[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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