[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 214 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S8877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Office of National Security

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor to give an 
update on one of my oversight projects. This is about an Office within 
the Department of Health and Human Services that many people may not 
know much about. It is called the Office of National Security or, in 
Washington-speak, ONS for short.
  This Office informs HHS leadership about the threat landscape and 
also manages intelligence and counterintelligence. In addition, ONS 
also aims to protect HHS from disclosure of confidential information 
and other efforts that undermine U.S.-led research.
  I have done oversight of ONS since my chairmanship on the Finance 
Committee during the 116th Congress. During the COVID pandemic, I 
successfully fought to ensure that ONS had a seat at the table with the 
intelligence community so it could lend its expertise however it was 
needed.
  To fulfill its duties to the taxpayers, ONS needs to collaborate 
closely with national security partners, and the United States needs to 
be ready to fight health threats head-on--especially that includes 
domestic and foreign threats. That threat landscape isn't going to go 
away anytime soon, and it certainly isn't getting any better as 
pathogens evolve, which means the right hand of government must talk 
with the left hand of government.
  So as part of my continuing oversight, on December 3 of this year, I 
wrote to HHS Secretary Kennedy and Director of National Intelligence 
Gabbard. I asked Secretary Kennedy and DNI Director Gabbard for updates 
on their level of coordination, and I asked them about their efforts to 
ensure that ONS is engaged with the broader intelligence community to 
ensure robust information sharing. In the new year, I look forward to 
their responses to my investigation.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.