[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 100 (Thursday, May 28, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H2354-H2357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ISSUES OF THE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Hayes). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2019, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. 
Fortenberry) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
minority leader.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. Madam Speaker, I am going to remove my mask as I 
speak. We are appropriately socially distanced here. I am grateful for 
the time.
  Before I begin my own remarks, I am going to yield to the honorable 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), a senior member of the Energy 
and Commerce Committee, who will be departing from us soon. He is in 
his last term, has announced his retirement.
  It has been a pleasure to serve with you, my friend. We have a long 
way to go, but it is always great to see you, and I look forward to 
your remarks.


      Congratulating Reverend Dr. Dale A. Meyer on his Retirement

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
contributions of Reverend Dr. Dale A. Meyer upon the occasion of his 
retirement as president of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.
  In May of 2005, Dr. Meyer became the 10th president of Concordia 
Seminary. Over 15 years later, on June 30, 2020, Dr. Meyer will start a 
new season in life, retiring and turning over the reins of this beloved 
institution to new leadership.
  His contribution to the seminary was immense. During his tenure, 
Concordia's long-term debt was eliminated, its endowment quadrupled, 
and it earned top marks from its most recent accreditation by the 
Higher Learning Commission and the Association of Theological Schools.
  From the start of his tenure to the end, Dr. Meyer worked alongside 
his wife, Diane; the faculty; and key staff to cultivate a culture that 
was service oriented and external facing. This meant instituting 
activities designed to instill a spirit of community volunteerism into 
first-year students. This meant adding benches on campus and expanding 
holiday displays each year so visitors knew they were welcome at this 
place.
  It meant working with his wife, Diane, and Gayle Zollmann-Kiel, 
coordinator of campus grounds, to create community gardens for people 
to enjoy all summer and fall, thereby feeding the community both 
spiritually and figuratively. And it meant, during the current 
pandemic, having the bell tower on campus play music to lift the 
spirits of all those around.
  No wonder the seminary received several civic awards, including being 
named among the 100 Top Workplaces in St. Louis in 2015.
  Dr. Meyer's retirement marks a season of change for the seminary. 
However, it also marks the closing of a chapter of a long career of 
service for him personally.
  While Dr. Meyer's first job was helping his parents, Arthur and Norma 
Meyer, deliver milk for Dixie Dairy on the south side of Chicago, he 
was called to serve on a full and winding professional path. This path 
was so full of wonder that he would often marvel at the, ``milkman 
moments'' that unfolded, remarking: ``What am I doing here? God has 
blessed me so.''
  Dr. Meyer completed his bachelor's degree in 1969 at Concordia Senior 
College in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and earned a master of divinity from 
Concordia Seminary in 1973. He earned a master's degree a year later 
and a doctorate in 1986 in classical languages from Washington 
University in St. Louis. He also is a recipient of an honorable doctor 
of divinity in 1993 from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, 
Indiana.
  Dr. Meyer first joined the faculty at Concordia Seminary as a guest 
instructor in 1979, going on to serve as head pastor of St. Salvator 
Lutheran Church in Venedy, Illinois, and St. Peter Lutheran Church in 
New Memphis, Illinois, both currently in my district, and at Holy Cross 
Lutheran Church in Collinsville, Illinois, which is my home 
congregation. These church communities are so beloved by the Meyers 
that they continue to worship at all three parishes to this day.
  It was at Holy Cross Lutheran that I and my wife, Karen, came to know 
Dr. Meyer and his family. Our lives have been intertwined, to say the 
least: Diane sold us our first home; I taught the oldest of his two 
daughters, Elizabeth, civics at Metro East Lutheran High School and ran 
many of 5k races to come with his youngest daughter, Katie; my own 
children played music in their daughter's wedding; and my wife, Karen, 
served as the head organist at Holy Cross with Dale; and so on.
  Dr. Meyer moved on from Holy Cross in 1989 after being selected to 
serve as a speaker on ``The Lutheran Hour'' radio program at Lutheran 
Hour Ministries. ``The Lutheran Hour'' is the world's oldest 
continually broadcast gospel radio program, first airing in 1930.
  Dr. Meyer also hosted a national television show, ``On Main Street,'' 
for Lutheran Hour Ministries. In 2001, ``On Main Street'' episodes 
received two prestigious Emmy awards from the National Academy of 
Television Arts and Sciences, St. Louis/Mid-America Chapter. During 
this time, he took part in some of his favorite ``milkman moments,'' 
including opening both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of 
Representatives in prayer.

  In addition to his published writings, Dr. Meyer served in numerous 
leadership practices, such as third vice president of the Lutheran 
Church-Missouri Synod, a charter board member of the Association of 
Lutheran Older Adults, an honorary director of God's Word to the 
Nations Bible Society, and as a board of trustee of the American Bible 
Society.
  Dr. Meyer finally returned home to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in

[[Page H2355]]

2001, serving as the Gregg H. Benidt Memorial Chair in Homiletics and 
Literature. He became interim president in 2004 and the 10th president 
of the institution in 2005.
  For the next 15 years, he could be seen working on the campus 
grounds, attending ``Bach at the Sem,'' and strolling with Ferdie, the 
oversized-in-body-and-heart golden retriever that became the quasi-
mascot on campus and, sadly, recently passed away.
  Dr. Meyer likes to tell students: ``It is a great time to be the 
church.'' As the world suffers greatly from the pandemic, we are 
grateful for his efforts to raise public servants to serve all those 
who are hurting and to share the Gospel loud and clear for all to hear.
  As Dr. Meyer begins his beautiful journey of retirement, he will 
enjoy more time with his two grown daughters, Elizabeth, known as 
Lizzie, Pittman and Catherine, known as Katie, Bailey; their spouses, 
Darren and Charles; and their five grandsons that he refers to as Cinco 
de Meyer: Christian, Connor, and Nicholas Pittman, and Andrew and Jacob 
Bailey.
  Madam Speaker, I want to personally thank Dr. Meyer and his wife, 
Diane, for their ministry.
  I thank Congressman Fortenberry for yielding to me.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. I thank Congressman Shimkus, because as he was 
speaking, I was reminded of my own Concordia College I represent, which 
is a part of the consortium of Lutheran colleges, which I know is very 
close to his heart. So I thank him for mentioning the gentleman.
  Madam Speaker, before I begin, may I inquire as to the allotted 
amount of time. Is it 30 or 60 minutes?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman was recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. Madam Speaker, our world has changed. Who could 
imagine just 3 short months ago where we would be right now as this 
silent avenger has threatened life, the life that we knew, and we 
suddenly found ourselves quarantined in our homes and apartments with 
nowhere to go, no planes to catch, no appointments to make, just quiet 
isolation with family and neighbors across the way.
  Many friends are suffering, suffering unemployment or job 
uncertainty, or the impact of the sickness directly. The trauma of this 
crisis is so, so real.
  With that said, Madam Speaker, I am sure all of us in this body are 
doing quite a bit of reflection, adjustment, and alteration as we go 
back to what I call first principles, and here is an example.
  As I was reviewing my mail recently, my daily mail, a gentleman wrote 
to me. He was concerned about something. It might not be about what we 
will talk in a moment, our dependence on China for protective equipment 
and medical supplies, it might not be the latest surge of the virus in 
cities throughout America, but, nonetheless, it was important to him 
that he point something out to me: The flag at one of our small post 
office locations is not flying, and it hasn't been flying for some 
time.
  So my diligent staff actually contacted the gentleman. I believe they 
reached out to the post office themselves, but it sat out there as a 
lingering issue. So I decided to call the postmaster myself, and I 
apologized to her. I said: I know this is highly unusual that a 
Congressman would call you directly.
  She said: It is about the flag, isn't it?
  I said: Yes, ma'am.
  She said: I don't have anybody to help me. I have the equipment to 
fix it. The top of the pole is broken. I just don't have anyone to help 
me.
  I said: Let's get it fixed.
  I called our electric system. We have a public power system in 
Nebraska. They deal with us all the time on a whole variety of issues. 
Their response was: We will get it fixed.
  There are a couple of levels of issues here, Madam Speaker, and the 
reason I tell the story.
  First of all, it was important to that gentleman that that flag, 
which represents us all, right behind you, the binding notion of what 
it means to be an American, that people have fought and died for, the 
symbol of this dignity, this nobility of tradition that defines not 
only where we have been but, really, what we ought to strive to be. 
Maybe he didn't think through all of that, but he just wanted the flag 
to fly at a government building.

                              {time}  1615

  The postmaster had no ill will or ill intent, she just didn't have 
any help. In a previous time maybe we would have just said, well, you 
need to get the purchase order written, but in my own way, let's just 
solve the problem.
  And whether it is a person who has had a problem with their Social 
Security check or their economic stimulus check, or a farmer who has 
not been able to get their emergency loan, or a small business tripped 
up on some aspect of the Paycheck Protection Program--which by the way, 
has been a bipartisan life-send by this body--to go person by person, 
business by business, I am sure that many of us have adjusted to the 
new reality of serving people where they are. And maybe in some small 
way in the midst of this trauma and crisis, this is a silver lining of 
returning back to, first, principles versus the abstract discussions 
that can sometimes consume us, and the ruckus, fighting, and pushing 
and shoving over things that never seem to come to any end.
  But hanging a flag in front of a post office is important, because it 
is who we are and what we ought to be. And I want to thank that 
constituent for calling me. Of course, in a great Nebraska way, when I 
told him we got it fixed, he said: Well, is it an all-weather flag? I 
said: Sir, I don't know that. We did what we could.
  Madam Speaker, I want to turn back to another set of issues that 
actually happened before coronavirus hit our country and hit this body 
as well. One of the most basic expectations of our government is the 
health and well-being of our Nation. Three months ago, this week, in a 
timely subcommittee hearing--I sit on the Appropriations Committee and 
two subcommittees, on State and Foreign Operations, and I am the 
ranking member of the Agriculture Subcommittee, and we have 
jurisdiction over the Food and Drug Administration.
  So in a timely subcommittee hearing, I asked the Inspector General of 
the Department of Health and Human Services this question--it is a 
simple question, it is just three words--are our drugs safe? Four 
words. Are our drugs safe?
  This raging coronavirus has drawn much attention to this much 
overlooked problem. And in the name of global profiteering, what has 
happened is that we have enabled a dangerous outsourcing of 
pharmaceutical production to foreign countries. A significant portion 
of that outsourcing is to the very origin of the place where 
coronavirus came from, China.
  Over 80 percent of active drug ingredients and 40 percent of finished 
drugs on the American market, from ibuprofen to reduce your fever, to 
antibiotics to treat infection, they are produced outside the United 
States. Even if we vigilantly inspect our domestic manufacturing 
processes, we cannot possibly get a handle on drug safety when our 
drugs are sourced from over 150 countries, including a significant 
portion from China.
  The Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, has a daunting task 
in managing the spending and performance of agencies that are so large 
they can be bigger than some countries' GDP. And one of those agencies 
is the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA.
  There is an inherent and unfair duality, however, in how FDA's 
foreign and domestic inspection regimes are carried out. FDA inspectors 
routinely conduct surprise inspections in America to ensure that drug 
companies are producing medicine in a clean, safe, and responsible 
manner.
  But when it comes to foreign inspections, the FDA customarily gives 
companies advance notice, often as much as 12 weeks, enabling drug 
suppliers plenty of time to clean up their acts. This is 
counterproductive and it is wrong, and it creates an unlevel playing 
field for companies trying to manufacture drugs right here in the 
United States of America.
  Compounding these problems, the FDA inspectors also face obstruction, 
coercion, and deception in foreign countries. In one case, a Chinese 
company reportedly imprisoned an inspector in a conference room for an 
hour to force her to destroy the photographs that she took of its 
facilities.

[[Page H2356]]

  Madam Speaker, this inadequate monitoring of foreign production of 
medicine, it really does have dire consequences. In 2008, a tainted 
batch of the blood thinner, heparin, which is made in China, killed 
over 100 people worldwide, including 81 in America. It led to this 
drug's recall.
  In August of 2018, the FDA issued an alert that a Chinese 
manufacturer of a thyroid medicine was recalled due to inconsistent 
quality. At this hearing that I am referencing with the Department of 
Health and Human Service's Inspector General, I asked: Why has so much 
of our drug production moved overseas? Why?
  Now, of course, in asking that question, Madam Speaker, I basically 
knew the answer, it has to do with capitalization on low wages, lax 
safety, environmental and labor standards in those countries. But my 
fuller intention in asking the question was to probe as to whether or 
not we have inadvertently, in U.S. law and regulatory structure, 
perversely encouraged offshoring.
  These troubling dynamics take on a special urgency given the massive 
spread of COVID-19. Several months ago, the FDA identified 20 drugs 
that exclusively source their active pharmaceutical ingredients or 
finished drug products from China. The agency then issued an alert that 
at least one Chinese drugmaker had ceased production of a human drug 
due to coronavirus infection at its manufacturing facilities. So drugs 
with short expiration dates are particularly vulnerable to these 
supply-chain disruptions. Another level of problem.
  So solving these issues can become easier when we can fully identify 
and inspect foreign sources of medicine. But with the bulk of our 
foreign drug supply originating from a country that suppressed news 
about the coronavirus origins, its severity, and its timing, and to 
this day prevents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 
fully accessing the actual virus, I am not optimistic that we will gain 
better information.
  I get it, Madam Speaker, it is convenient in this moment to point a 
finger at China, but we have plenty to do in our House to restore some 
order here. The Inspector General promised me an answer within 2 weeks 
to my question. Do you remember what it was? Have we inadvertently 
through our legal or regulatory structure perversely incentivized the 
offshoring of drug production from America? The Inspector General 
promised me an answer in 2 weeks. I have heard nothing yet.

  The reality here is that we have to change how we do public policy in 
our country, just like so many other processes--business and society 
are shifting. Coronavirus has caused a tectonic plate shift. We are 
seeing massive spikes in the use of digital technology, which has huge 
implications for telemedicine, telework, and tele-education. In a bit 
of a silver lining in this time of crisis and suffering, I am frankly 
proud that this body has come together to protect healthcare, to 
protect individuals and families, and to protect small businesses and 
farmers.
  Once our body itself recovers our rhythm and order here, there are 
some particularly good places to start thinking about action around our 
healthcare security.
  So policy question one: How much of our drugs come from foreign 
sources? To solve this, we should enhance the FDA's powers to track the 
ingredients. We should require labeling as to where they come from. 
And, third, increase reporting requirements for the pharmaceutical 
companies themselves, particularly within the precursor ingredients.
  Bottom line, we need clear answers about how we oversee the foreign 
production of drugs and drug ingredients. We also need the right 
incentives to ensure that U.S. companies will produce more and more 
drugs and drug ingredients right here, here at home in America. It is 
about healthcare security. If it is made in America, we will all feel 
much better about knowing that it is safe.
  But going beyond these policy considerations about our healthcare 
security, Madam Speaker, I want to take a moment to possibly pull back 
the curtain and read into what we are experiencing now, some future 
trends. It is not to diminish in any way the trauma, disruption, and 
suffering that has hit our country, but there are many open-ended 
questions that we are facing now. And it might be helpful to look into 
what some new realities are going to be in short order.
  We have adopted masks and social distancing. We casually use terms 
like ``herd immunity,'' ``flattening the curve,'' and ``community 
spread.'' We have also accepted a world with less noise, less urgency, 
but more intimate connection with those in our immediate orbit. We 
wonder what we will encounter when the doors fully open once again and 
we are uncaged to see the world through an entirely new lens.
  So perhaps here is a little bit of a sneak peek. First, Madam 
Speaker, our relationship with work has substantially changed. For 
those fortunate to still have good employment, telework has arrived. 
While many Main Street businesses are really hurting, many have also 
transformed themselves into online, brick-and-mortar hybrids.
  Like never before, people are ordering groceries online, medical 
supplies, and other essentials through their phones for pick up and 
delivery. Doctors are seeing patients remotely. And in a little-known 
shift, we are actually reimbursing properly for telehealth. It is here 
to stay, and it is going to make some huge advances in our well-being, 
and perhaps save some funds.
  School, of course, has temporarily centralized in the home, 
reconnecting families in important, beautiful, exciting, if not 
sometimes stressful ways. The handshake may be in decline, but the 
elbow bump, thumbs-up, and head nod are, of course, enjoying a 
renaissance.
  As we extrapolate from these changes to a world in which we are 
hopeful that better treatments are right around the corner, we are 
seeing less dependence on automobiles, more connectedness to the 
outdoors, an increase in victory gardens, and local foods. A nice side 
effect, nature is recovering. The air is cleaner. Traffic is down. 
Cities feel calmer. This reality presages the aligning preferences, and 
this is a fascinating fact, the economic preference curves of the baby 
boom generation and the millennial generation are aligning for livable, 
walkable, nurturing communities.
  But even while we consider the rosier side of this predicament, we 
have urgent questions. When are we getting back to normal? When can we 
hug those we love? When can we visit those incapable of visiting us? 
What does normal even mean?
  Madam Speaker, here is one aspect of what normal may look like. A new 
intrusive reality, I have an acronym for it, I call it SSTT, screening, 
sanitation, testing and testing.
  So let's unpack this. SSTT is a suite of best practices that will 
gradually enable the full reopening of our State in Nebraska, where I 
live, and our country, while ensuring those who are vulnerable, 
especially the elderly and those with underlying conditions, are fully 
protected.
  On screening, you will see more high-tech thermal scans when you 
enter large public places. As we experienced after 9/11 with the 
dramatically-enhanced security screening, your temperature will be 
regularly taken.
  As for the next S, sanitation. I found a new respect for medical 
personnel who must wear these surgical masks hours on end through the 
day. They are hot. They are bothersome, as I am sure you can attest, 
Madam Speaker. But they are now part of the normalization of our own 
personal protective equipment routines at retail establishments, at 
work, and on public transportation. You are already seeing the sneeze 
guards and other physical barriers at grocery store check-out stands. 
Hand sanitizer sales are not declining any time soon, as the 
surprisingly fragile COVID-19 is easily killed through basic hygiene 
and surface disinfectants.

                              {time}  1630

  Social distancing is a subset of sanitation. Perhaps we should change 
the name. Perhaps we should call it social respect because this is what 
it means. It is an embrace of a necessary constraint out of concern for 
the public good, and it also lessens our own individual vulnerability.
  When combined with advancing our ability to work from home if sick, 
these factors are certainly lessening the disease's impact, thankfully.
  New configurations for workplace foot traffic and airflow will emerge 
as

[[Page H2357]]

we embrace the need to consistently and vigilantly fight this virus. 
Look for TSA-style COVID prechecks at airports, on trains, and at 
hospitals. Watch for new office architecture: open floor concepts and 
lunch buffets being out; plexiglass partitions, staggered desks, one-
way walkways will be in. Zoom is the new communal coffee break. As 
offensive as this seems, look for social distancing monitors on 
elevators in large office buildings.
  Again, the acronym is SSTT. The first ``T'' stands for testing. There 
will be a dramatic increase in onsite work testing. Early diagnosis of 
those who show symptoms or who have some reasonableness to think they 
may have been exposed is one way to significantly reduce the spread of 
the disease.
  I have been very proud to continue to work with the University of 
Nebraska Medical Center. During the Ebola epidemic, we worked with the 
Obama administration to help the University of Nebraska Medical Center, 
which has a long history in infectious disease and virology, to build 
out containment facilities just in case Ebola would impact us 
significantly in America.
  You might recall, Madam Speaker, that the first coronavirus cases 
that came off the cruise ship went immediately to Nebraska. Our 
National Guard hosted people. Those who needed to be in isolation and 
then those who needed to be quarantined who had the disease went to the 
University of Nebraska. That is because we have led the country in 
forward-thinking as to how to create the possibility of containment for 
some type of pandemic.
  We have a lot more to do, such as creating a surge hospital concept 
for our military and our country at large. Nonetheless, in working with 
the University of Nebraska Med Center, trying to think about how we 
just don't sit back and let the sick come to us but that we go forward 
and use institutions that have occupational health specialists and 
larger capacities to become the center for controlling the diseases 
themselves in a manner that parallels the necessary public health 
response that is going on.
  Again, sanitation and screening are part of that and onsite work 
testing.
  The second ``T'' though in the SSTT is for serological testing. This 
test determines whether you have developed antibodies to the virus, 
which are needed for immunity. As we are discovering, a number of 
people who have had the disease don't have any symptoms. They didn't 
know they had it. They could have antibodies, which will help them 
fight the disease, should they be reexposed in the future. Said another 
way, it means a person who has had the virus recovered, and it lessens 
the possibility of reinfection for them.
  Both types of testing will become widespread, faster, cheaper, and 
ordinary--again, helping us control the spread.
  As we work toward a vaccine or effective treatment to stop the 
serious effects, this SSTT suite of approaches--again, the University 
of Nebraska, I am proud of them for developing this and their outreach 
to the community. It may not be a panacea, but it will give us the data 
and confidence to more robustly and quickly open our economy and 
gradually reduce the need for strict containment measures.
  It is changing a bit now, Madam Speaker, but on an earlier trip to 
D.C. for some votes we took several weeks ago in which we replenished 
the funds for the highly successful Paycheck Protection Program--Madam 
Speaker, if you don't mind, I am going to divert for a moment because I 
am proud of my State.
  Again, this was a bipartisan airlift, the Paycheck Protection 
Program, to help small businesses maintain personnel on the payroll 
while we tried to get in front of the disease spread, creating a one-
two simultaneous step to protect our healthcare system and protect our 
economic well-being. The Paycheck Protection Program was vital to this 
effort, widely supported by many of us, as well as the replenishment.
  Nebraska has a very robust community banking system. We worked very 
aggressively with the small business associations and got the word out 
so we, on a per capita basis, have the largest number of loans for the 
Paycheck Protection Program, which, again, is so important to the well-
being of our economic vitality as we fight our way through this virus.
  The point being, though, I went to get on the airplane, and I stood 
in Omaha Eppley Airfield and then later at Chicago O'Hare and witnessed 
this eerie stillness around me: vacant terminals, closed businesses, 
nearly empty planes, a science fiction movie come to life.
  Madam Speaker, the Earth has really stood still for a moment, but 
perhaps in this stillness, just perhaps, we have rediscovered some 
important things, and we do see some trends that will mark a new way 
forward.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________