DeGette blasts Trump administration for lacking a clear chain-of-command in response to coronavirus

DeGette's remarks came during a House subcommittee hearing this evening, and in the wake of widespread media reports that – against the advice of the CDC – the Trump administration recently flew at least 14 American citizens, who had become infected with the coronavirus while on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan, back to the U.S. aboard a commercial airliner alongside dozens of other passengers who were not infected with the illness.

"Here's my question," DeGette asked Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during the hearing. "You're the chairman of the president's task force on the novel coronavirus. Who's in charge? Are you in charge?"

"I am in charge," Azar told DeGette and others on the panel, "but in Japan the deputy chief of mission, who is the chargé d'affaires, who made that decision, has full authority of the President of the United States in a foreign country."

"That's the problem," DeGette told Azar. "There needs to be someone who can overrule Homeland Security, State, who can make these decisions for the American public based on public health."

The exchange comes as a growing number of lawmakers, including DeGette, are calling on the president to appoint a coronavirus czar to coordinate the federal government's response to the virus – as the previous administration had done to successfully thwart the spread of Ebola.

DeGette, who authored a 2015 law that has helped accelerate the way our nation researches and develops new cures and vaccines for illnesses, such as the coronavirus, asked NIH Director Anthony Fauci, who is leading the agency's effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine, during the hearing how much additional funding it would take to speed up development of the vaccine his agency recently moved forward to the first stage of testing.

Fauci, who has said repeatedly that it will likely take up to one year to develop a vaccine that's ready to be distributed widely to the public, told lawmakers today that an additional $140 million in funding would allow his agency to advance the drug to the next stage of development.

The figure comes as House and Senate negotiators continue to try to reach an impasse over how much additional funding federal health agencies will need to fight the spread of the virus.

DeGette and others are pushing to provide U.S. public health agencies with an additional $6.5 billion in emergency funding to fight the virus, while the top Republican in the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, said he was willing to back a proposal to provide an additional $4.5 billion in emergency spending.

The White House, on the other hand, told lawmakers recently it needed only an additional $1.5 billion to fight the spread – a figure that public health experts and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have called woefully inadequate to fully protect the public's health.

Following is a transcript of DeGette's exchange at today's hearing on the federal government's response to the virus, and here's a link to video of the nearly 6-minute exchange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnL_4BjVZbg&feature=youtu.be

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)

Remarks at hearing on coronavirus response

February 26, 2020

DeGette: I thank the chair for including some of the other subcommittees in this as four of the five of you well know that we've been having hearings in the Oversight Subcommittee for years on these issues. It's what keeps me up at night. The most recent hearing we had was on December 4 about seasonal flu and Pandemic flu. And lo, here we are. And what I'm concerned about is we're still not any more prepared than we were on December 4. And so that's what I want to talk about. Back in 2015, we had a National Blueprint for Biodefense. Some of you recognize this document, our now colleague Donna Shalala, had your job Mr. Secretary. And in this blueprint for defense, what they did was they said we need to have, in case we have some kind of a pandemic we need to have a clear line of authority to make these decisions. Are you aware of that Mr. Secretary?

Azar: I wasn't aware of Secretary Shalala's recommendation.

DeGette: Were you aware of this blueprint?

Secretary Azar: I was aware of the blueprint; I wasn't remembering of the recommendation.

DeGette: This is what I want to ask you because I just got back from Japan on Monday, and so we were really looking at this Diamond Princess incident. And here's what I was concerned about is you had all these people sitting in this petri dish of a ship for a long time. The CDC said that people should not be flown back to the U.S. from that ship and then apparently the CDC was overruled by the State Department. So, here's my question: you're the chairman of the president's task force on the novel coronavirus. Who's in charge? Are you in charge?

Azar: I am in charge, but in Japan the deputy chief of mission who is the charge d'affaires, who made that decision, has full authority of the President of the United states in a foreign country.

DeGette: So that's the problem,

Azar: Well no…

DeGette: Well yeah it is and I'll tell you why that's the problem. Because you're the head of the panel, the health experts are saying you shouldn't be flying these people back in. And then there's another agency that basically overruled what you said. If we have an outbreak in the United States, there are a number of other agencies that are going to have other interests. I'll just give you a couple of examples: the State Department which we just dealt with, HHS which is you, the State public health departments, the various other agencies. Who is in charge of the final verdict? Is it you?

Azar: It depends on the circumstances.

DeGette: That's not going to work if we have a pandemic.

Azar: If it's in a foreign country the ambassador of the president has the final word for the United States interest in that country.

DeGette: So what happened is they flew back in 14 Americans, maybe more, who were infected with the coronavirus. That's why someone needs to be in charge. And you know what? I think it should be you.

Azar: I just with respect, the deputy chief of mission had a very difficult decision to make there.

DeGette: I understand that, I don't need you to explain that to me, what I'm saying is this goes along, there needs to be someone who can overrule homeland security, state, who can make these decisions for the American public based on public health. And I'm hoping we can have some more hearings to talk about that. Dr. Redfield, I want to ask you because Chairwoman Eshoo asked you about the lab tests and you said you didn't know how many lab tests are available. Do we have lab tests that will accurately test for the coronavirus?

Redfield: Yes.

DeGette: Okay, now what I heard was they're limited, and people have to send their tests to the CDC to be tested. Is that right?

Redfield: Presently there's 12 jurisdictions that have the test up and running.

DeGette: 12 jurisdictions throughout the United states?

Redfield: Throughout the United States

DeGette: And so, people can send their tests there?

Redfield: People can send their tests there.

DeGette: And so, when are we going to be able to put that everywhere?

Redfield: Well we're working cooperatively with the…

DeGette: Well I'm asking you, when are you going to be able to put that everywhere?

Redfield: Well I was trying to say…

DeGette: Do you know?

Redfield: We're working with the FDA now, we're hoping that later this week our tests will be such that the first one can go to all the laboratories that can execute the current test on the modification that we did with the FDA.

DeGette: Okay, Dr. Fauci, I know you're working on developing a vaccine. If we gave you more money, could we develop a vaccine more quickly?

Fauci: We would need more money to take it for the next step. We're in a phase one right now and we're okay.

DeGette: How much more money? How much more money? I think you could probably get bipartisan consensus that we'd give you the money.

Fauci: How much would you need for it go get over the hill?

DeGette: Yeah.

Fauci: About 140 million.

DeGette: About 140 million?

Fauci: Right

Azar: Congresswoman if you wouldn't mind the emergency supplemental would actually dedicate a billion dollars for vaccine. That's part of the detail we'll be working with the committee on.

DeGette: Okay, I just want to say one more thing because my time is up, and I know that congresswoman Schakowsky is going to ask you some questions about the supplemental. I just want to say that even minority leader McCarthy today said that we need at least 4 billion dollars. We Shouldn't be shifting money away from Ebola and other diseases in trying to deal with this coronavirus. We need to work on all fronts at once. Thank you for your comment and I yield back.