The committee will come to order. Good morning, everyone. I want to thank all of you who are attending this important hearing, and today we are going to discuss the International Response to the covid19 pandemic and the future pandemic preparedness, prevention and response. The hearing will focus on senate bill 3829, which senator murphy and i have introduced, the Global Health security and diplomacy act. Its written on paper, not on stone, which well talk about a little bit in the future here. This is an important endeavor that this committee is going to take up, indeed probably one of the weightiest matters that well deal with as they attempt to create a new shield to prevent a covid virus type attack from happening again. The covid19 Global Pandemic has reaffirmed what weve long known, and that is Infectious Diseases, particularly those of viral nature, do not respecta tt threat everywhere. Weve been right here to focus on our domestic response to the pandemic, but we ignore the spread overseas at our own peril for obvious reasons. It is essential that we respond now to help our partners who are not yet experiencing significant spread to get testing, tracing and quarantine procedures in order to prevent a worstcase scenario. We also need to focus on protecting access to food, livelihood, water, sanitation and hygiene. Protecting existing investments in immunization, maternal and child diseases, and other Infectious Diseases are important at this time. Also we need to work with partner countries and organizations to ensure that our aid reaches those who need it most. Without aiding and abetting corruption Human Rights Violations and democratic black sliding which we know happens when we start focusing on something else. We need throat had to get ahead of the next Global Pandemic, indeed that is the focus of this hearing. Again, the vehicle that were talking about is senate bill 3829, but for discussion purpose, we look for every possible improvement to that bill that we can make. This hearing is one of a number that im going to undertake as we construct senate bill 3829 to go forward. The purpose of it to, as i said, constructed shield is better than the one that we have. Ive repeatedly said that what we need is a fire station and a Fire Department to be able to put out a fire before it burns the entire world. Over the years weve come to expect that the World Health Organization would play a role. The World Health Organization has done great work in many respects. It plays a key role as the guardian of International Health regulations, and is the clearinghouse of Global Health data and best practices. It has done a remarkable work in combatting polio and eradicating smallpox, but its response to fastmoving emergencies such as ebola and covid 19 has exposed significant weaknesses that the World Health Organization has. We however are not here to demean or criticize or condemn the World Health Organization. Rather what were here to do is have a fear analysis of what the response was, and how their structure is constructed, that to cause the weaknesses that we have. Doctor tedros and his Management Team were very kind to spend some time with me early on, and they explain to me what their objectives were, and how they were attempting to do so. They meet some very fear points, and it is truly obvious that they did things that could have been done differently, and they will be the first to admit that. In addition to reaffirming World War Three organization that World Health Organization, we should reform in the kindest way possible to make it work better. We need an International Financing mechanism that will reenergize action understand the Global Health security agenda to help countries with high commitment but look pass it improve their pandemic preparedness and response. We need a long term thanks to the coronation problems that have long play the u. S. And country teams operating overseas. This accountable entity would not, i repeat not replace the efforts of the nsc. We put these ideas forward in the bipartisan bill, and have invited all those who wish to participate to do so. This has to be a bipartisan effort. Its not too late to get back on track and restore the longstanding tradition of bipartisanship that has characteristic, characterized every successful u. S. Global Health Program of the past 20 years. Its not too late to focus our efforts on addressing the current covid19 pandemic overseas in a manner that saving lives and protects the United States from future waves of infection. There is no doubt that this will happen again. Weve been told that the bat population particularly in wuhan area in china contains about doesnt viruses. This, of course, the pandemic was caused by one of these viruses jumping from one species to another, from a back to a human being. What happened after has been greatly debated, but we know the result, we know it wasnt good, we know there were failures along the line and we know we can do better. Theres no other group more qualified than this committee of the United StatesSenate ForeignRelations Committee to undertake this proposition. This is something that we owe america, we owe the world, and we can do this. Im committed to do that. I would hope that every member on the committee focus on this as one of the most important things that we do. It will be a legacy that will be incredibly important for future generations, and we know that the world cannot withstand much more of what weve seen, that we got from the covid19 infection. It went through the world. With that, i hope that we as a committee do what we tried to do and that is focus with civility, kindness, understanding, and tolerance. We are going to hear different ideas. Theres a lot of ideas that people have strong feelings on. I hope that people listen to what others have to say, and listen to defenses that people make about what has happened, but more importantly listen to what people tell us they have learned that will help us in the future. In the bipartisan fashion that is done with kindness and civility, i have every confidence that we can develop a bill that can pass this congress, be signed by the president , become law, and really be a tremendous benefit to our fellow human beings as we go forward. With that i will turn to senator mendes. Im happy that we are having this their hearing. Let me start by speaking to the larger concerns of the democratic minority. We must have serious and sustained focused on u. S. Foreign policy and serious oversight over our agenda. We want to make that happen. We need to tackle some of the major challenges. Afghanistan, venezuela, north korea. We need to ensure that the secretary of state testifies before this committee. We should all be shocked and frankly offended that the secretary is refusing to appear, refusing to defend the administrations Foreign Affairs budget and we should all be insisting on his appearance. This could be the first time in over 20 years that a secretary of state has not testified before this committee to explain administration priorities. I guess after ambassador boltons book will probably never see him again. This lack of engagement fundamentally undermines our work, not only does the secretary of state feel comfortable in refusing to come before us, that refusal apparently extends to other senate officials. Weve heard from only one in this entire year, the administration has issued oversight inquiries, many of them bipartisan. We dont need to rehash the contentious vote on michael pack, but we should all be concerned over what weve seen in the last 2010 days and 24 hours at the u. S. Agency for global media. Mr. Pack has gone on a wholesale firing spree, removing the heads of networks, dissolving their corporate boards to replace them with unqualified political people. Its now obvious why the white house wanted pack so badly, so they can transform the agency into their own personal mouthpiece. This is a blow from which it may never recover. Once the credibility is gone, no one will ever trust a report from radio free europe, radio team, nor trust the tools of the open technology fund. I would urge you mister chairman, to respond to the letter that we sent you in the spirit in which it was offered. On behalf of myself and all the democratic members of the committee and tell you that we want to work with you and want to find Common Ground, we want to be successful and we want the committee to take on serious and meaningful work that will make an impact on the national and global stage. Lets Work Together to make that happen. It is disappointing that the white house would not sent a member of the Coronavirus Task force or any of the Senate Confirmed individuals from the state department, health and human services, or the United States agency for International Development responsible for administrations response. The American People deserve to hear from members of the president s handpicked team to understand what is happening to address the worst pandemic the world has faced in hundred years. More than 8 million cases worldwide, more than 115,000 american lives lost. In my own home state of new jersey, the second largest state in the nation in terms of covid deaths, im vividly reminded of this consequence. The tragedy was a wake up call to those who question whether we should engage with and invest in, i would like to use this hearing to understand how we got here, what we knew about the virus and when, and how we are leveraging our diplomatic relationships in leadership to best respond to protect the American People. We should examine the World Health Organizations response, i wish we had someone from the state departments borough of International Organizations to do exactly that. We also know that the u. S. Was regularly communicating with and receiving information from the World Health Organization. Including Government Employees embedded at the World Health Organization. Rather than seriously consider how to best leverage our leadership and contributions, the president abruptly announced the u. S. Would pull out of the organization, threatening not just our ability to confront covid19, but risking decades of progress on other Global Health initiatives including combatting polio and ebola. Yes china has a lot to answer for, but the administrations use of racially stigmatizing language to describe covid19 in direct contradiction has been hurtful to americans at home and utterly counterproductive in leading an International Response. The secretary of states insistence ppppppppppppppppppppx language has prevented us from reaching consists this at the g7 and security council. While the white house is engaging in divisive rhetoric, the rest of the world is stepping up without us. When chinese president using beijing addressed the World Health Organization in may he pledged two billion dollars to combat covid19. Eight billion dollars was raised. The white house declined the invitation to participate for reasons that are beyond. Me is this what the Administration Means by America First . Well if this eu consumption comes up with the vaccine before we do, it will meet america is last. This approach is not only short shots, short sighted and foolish then jean jurors american lives. As old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a print and of here. Im all for ensuring the u. S. Government is better organized and able to detect and respond to future pandemics both here and abroad, but some of the proposals coming out of the administration are eerily similar to those coming from some members of congress. I look forward to the first of what i hope for many throw discussions. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now we will proceed to do exactly but i said we are going to do, which is examined this with an eye toward constructing a shield for the future. Of course that require some discussion about what happened and how we got here. Nonetheless, im hoping we will continue this discussion, senator murphy and my bill has done, sent bill 2839 has moved forward. We have a distinguished panel today. People with access outstanding knowledge in this area, who can help us understand the task at hand, and how we can accomplish that task. First of all we have mr. James richardson who served as the director at the office of foreign assistance recordings 35 billion dollars of foreign assistance across the department of state. Yes 20 years of government experience and hold the battle and science and government, a masters and science and strategic studies, and is a graduate of the United States air force and command. Mr. Richardson, thank you so much. Give us the benefit of your wisdom. Thank you chairman. Ranking members, members of this committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify on the International Response to the pandemic. As a former staff and member of the committee i look forward to having an opportunity to have a dialog and answer your questions. First i need to acknowledge the leadership of President Trump, Vice President pence, secretary pompeo, and everyone around the world that stayed in usaidato combat the pandemic. That we coordinate assistance on half of the secretary. As the chairman mentioned prior to that i was at usaid looking for ways to strengthen the power of development and improve the institution. As such, i believe deeply in the power of the development and diplomacy. Together i think they can be unstoppable. The United States is the worlds undisputed leader in foreign assistance. Weve invested 500 billion dollars over the past 20 years. 140 of that in the United States alone. The United States has built and sustained Health Systems around the world, trained millions of Health Care Workers and saved millions of lives. We have a huge challenge here. Impacting both high income and developing countries alike. The numbers speak for themselves. The state department has received nearly 1000 requests from almost every country in the world. In the face of covid, the generosity of the American People has been on full display, with more than 12 billion in financial, humanitarian, scientific and Technical Support to combat the crisis. This first, thank you for that, this money is being well spent. Weve billion of that, and our assistance has gone to 123 countries. Weve obligated over 500 million of that this. Weve provided much needed ventilators in el salvador, weve trained workers in india, weve put out Public Service announcements about how to fight the virus. The coronation hasnt slowed a step down, its insured alliance and effectiveness of our resources. When peoples lives are at stake we need to make sure we get this right. While the covid19 pandemic is certainly not over, i firmly believe that we need to start thinking about today what systems the u. S. And the world needs to lessen the likelihood of another outbreak becoming a Global Pandemic. When looking across this pandemic, and pandemics of the past, i think we can pull some important Lessons Learned. Moving forward i hope we can all agree that more data, more coordination, and more response functions are necessary to respond to future outbreaks and prevent pandemics. So the first Lesson Learned is that pandemics arent just a Development Challenge or confined to the developing world. For instance, of the countries with the highest percentage of covid related deaths, almost none of them have u. S. Government bilateral Global Health programs. As such, u. S. Leadership needs to not just focus on the development piece which is critically important, but also have a broader scope, focusing on mobilizing countries own resources, maroon and sharing with like minded donors and building true accountability into the global system. The second lesson is that the u. S. Government and global system must be prepared to respond internationally. As i often say true coronation is key. We need maximum impact. Thats true coronation is not about control, it is about empowerment. We have to unleash the power of our diplomacy, of our development, of our Public Health efforts in order to maximize our impact. We also need to ensure that the Global Structures can effectively prevent and contain outbreaks