowns is not whether the funding will be there for our Public Health defenders to continue in their response. Along with providing generous funding for the resources we need to prepare for, prevent and respond to coronavirus, im proud that the supplemental responsibly replenishing the Infectious Disease Rapid Reserve fund 300 million to help us respond quickly to future threats. As we have unfortunately seen and are continuing to witness, a deadly new disease is just a plane ride away. Thats why the Global Health security is also such a critical component of preparedness. Having our Public Health experts deployed all around the world, an idea you first raised with me its a f years ago, to respond to new Public Health threats where they exist in the country of origin before they reach our shores is a really good idea. Were likely to never know where the next threat may appear. So ensuring a strategy covering all regions is necessary. I look forward to hear manager about your plans for Global Health security. There are many other topics id like to address today, among them work addressing influenza, combating the open yode epidemic, progress toward treating chronic diseases that threaten our most vulnerable populations and reducing antibiotic resistance. As our time is limited i end my statement here and look forward to continuing our conversation. I yield back my time, madam chair. Ms. Delauro thank you, i yield to the chair of the full appropriations committee, congresswoman lowey of new york. Mrs. Lowey i thank chair delauro and Ranking Member cole for holding this hearing. Dr. Redfield and the distinguished panelist, we welcome you. Thank you for joining us. First, dr. Redfield, i want to thank you for meeting with me last week. We spent more than an hour together and i appreciate your commitment aened your expertise. Two short weeks ago, i planned to raise the trump budgets continued neglect of c. D. C. Its backward and misguided its backward and misguided recommendations to cut Health Resources and the harsh impact on the health of americans. After working more than two decades to restart federal investments in gun violence pretchings research i was eager to discuss the types of research that may be funded. We would like to hear about progress on other important investments in the fiscal year 2020 spending bill, including the new data maryland earnization initiative, child stwall abuse Prevention Research an combating the epidemic of youth vaping. By the way, thats an issue that is pervasive. I first learned about it from my 15yearold grandchild, that 60 of the class is vaping. And its not getting better, its getting worse. But unfortunately, today, we have a new epidemic on our hands. One week ago, my home county of westchester, new york, had its first con filmed coronavirus case. Today we have 98, with a total of 142 throughout new york state, more than 700 nationwide ncluding tragically 26 deaths. This stunning increase requires every level of government to Work Together and aggressively to contain and stop the spread of covid19. With the recently enacted 8. 3 billion emergency supplemental, the federal government can aid state and local Health Departments in assisting patients and mitigate the extent of the virus. However, due to the administrations failure to treat this threat seriously, initial faulty test kits, the administration slow approvals for laboratories, slow distribution of working kits, more people are likely to be infected and sadly were hearing those statistics. It is imperative that the federal government have a multiagency approach to ensure tests are available for all who may need one without delay. Cant go backwards. Unfortunately, there was a real delay. Thats why it was spreading. Earlier this week, i sent a letter to secretary azar, commissioner hahn and yourself urging you to use all powers at your disposal to quickly approve qualified labs in new york. Had a conversation with the governor of new york, that theyre ready to move. They need you to approve these labs including hospitals, private labs, other state facilities and to permit both automated and manual processing. I want to stress that again. If its taking more time for the federal government to catch up on the state level, theres real, Solid Movement and we need you to approve obviously all these labs and facilities have to go through a process. But as quickly as possible. There are labs in new york awaiting aprufle that could greatly expand Testing Capacity by thousands per day. I dont know why theyre waiting approval. M