[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 5, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2235-S2239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, when it comes to the virus pandemic 
that faces the world, the World Health Organization is not serving its 
member nations the way it should. The World Health Organization's 
mission is to promote worldwide health, to reduce the burdens of 
disease and poverty, and to provide access to healthcare, especially 
for the world's most vulnerable populations. The World Health 
Organization states as its guiding principle that all people should 
enjoy the highest standard of health regardless of race, religion, 
economics, social condition, or political belief. It serves primarily 
as a coordinating body to share information and best practices by 
connecting experts in different countries.
  The virus that emerged in Wuhan, China, which has caused the disease 
now known as COVID-19, has had a devastating impact on the health of 
people worldwide as well as the global economy. Nations, including the 
United States, have been scrambling to deal with the impact of the 
virus since the beginning of the year. Without a doubt, worldwide 
efforts to combat COVID-19 would have been greatly benefited from 
independent, unbiased, and informative data from the world's leader in 
health, the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, information 
coming from this organization since the beginning of the year has left 
much to be desired in its often providing information that we know now 
to be inaccurate or at least incomplete. The American people and the 
citizens of every country--all of whom rely on direct and truthful 
information--deserve better from Dr. Tedros and his team who lead the 
World Health Organization.
  China, which is where the current crisis began, has not done its part 
either in its seeking of or in providing that very crucial information 
that, had

[[Page S2236]]

it come out sooner, would have saved many lives. As an example of 
China's not cooperating, a doctor in Wuhan, China, by the name of Dr. 
Li Wenliang, raised concerns about the growing pandemic in early 
January. Dr. Li tried to blow the whistle on the spread of one of the 
world's deadliest diseases. Do you know what he got for doing that? He 
was punished by the Communist Chinese Government for ``spreading 
rumors.''
  Tragically, Dr. Li passed away in early February due to this virus, 
COVID-19. After the death of Dr. Li, he actually became a rallying 
point for Chinese citizens who were very upset about their government's 
coverup of this virus. Only then, after he died and after the public 
outroar, did the Chinese Government apologize to his family and 
posthumously drop Dr. Li's reprimand. Throughout this time, the World 
Health Organization demonstrated no interest in the accurate and 
verifiable information on the true dangers of this virus.
  We now know that, in late December 2019, Taiwanese officials sounded 
the alarm directly to the World Health Organization about the human-to-
human transmission of the virus. Prior to that, it was only thought 
there was an animal-to-human transmission, but Taiwanese officials blew 
the whistle. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control sent an email to 
the World Health Organization--an email that has now been forwarded to 
my office and has been widely reported. It warned of ``at least seven 
atypical pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China.'' Additionally, this email 
communication noted that those individuals had been isolated for 
treatment, which we now know is said to be the standard operating 
procedure for preventing human-to-human transmission, but still, at 
that time, it was considered to be animal to human.
  Taken together, this information should have been very much a red 
flag to the World Health Organization's leadership that the virus was 
capable of having human-to-human transmission. Unfortunately, the World 
Health Organization chose to ignore these warnings and, thus, failed to 
pass on this critical information to other countries. Instead, what did 
the World Health Organization do? It was complicit in the Chinese 
Government's coverup. It stated the opposite--that there was not human-
to-human transmission. In fact, the World Health Organization even 
retweeted Chinese propaganda on January 14--that there was ``no clear 
evidence of human-to-human transmission,'' which is contrary to the 
information that the World Health Organization got from the Taiwanese.
  It ought to be very clear that misleading the public like this is 
simply egregious. By sidelining Taiwan's participation, which has one 
of the lowest known COVID-19 infection rates per capita, despite its 
proximity to Mainland China, the World Health Organization stymied 
information about a more effective response to the pandemic. It was 
during these critical days back in January when the spread of the virus 
could have been greatly slowed or even contained and could have saved a 
lot of lives.
  The World Health Organization's mandate is to coordinate responses 
and facilitate information sharing to all of its members on a health 
emergency--members which include probably almost every country on this 
globe. This gross mishandling of the organization's most important 
mandate has cost countless lives around the world.
  While China covered up the extent of the virus's spread, the World 
Health Organization continued to praise China for its so-called 
proactive response and transparency. General Secretary Xi waited a 
crucial 6 days, until January 20, before announcing the findings by 
China's National Health Commission about the danger of the widespread 
human-to-human coronavirus contagion. Now, just think for a while of 
the time lost between Taiwan's warning to the World Health Organization 
in late December 2019 and General Secretary Xi's admitting on January 
20 of its human-to-human transmission. That time lost could have saved 
the whole world thousands of lives because they could have been on top 
of the situation as to how bad it was, which was much more than anybody 
knew at that particular time
  General Secretary Xi's government also delayed an access request for 
the World Health Organization's experts to visit affected regions at 
the end of January by almost 2 weeks--another 2 weeks lost. He has also 
continually fed disinformation to foreign citizens via several 
misleading tweets by his foreign ministry and multiple unfounded claims 
that have been posted on state-run media websites.
  Despite this and also other evidence that China actively silenced 
whistleblowers and doctors domestically and that the Communist Party's 
officials were aware of the spread well before reporting it, the World 
Health Organization's officials continued to praise China's response 
and transparency. The World Health Organization lauded China for 
releasing the virus's genome in mid-January while it neglected to 
mention that it took China at least 14 days to do this even as the 
virus continued to spread across Europe and reach America.
  Dr. Tedros said in early February that there was no need for measures 
that unnecessarily interfered with international travel and trade in 
trying to halt the spread of that coronavirus. Now, early February was 
a few days after President Trump stopped travel from China except for 
American citizens who were coming home. Yet, during that period of 
time, Dr. Tedros thought it was unnecessary to interfere with 
international travel.
  Time and again, the World Health Organization endorsed and also 
repeated Chinese Government talking points, and it did it all to the 
rest of the world's detriment. We now know that there was a continued 
flow of misinformation that came from the Chinese Government since the 
onset of the pandemic with there being little to no pushback from the 
World Health Organization as to whether that information was accurate.
  In mid-February, officials from the World Health Organization--yet 
again, uncritically--parroted Chinese Government propaganda by stating 
that there were signs that confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19 
had declined in China. The U.S. intelligence community has, in fact, 
asserted that China misrepresented both the number of cases and its 
death toll from the virus, concealing the real extent of the outbreak 
in its country, and that China intentionally hid or even destroyed 
evidence of the virus' outbreak.
  In a dossier that was leaked to the Australian Daily Telegraph, it is 
alleged that China began censoring information as early as December 31, 
2019--precisely when Taiwan, in its caring about the whole world as it 
knew what might be going on, was sounding that alarm to the World 
Health Organization.
  Previously, Chinese leaders came under incredible scrutiny by the 
World Health Organization back in 2003 for the SARS outbreak. China was 
not transparent with SARS, just like they weren't transparent until too 
late in regard to this virus pandemic that we are fighting today. Back 
then, the Chinese Government made sure that information regarding the 
outbreak was not made public. At that point, the World Health 
Organization did what they are responsible for doing: They publicly 
reprimanded China back in 2003 on the SARS outbreak. Chinese leaders 
then quickly fell in line with the rest of the world in sharing its 
data with the World Health Organization member countries. If the World 
Health Organization had been doing its job on this pandemic, then maybe 
China would have been quicker admitting that its spread was human-to-
human and how bad it was even in their own country.
  However, we are seeing a very different approach now to the 
organization's handling of China's information suppression campaign, 
with the World Health Organization often praising China for its 
information sharing, but make no mistake, China has been nothing but 
deceptive in its handling of COVID-19.
  We must remember that China has a long history of not being 
transparent with respect to the outbreaks of viruses, and there is 
little to no evidence suggesting we should start believing China now--
meaning, of course, the Chinese Communist leaders. Nobody in this world 
is going to hold the Chinese people responsible for this.
  Global leaders are now coming to realize that China is responsible 
for this pandemic, with global sentiment

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against the Chinese Communist Party at its highest since the 1999 
Tiananmen Square crackdown.
  It is important that world leaders, including President Trump, keep 
pressure on China to finally be transparent with its data so we can 
join together in combating this deadly disease. We have a report from 
the Department of Homeland Security that says that China 
``intentionally concealed the severity'' of the pandemic from the 
world. To make matters worse, the report further states that while 
China continues to downplay the pandemic, it began to increase imports 
and decrease exports of medical supplies. This report from the 
Department of Homeland Security suggests that China was beginning to 
hoard these medical supplies from the rest of the world. So they knew 
how bad this was in their own country. Secretary Pompeo recently stated 
that there is a significant amount of evidence that this virus came 
from the laboratory in Wuhan, China, contrary to what Chinese Communist 
Party propagandists have been pushing throughout the world.
  On April 9, I wrote to the World Health Organization seeking answers 
to several questions regarding the organization's handling of COVID-19. 
I wanted to know what the World Health Organization knew and when they 
knew it. I asked that my questions be answered no later than May 1. 
Much to my dismay, the World Health Organization has refused to answer 
my questions about its handling of the virus. It would seem that the 
organization is much more focused on covering for China than it is in 
answering questions that every single American has a right to know.
  Not only does the United States have the right to know this 
information for the benefit of the world, because transparency brings 
accountability, but because we give about $400 million a year to 
support the World Health Organization. I believe we are the largest 
contributor to it, and I believe China gives about 10 percent of what 
the U.S. taxpayers put in. I want to state that I will continue to push 
the World Health Organization for answers. There are probably a lot 
more questions that ought to be asked in addition to the questions in 
my letter.
  Ultimately, the primary responsibility for this pandemic lies with 
the Chinese Communist Government authorities who actively concealed the 
outbreak since the fall of 2019 and suppressed the spread of accurate 
information about the virus, but the World Health Organization also 
bears responsibility for aiding and abetting the Chinese Communist 
Party's coverup. That is why I support a full congressional 
investigation into how the World Health Organization has bowed to 
Chinese pressure with the COVID-19 outbreak. The leaders of the World 
Health Organization need to be held accountable for their role in 
promoting misinformation and helping China cover up this global 
pandemic. Americans deserve to know what the World Health Organization 
leaders knew and when they knew it.
  I yield the floor
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Blackburn). The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today as the 
Senate returns to help the country recover from coronavirus. This 
global pandemic is hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-century 
shock, but it has been an earthquake that continues to shake the world 
to its core. Tragically, we have lost tens of thousands of Americans to 
the disease, and our hearts and prayers go out to each of those 
impacted and all of their loved ones.
  More than 30 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last 6 
weeks due to the virus and the State lockdowns that have been put in 
place as a result of the virus. People want and need to get back to 
work as soon as possible. It is vital we reopen America smartly and 
safely and we do it as soon as we can.
  Many States are starting to open. Wyoming did this past Friday. We 
must all be prepared and alert for any likely aftershocks that will 
occur from the virus.
  The economy could not reopen had it not been for the major medical 
progress we have been experiencing. Our heroic nurses, doctors, and 
others on the frontlines have saved many lives. Testing in the United 
States has been dramatically expanded, and we are producing promising 
treatments. The American people deserve a lot of credit for their 
tremendous sacrifices to contain the spread of the virus. Everyone in 
my home State of Wyoming is suffering from the economic fallout, as are 
Americans all across the country. The best way to help these people is 
to push the start button on the economy.
  The Senate is in session and will consider taking targeted temporary 
and bipartisan relief measures. We are now assessing the relief money 
that has already been spent. We know what has worked--the Paycheck 
Protection Program funds that go to mom-and-pop organizations that are 
part of the CARES Act has saved 30 million jobs. Small business is the 
backbone of our economy, the engine of job creation. In Wyoming, the 
program has been very successful and very popular. Before the pandemic, 
the United States had record job growth and record low unemployment. 
Our economy will bounce back, there is no question in my mind.
  As we look to the future, in terms of recovery legislation, what we 
need to do is to prevent a second epidemic. I am very concerned that 
the second epidemic will be that of frivolous coronavirus lawsuits. Any 
future legislation must focus on the virus and must include reasonable 
liability protections for the hard-hit healthcare workers and for 
American employers.
  Opportunistic lawyers are already advertising, and they are targeting 
the healthcare workers and small businesses that we have assisted 
during the crisis. Ironically, the relief money could end up lining the 
pockets of greedy trial lawyers.
  As businesses bravely begin to reopen, class action lawsuits are 
being planned nationwide. Ambulance chasers are running recruitment ads 
right now that read ``receive a free coronavirus lawsuit review.'' They 
go on to say: Call if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with COVID-
19 and you believe another party's negligence caused the exposure.
  Nursing homes appear to be the prime target. One lawyer who described 
himself as a ``coronavirus exposure lawyer'' encouraged action for 
nursing home negligence. That is why nurses, doctors, and hospitals are 
counting on Congress to pass commonsense liability reform.
  Yet Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer say they oppose this critical 
liability protection. Instead, Democrats are demanding more aid for 
States and local governments. They want American taxpayers to bail out 
States with long histories of financial mismanagement. That is already 
on top of the $150 billion that the States have just received within 
the last 2 weeks. Nancy Pelosi now wants a lot, lot more.
  We put the full force of the American Government in this fight 
against the coronavirus. We cannot afford to allow an avalanche of 
abusive lawsuits to crush our awakening economy. Republicans will 
insist on a legal shield for essential workers and for businesses 
before spending another dime. It is our job to do everything that we 
can to get people back to work and back to work safely.
  The physical and economic health of our country is at stake today. We 
are continuing to deliver financial support plus medical help to all 
people across the country. One thing is clear: trial lawyers should not 
profit from our Nation's pain. Together, America will come back and 
Americans will come back and it will be stronger and better than ever.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, we are here in the U.S. Senate on 
this Tuesday. We had a vote yesterday evening, the first that we have 
had in some 6 weeks here. As I walked over to the Chamber just now from 
the Hart Building, at 4 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, the only 
individuals whom I saw were the extraordinary men and

[[Page S2238]]

women of the Capitol Police here in the building.
  Suffice it to say, these are strange, unusual, challenging, and 
difficult times as we face the COVID-19 pandemic and as we address the 
challenges that our constituents, our friends, and our families are 
dealing with at home, whether it be the impact of the virus itself on 
our health and our health facilities or whether it be the impact--
truly, the economic devastation--that we are seeing in all corners of 
the Nation.
  So the opportunity to be together as a body to address these 
challenges is important. It is challenging for us as we adapt to this 
time and this situation of wearing protective masks, of being separated 
from one another, of teleworking as we are. We are adapting. We are 
facing that challenge. We rightly must be doing this because, as the 
Nation deals with these matters related to the COVID-19, there are 
other matters that are taking place every day--issues that need to be 
addressed, problems that must be tackled, and matters of governance 
that we must be engaged in.


National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and 
                                 Girls

  Madam President, I woke up this morning and looked at my little news 
caps with which to focus on the day, this Tuesday, and they noted that 
today is Teacher Appreciation Day. We thank all of our teachers. Our 
teachers are certainly in an unusual situation now, as all of our 
students are. It is also Cinco de Mayo. It is also Giving Tuesday. For 
many, it feels like Groundhog Day every day because of, again, this 
strange time in which we are living. For so many, it just seems that 
every day is more and more of the same.
  Today, May 5, is also a day that we have recognized for several years 
now as being the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered 
Indigenous Women and Girls. It is a matter that I would like to speak 
briefly to this afternoon. I recognize the devastation that so many 
families have seen when it comes to those they love who have gone 
missing or who have been found murdered, and I recognize the dark 
reality that many, we know, are still missing.
  Unfortunately, for far too long, there has been silence on this 
issue. There has been a failure to act in the face of what we know and 
sometimes in the not knowing of what we are dealing with because we 
haven't asked the questions, which is equally problematic. It tears at 
my heart to hear the stories of those whom I have come in contact with 
in Alaska--a woman's story, a family's story--in that their words have 
been discounted. They have been dismissed because the woman who went 
missing or the woman who was murdered was a Native American woman.
  We have to change that. We cannot accept that. We cannot let the 
statistics that have really just been allowed to accumulate for too 
long to remain as statistics. Every single one of these women was her 
own person, each story her own life story, each a member of her 
community. In addition to their being someone's lost daughters, wives, 
mothers, sisters, we should mourn the promise that these missing and 
murdered women meant to our communities--their being the next 
generations of mentors, role models, and changemakers.
  When women are murdered or abducted, when women are trafficked--when 
individuals are left missing, discarded, or discounted--there is an 
injustice that is being done, and we cannot let that continue. By 
raising awareness of the epidemic, by giving these women their faces, 
their names, and by telling their stories, we are shining a light on a 
problem, and we are giving hope.
  I acknowledge the work of a former colleague of mine here in the 
Senate, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who came to this floor often as a 
strong, strong advocate for those Native women who have been dismissed 
and discounted. She shared pictures, gave names, and went beyond the 
statistics. She reminded me--encouraged me--that this is an effort 
that, together, we must address.
  Unfortunately, we all have the stories--the stories that sicken you 
and just literally break your heart. The one that, perhaps, touches me 
most immediately and directly is the life of Ashley Johnson Barr. She 
was a beautiful 10-year-old girl who was taken from the children's 
playground in her hometown of Kotzebue, AK, which is a Native village 
on the northwest coast. She was brutally raped and murdered. Again, she 
was taken from the kids' playground to just outside her town. Her death 
and the tragedy around the circumstances of how she left the world are 
still open. It is still raw and has left a permanent scar on Alaskan 
communities.
  What happened to Ashley is a reminder that, in my State, 
unfortunately, there is a darkness that is still, to this day, very, 
very hard to talk about, but we must. We have to talk about it. We have 
to act on it. We cannot turn a blind eye simply because it is difficult 
to talk about. We have to because we are seeing the stories that 
represent these statistics in unprecedented proportions. Let me give 
you some numbers to just put that into perspective.
  Alaska Native women are 2\1/2\ times more likely to be victims of 
domestic violence. In Tribal villages and Native communities, domestic 
violence rates are up to 10 times higher than in the rest of the 
Nation. In 2015, it was estimated that 40 percent of sex-trafficking 
victims were Native Americans. Almost 40 percent of those who have been 
trafficked have been Native Americans. The rate of sexual violence 
victimization among Alaska's Native women is at least seven times 
greater than of non-Native females.
  Again, I will just say these are unprecedented proportions. So, when 
we designate a day as a day of awareness--an awareness of those who 
have gone missing and who have been murdered as being indigenous women 
and girls--it has to be about more than awareness. It has to be about 
action. This is where Senator Cortez Masto and I have picked up on this 
work. She and I have worked together on several pieces of legislation 
that have helped to pave the way for greater collaboration and data 
collection between Federal agencies--our law enforcement and elected 
Tribal officials--to not only understand the extent of the issues but 
to develop methods with which to end these horrible crimes.
  There are two bills. The first one is Savanna's Act. It combats the 
epidemic of murdered and missing Native women and girls by improving 
the Federal Government's response in addressing the crisis. We do this 
through the coordination among all levels of law enforcement by 
increasing data collection and information sharing and by empowering 
Tribal governments with the resources they need in the cases involving 
missing or murdered indigenous women and girls wherever they may occur.
  The second piece of legislation is called the Not Invisible Act. It 
is aimed at addressing the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked 
Native women by engaging law enforcement, Tribal leaders, Federal 
partners, and service providers and by improving the coordination 
across the Federal agencies. The more we have reviewed this, we have 
learned that so much of the data is lacking. We have gaps. We just 
haven't been able to get the data that we need in order to do a better 
job of coordinating with our agencies.
  The good news from all of this is that both of these bills have 
passed this body, and I thank my colleagues here in the Senate for 
their support of the measures. We advanced them unanimously on March 
11, which was just a little while before we left to deal with the COVID 
pandemic. I truly want to thank the Senate for helping to prioritize 
these measures to protect indigenous women.
  In addition to these measures that we have passed in the Senate, we 
have done more on the appropriations side. We have worked through the 
committees, and for the first time in the appropriations bill that 
President Trump signed in December, there was funding specifically 
directed to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked 
indigenous women--$6.5 million included for the BIA to take a really 
comprehensive look at the issue across BIA and IHS, the Indian Health 
Service.
  It covers everything for the funding of cold casework, background 
checks, equipment needs, training, and a directive to the IHS with 
regard to forensic

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training. It also includes language that does more for the coordination 
and data collection amongst Tribal, local, State, and Federal law 
enforcement. So that is significant. The Executive order that was 
issued by the Trump administration late last year was very important in 
this effort.
  I personally acknowledge the good work that Tara Sweeney has done, 
the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. She has pulled together the 
agency coordination to respond to these cases. She has shown 
extraordinary heart--real heart--in responding to the calls from Tribes 
and advocates to address the crisis of missing and murdered Native 
women. So there has been so much at play that has come together.

  What we need now is for the House to act on these legislative 
measures that we have moved through the Senate so that the President 
can sign them into law.
  I think we recognize that as we are dealing with these matters that 
are directly related to the day-to-day response to COVID, as we have 
seen our economies slowed, as we have moved indoors to telework, the 
work that is required for us to help protect the most vulnerable among 
us continues. We know that work continues.
  As we have worked aggressively across the country and in Alaskan 
communities to flatten the curve out there as it relates to the 
coronavirus, we know, unfortunately, that we have seen an uptick in 
domestic violence. Unfortunately, and truly sadly for so many, the 
order to shelter in place--``safer at home'' is the terminology used in 
some communities, and safer at home doesn't necessarily mean safe at 
home for far too many. Shelter in place is not a safe shelter. We are 
seeing increased calls to police departments during this time, but, 
interestingly enough, we are not seeing an increase in those who are 
seeking help or shelter in our women's shelters.
  It was just a couple of weeks ago that I had a phone call with 
representatives from the various women's shelters around my State, with 
probably a dozen or so women on the line, and I asked specifically: How 
are we doing in the shelters? What are we seeing? Their numbers are 
down, and if you look at it from just a numbers perspective, you would 
say ``Good.'' But we know that domestic violence doesn't disappear or 
go away at times like the ones we are facing now; it just goes 
underground. I think what we are seeing is that concern and fear. As 
difficult as the situation may be at home, it might be more frightening 
to go to a shelter where one may be exposed to this invisible threat of 
the virus.
  I wish I could say that, as a consequence of what we are seeing, our 
shelters are better off, but I fear that those who would seek shelter 
are not better off. So to make sure we are prepared to address these 
needs is yet another challenge for us in this body: to come together to 
address these issues that we know are with us--not only the levels of 
domestic violence but the impact that we know is present when it comes 
to mental and behavioral health, when people are fragile and yet are 
afraid to seek help because of the exposure to something else. We have 
work to do in this area, and that is something I intend to focus on in 
the days and weeks ahead.
  I was encouraged to hear my friend, the Senator from Texas, Mr. 
Cornyn, speaking to just these issues yesterday on the floor. We have 
much to do. These are challenging times on many different levels.
  As we recognize this day of awareness for those who have gone 
missing--for those women and girls who have been murdered--know that 
this is more than just raising awareness. It is up to us. We owe it to 
them, their families, and their loved ones to act as well.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________