[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2268-S2270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. DURBIN. This week, amid the devastating coronavirus pandemic, we 
saw what world powers are supposed to do--join forces to raise funds to 
research, manufacture, and distribute a vaccine and treatments. This 
makes obvious strategic and lifesaving sense, being both the moral and 
strategic thing to do. All of us joining forces and working together 
will help speed up efforts and the eventual discovery and distribution 
of a coronavirus vaccine that we all desperately seek. Many of us 
believe that until that day comes when that vaccine proves to be 
effective and safe and is widely distributed, we are going to still see 
what we call our normal lives compromised. So there is no greater 
priority. This effort will save lives around America and around the 
world.
  Who knows where that vaccine is going to be discovered, produced, or 
distributed? I want America in on this conversation from the start and 
end on the collective efforts. Clearly, other world leaders understand 
this. So when there was an effort to raise $8 billion for the discovery 
of this new vaccine, they had a virtual global telephone conference. 
Our allies in the European Union and Norway offered to give $1 billion 
each toward this goal. Who was absent from this critical effort to save 
lives around the world, to discover this vaccine, including the 
distribution of it to those who need it in every corner of the world? 
Which country did not participate in this global virtual telephone 
conference? The United States of America.
  In yet another shortsighted, missed opportunity to address the 
coronavirus, this administration refused to participate. America was 
missing in action when leaders around the world came together with the 
determination to find and distribute a vaccine against coronavirus. The 
President's supporters in Congress said nothing, focusing instead on 
judicial appointments and other things on their mind.
  Given this President's penchant for blaming others but not himself 
for any mishandling of this viral contagion, maybe his dereliction of 
duty in this global conference should come as no surprise, but it does 
because of the devastating consequences that could result. What does 
this mean for America if the United States sits on the sidelines while 
other countries set out to discover this lifesaving vaccine?
  Well, we still continue to have some of the best researchers in the 
world at the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, and the many university and private researchers 
around this country. Many NIH-funded researchers have

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spent years studying coronaviruses. Perhaps their knowledge could be 
helpful with these other countries in quickly developing an effective 
vaccine. In fact, some clinical trials are already now under way by the 
National Institutes of Health. I want to commend Dr. Francis Collins, 
who heads up NIH, and, of course, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a friend of many 
years, for their amazing work. But it is quite plausible--it is even 
possible--that the best vaccine may turn up in another country.
  There are efforts under way in England and Germany and in many other 
countries to find this vaccine, as well. In a rush to research and 
validate a vaccine, ramp up production, address global allocation and 
supply needs and ensure affordability and access worldwide, will the 
United States be standing on the sidelines again? When the United 
States pursues a go-it-alone--not just ``America first'' but ``America 
only''--approach, while the rest of the world is working together, 
where does that leave us?
  Remember, it hasn't been that long ago when the United States first 
opted to develop and distribute its own American coronavirus test kits 
that turned out to be faulty, instead of choosing the World Health 
Organization's test kit, which was available at the time. That set our 
Nation back at least a month, up to 6 weeks. In fact, many believe we 
still haven't recovered from that critical first misstep by this 
administration.
  Even when his own incompetent response was increasingly obvious, 
President Trump turned and tried to place all the blame on the World 
Health Organization, even cutting off all U.S. funding to this critical 
international body with decades of experience in dealing with 
pandemics.
  The New York Times columnist Nick Kristof starkly wrote last month: 
``Thousands of Americans would be alive today if President Trump had 
spent more time listening to the World Health Organization instead of 
trying to destroy it.''
  Don't get me wrong, WHO and many international bodies are imperfect 
and make mistakes, and they are often only as strong as their member 
states are willing to help make them or help fund them.
  The World Health Organization first warned of the coronavirus on 
January 4, issuing increasingly urgent warnings in February, while the 
President was saying publicly that the issue ``was totally under 
control.'' American personnel at the World Health Organization were 
also sending warnings back to Washington about the threat. What was the 
President's response? On February 10, he said of the coronavirus: 
``When it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.''
  On February 27, the President said: ``It's going to disappear. One 
day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear.''
  Well, more than 2 months later, we are still waiting for that and 
praying for that, and 70,000 Americans have died. The WHO is a critical 
lifesaving body that helps eradicate polio, reduce the number of women 
and children who die in childbirth, and stem malnutrition. The WHO has 
led the historic global vaccination campaign to eradicate small pox.
  When it was issuing coronavirus warnings, the President and all of us 
should have been listening. Instead, the President ignored them and 
chose to walk away from the World Health Organization, undermining its 
international efforts and, ultimately, giving more global leadership 
to, of all nations, China, which is only more than happy to step in 
when the United States steps away.
  We should be increasing our investment and leadership at the World 
Health Organization as one of the many efforts to stem this virus and 
not cover our ears and walking away from it.
  The World Health Organization's efforts to halt Ebola are an example 
of what its work can do to save lives at the outbreak of a pandemic and 
stop one from reaching the United States.
  Presidents Obama and George W. Bush understood this need for global 
health engagement. I was proud to rally to President Bush's call to 
stem the scourge of AIDS around the world through the historic PEPFAR 
program. It was a bipartisan, international, global effort--the world 
first, not just America first. Many of my Republican friends in the 
Senate supported these efforts, and we need them now with this 
coronavirus outbreak.
  I was equally proud of President Obama's efforts to set up infectious 
disease prevention systems and his leadership on the Ebola crisis.
  Presidents Bush and Obama understood the traditional leadership role 
of the United States in such matters and how important it was for the 
world to know that we were engaged and involved.
  Sadly, so much of the world looks at us in dismay today as President 
Trump undermines American Governors who are doing their best to try and 
save lives, and refuses to take any responsibility, snubs our allies, 
and withdraws from global efforts.
  That is why I plan to introduce a resolution here in the Senate 
calling on the United States to join this important global vaccine and 
treatment effort--something I hope my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle will support.
  Can we put aside our political differences for a moment and agree on 
one basic thing? Wherever this vaccine is to be discovered, we pray 
that it will be done quickly, effectively, and safely. We want the 
United States in on the effort, whether it is discovered here in our 
country or in another country. We want to be at the table to help 
support the research and development efforts. We want to be at the 
table when the good news of the discovery of this vaccine is delivered. 
We certainly want to be at the table when it comes to questions of 
manufacturing and distributing this vaccine around the world, and 
especially here in the United States.
  Standing by on the sidelines with our arms folded, chins jutted out, 
and saying it is America first or else--this is the wrong moment for 
it. This is a global challenge. It is a global solution. We don't know 
which country God will bless with the ability to come up with this 
vaccine. Whatever it is, we want to be at that table with them in its 
development and distribution.
  Let's remember that this global pandemic and any real solution 
involves more than just our great country. We cannot isolate ourselves 
from this international race to find treatments and develop a vaccine. 
Doing anything else will only waste more time and cost lives.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
a Washington Post article of May 5, 2020, on the subject
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Washington Post, May 5, 2020]

 U.S. Skips Virtual Vaccine Summit as World Leaders Pledge Billions to 
                                Efforts

        (By William Booth, Carolyn Y. Johnson and Carol Morello)

       London--World leaders came together in a virtual summit 
     Monday to pledge billions of dollars to quickly develop 
     vaccines and drugs to fight the coronavirus.
       Missing from the roster was the Trump administration, which 
     declined to participate but highlighted from Washington what 
     one official called its ``whole-of-america'' efforts in the 
     United States and its generosity to global health efforts.
       The online conference, led by European Commission President 
     Ursula von der Leyen and a halfdozen countries, was set to 
     raise $8.2 billion from governments, philanthropies and the 
     private sector to fund research and mass-produce drugs, 
     vaccines and testing kits to combat the virus, which has 
     killed more than 250,000 people worldwide.
       With the money came soaring rhetoric about international 
     solidarity and a good bit of boasting about each country's 
     efforts and achievements, live and prerecorded, by Germany's 
     Angela Merkel, France's Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Boris 
     Johnson, Japan's Shinzo Abe--alongside Israel's Benjamin 
     Netanyahu and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
       ``The more we pull together and share our expertise, the 
     faster our scientists will succeed,'' said Johnson, who was 
     so stricken by the virus that he thought he might never leave 
     the intensive care unit alive last month. ``The race to 
     discover the vaccine to defeat this virus is not a 
     competition between countries but the most urgent shared 
     endeavor of our lifetimes.''
       A senior Trump administration official said Monday the 
     United States ``welcomes'' the efforts of the conference 
     participants. He did not explain why the United States did 
     not join them.
       ``Many of the organizations and programs this pledging 
     conference seeks to support already receive very significant 
     funding and support from the U.S. government and private 
     sector,'' said the official, who spoke on the condition of 
     anonymity under White House rules for briefing reporters.

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       Public health officials and researchers expressed surprise.
       ``It's the first time that I can think of where you have 
     had a major international pledging conference for a global 
     crisis of this kind of importance, and the U.S. is just 
     absent,'' said Jeremy Konyndyk, who worked on the Ebola 
     response in the Obama administration.
       Given that no one knows which vaccines will succeed, he 
     said, it's crucial to back multiple efforts working in 
     parallel.
       ``Against that kind of uncertainty we should be trying to 
     position ourselves to be supporting--and potentially 
     benefiting from--all of them,'' said Konyndyk, a senior 
     policy fellow at the Center for Global Development. ``And 
     instead we seem to be just focused on trying to win the race, 
     in the hopes we happen to get one of the successful ones.''
       Conference participants expressed a need for unity.
       ``We can't just have the wealthiest countries have a 
     vaccine and not share it with the world,'' Canadian Prime 
     Minister Justin Trudeau said.
       ``Let us in the international community unite to overcome 
     this crisis,'' Abe said.
       Russia and India also did not participate. Chinese premier 
     Li Keqiang was replaced at the last minute by Zhang Ming, 
     Beijing's ambassador to the European Union.
       The U.S. official said the United States ``is the single 
     largest health and humanitarian donor in world. And the 
     American people have continued that legacy of generosity in 
     the global fight against covid19.''
       ``And we would welcome additional high-quality, transparent 
     contributions from others,'' he said.
       Asked three more times to explain why the United States did 
     not attend, the official said he already had given an answer.
       The U.S. government has provided $775 million in emergency 
     health, humanitarian, economic and development aid for 
     governments, international organizations and charities 
     fighting the pandemic. The official said the United States is 
     in the process of giving about twice that amount in 
     additional funding.
       There was one major American player at the virtual summit: 
     the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which promised to 
     spend $125 million in the fight.
       ``This virus doesn't care what nationality you are,'' 
     Melinda Gates told the gathering. As long as the virus is 
     somewhere, she said, it's everywhere.
       Scientists are working around-the-clock to find a cure or 
     treatment for the coronavirus. The World Health Organization 
     says eight vaccines have entered human trials and another 94 
     are in development.
       But finding an effective vaccine is only part of the 
     challenge. When it's discovered, infectious disease experts 
     are predicting a scramble for limited doses, because there 
     won't be enough to vaccinate everyone on Day One. And 
     deploying it could be difficult, particularly in countries 
     that lack robust medical infrastructure.
       Those that have begun human trials include a research 
     project at Oxford University in England, which hopes to have 
     its vaccine ready in the fall. The university started human 
     trials on April 23. ``In normal times,'' British Health 
     Secretary Matt Hancock said, ``reaching this stage would take 
     years.''
       Conference participants expressed hope that by working 
     together, the world will find solutions more quickly--and 
     they can then be dispersed to all countries, not only the 
     wealthy, or those that developed vaccines first.
       Many of the leaders stressed their support for the WHO. 
     President Trump announced last month he was cutting off U.S. 
     funding for the WHO because he said it had sided too closely 
     with China, where the coronavirus arose. Trump says Chinese 
     leaders underplayed the threat and hid crucial facts.
       Public health analysts have shared some of those criticisms 
     but have also criticized Trump for cutting off funding.
       Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical 
     Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said the United 
     States has always been the primary funder of new products for 
     global health. The country invested $1.8 billion in neglected 
     diseases in 2018, according to Policy Cures Research, more 
     than two-thirds of the worldwide total.
       Hotez said the United States shoulders the burden of 
     investing in global health technologies, while countries such 
     as China do not step up.
       ``More than one mechanism for supporting global health 
     technologies--that may not be such as a bad thing,'' he said. 
     ``If it was all under one umbrella, you risk that some 
     strong-willed opinions would carry the day and you might not 
     fund the best technology.''
       Hotez is working on a coronavirus vaccine that uses an 
     existing, low-cost technology, previously used for the 
     hepatitis B vaccine, precisely because he is worried about 
     equitable distribution of the vaccine.
       ``I'm not very confident that some of the cutting-edge 
     technologies going into clinical trials, which have never led 
     to a licensed vaccine before, are going to filter down to 
     low- and middle-income countries anytime soon,'' Hotez said. 
     ``I'm really worried.''
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I would like to add one last thing. 
Yesterday, we had a telephone conference with Bill and Melinda Gates. 
They were part of the summit that the U.S. Government boycotted, and 
they pledged to spend $125 million of their own money in this fight to 
find a virus vaccine as quickly as possible. Let's join them. Let's 
join them as a nation--Democrats, Republicans, Independents, those who 
vote and those who don't--all of us who understand that the sooner this 
vaccine is found, the sooner it is proven safe, and the sooner it is 
distributed, it will be the best for America and for the rest of the 
world. It isn't just America first. It is America involved, America 
committed, America willing to work with the world to find a solution to 
one of the greatest public health crises of our time.
  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. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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