today a house hearing on the shortage of baby formula in the us with testimony from the head of the fda and others live at 11:00 a.m. on c-span, c-span now, free mobile video apps or any time online, c-span.org. >> we take you live to london where british prime minister boris johnson will field questions from members of the house of commons, the prime minister is expected to make a statement in response to senior civil servants, full report on covid 19 lockdown parties. you are watching live coverage on c-span2. >> annual funding matching the average annual funding the world would have received after adjusting for inflation and if it doesn't take that from me or doesn't believe me, the government center, that indicates we are going in the right direction on the shared prosperity fund and wouldn't it be good if the welsh government could support these ambitious opportunities. >> the whole house will want to join me in expressing our outragend

texas and take your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets, there may talk about the fda's role in the ongoing baby formula shortage in the u.s. with scott of the cato institute, and we look at u.s. support for ukraine against russian aggression. joining us as the marathon initiatives of the center for strategic and international studies. watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern on c-span or c-span now, our free mobile video app. like c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by these public television companies and more, including cox. cox is committed to providing eligible families access to affordable internet through the connect to compete program, bridging the digital divide one connected and engage student at a time. cox, bringing us closer. >> cox support c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> during the world economic foreign discussion, a group of lawmakers talked about financial aid to ukraine amid russia's invasion of the country from davos, switzerland, this is about 50

nine people within fda were responsible for the oversight of the formula. nine workers monitoring a $3.5 billion industry that directly impacts millions of american families. they are spread way too thin and here's why that is a problem. it can take months to launch an investigation. that is exactly what happened at the plant in michigan. fda received the complaint about the factory'sd production last october they didn't physically inspect until january of this year. the fda does essential work with limited resources but it cannot serve the needs of the american consumers into families on a thin budget. if we want to truly protect the safety and well-being of families and kids we need to step up in congress. the house of representatives did it last week. house lawmakers passed rosa delauro's legislation to provide $28 million of additional funding to help the fda resolve the formula shortage and to prevent the next one. this legislation is a no-brainer from my point of view and that's why it is puzzling that 190 republican congressman voted against it, vote

with testimony from the head of the fda dr. robert k less and others live at 11 a.m. on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app or anytime online at c-span.org. >> the up-to-date in the latest in publishing with both evs podcast about books with current nonfiction book releases, plus bestseller lists as well as industry news and trends through insider interviews pick you can find about books on c-span now, our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> there are a lot of places to get political information, but only at c-span2 you get it straight from the source no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here or here, or here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> another tuesday in may and of the state of midterm primaries on tap joining us to break on today's primary kyle kondik managing editor of sabato's crystal ball. first, if folks are starting to turn into midterm elections what should they know about the r

in my mind the fda should move more quickly to respond to it. but when we became aware of all of this, we came together very quickly to do what we could. thes reality is that half of the baby formula in this country goes to moms and babies that are on a very important program that is called the women infant and children's program. and we know we do everything possible to take away any barrier for them to be able to children. to get baby formula for children. that is what we have done to make sure the usda can act quickly pretty want to thank secretary bill sacco has acted quickly and has worked with us on this legislation to be also want to make sure every manufacturer of baby formula going forward is required to participate in a wicket to have a comprehensive plan of what to do in an emergency. what to do and supply chain breakdowns or something else that stops our moms and babies what is essential this is an important program that has worked for a long, long time i'm so pleased to have my friend and ranking member working with me. we came toge

on food safety at the fda. this isn't new and went to work on this and this is a huge crisis for american and i'm very, very concerned about where we are. i'm just going to pay that because like i said i feel really grateful that my colleagues have been asking good questions and if others will be asking more as well. i just want to talk about faxing access for children. i really appreciate the fda has done some challenging ascent to work over the last two years uncovered, particularly in the vaccine space. one key group with no authorized covid vaccines are children five and under. i totally understand and appreciate how important it is to evaluate safety and efficacy. that's a huge concern and america what i'm hearing of the time from parents and caregivers in maine and also around the country who are just really frustrated and feeling left behind. any further delays that continues his children will enter yet another school year unvaccinated. can you commit to us that reviewing any potential authorization for

companies will need to apply with the fda and the fda is prepared to review applications and respond to them rapidly. fda will prioritize review of applications that are most likely to be successful and will get the most formula to us shelves as quickly as possible. all companies will meet the gold standard of quality control and only safe products will come to american shelves as the fda commissioner said and explained in detail this morning. at the white house our role what we will be doing is we will have alerted embassies, retailers and manufacturers to identify a potential company that would make use of the new fda importation process. once fda has finalized its rule we will be ready to provide information to the public on using the new system quickly and safely and bring new supply to the market. >> senator kiersten gillibrand says the president should be invoking the supply act. >> we're pretty much where we were before on the dba. we're leaving no stone unturned and every option is on the table as we been saying for the past several days. i have no update on dpa but what we'r

senator and i took the ad fda bill to the floor in late october and we spent about two or three weeks on it and it passed november 1 and with it we added the seed that the commerce justice science bill and transportation in housing and urban development. signed into law by the end of november. out of the senate conference signed into law and we passed all the rest of the bills between then and the 23rd of december. people need to see a sewer work in the right way. members need to have a chance to participate and amend those bills and see if their ideas are good enough to get a majority of their colleagues to join them. the country is tired and a member of congress is tired one big bill usually in the following year that nobody gets a chance to read does not mean it would be a mistake to defend the country it would've been a mistake to increase defense spending, it would've been a mistake not to help ukrainians but there are other ways to do this and now is not too late to get started for this year. >> folks, we need to get real about what's happening with the fuel prices in the biden

there are no other fda approved medications prohibited from being mailed to patients in need. this is an attack on reproductive rights, with critical medical care. it imposes hardship on women and families assessing their care using telemedicine especially during a pandemic. this amendment has no place in a bipartisan postal reform bill. i object. >> the objection is heard. senator from utah. >> back to the practice of amending the bill. not everybody is inclined to agree. the abortion issue is tough for a lot of people. they don't want to talk about it. a few months ago, the mail system anyway. at the still shouldn't be. those who made the decision to allow that are overlooking the health and safety concerns that previously prohibited those things from happening. it's unfortunately can't even vote on this. that everybody agrees on the amendment but what previously made the senate the world's greatest legislative body was the ability of any member to bring up an amendment and have it voted on. that is unfortunate. >> senator from florida. >> i want to thank my colleague, senat

that you are cutting an individual's position and of the equation and is very dangerous because the fda has stated there could be serious drug interactions associated with this bill of year for instance on cholesterol-lowering drugs, take this bill, get out. verse that affects so that is not a policy that it is going to support nor should the patient's go directly to the pharmacist nasser this without his room position weighing in one of this could be dangerous or not. >> let's start with matthew, in new york, democrats on, your own with our guest home and go, go ahead and you are on. >> good morning guys, mr. bango, i don't know even know where to begin, you would like to rewrite history, and the american people believe that the previous administration is not responsible for over 600,000 deaths in the previousin administration and you might've come up with operation warp speed it but unfortunately, he did nothing to push the vaccination of and to get the people to use them. you had the protocol set up an injection of bleach perhaps or hydroxy core clinic or whatever homespun remedy you

of command and powered their subordinates and put in place procedures for operation warp speed and fda provided the fine regulatory pathway and industry stepped up to the challenge and congress provided precipitations. together, a sort of sympathy was established with countless moving parts, the first expertise and a clear conductor bringing the pieces together. but looking back on the response to date. it's clear we remain dangerously for the next inevitable security crisis whether natural, deliberate or accidental. and they have looked at the attention necessary to deagainst biological threat over two decades. some must have thought it was a hypothetical debate, covid, rebuild, it was not hypothetical. we must be prepared for the next inevitable biosecurity crisis. the covid lessons learned do not teach us the value of preparedness, i do not know what will. waiting for crisis to take action is too long. a national pandemic preparedness enterprise store state and partners was for success and that would require a leadership structure, vegs and goals that transcends administrations. we

robert califf to head the fda for a second time. later this week the senate will vote to extend government funding through march 112 of what a shutdown on friday. as always you can follow live coverage of the senate when they return here on c-span2. right now remarks by majority leader chuck schumer from this morning. >> now, mr. president, last night, this is relevant to what we just did with the new bill on the calendar, for a second reading, last night we had a chance to continue progress on a bipartisan, long overdue postal reform bill when i moved to fix a few technical errors to the legislation sent to us by the house. sadly my request was blocked by the junior senator from florida. without much in a way of clear explanation. for instance, he says he wants to stand up for postal workers but all the organizations representing postal workers strongly support this bill. they are eager for it. he says he wants to protect and strengthen medicare but postal already paste into medicare, and the cbo says that this proposal, this bill

, the fda approved five new opiates for market. in the same time the removed only one. the wise maya angelou famously said when someone shows you who they are, the leave them. well, dr. califf is shown us who he is and he has shown a complete lack of interest in actually making the difficult decisions that would be the leader of the fda to make. nothing that dr. califf has said or done has led me to believe he will operate the fda any differently than he did during his previous tenure. as if this is not enough, reports that circulated that dr. califf intends to keep dr. janet woodcock on board as the senior advisor at the fda, if confirmed. dr. woodcock bears more responsibility for the opioid epidemic in our country than any other person at the fda, because of her oversight role and the approval of every single one of the opiates that went on to ravage communities like those in west virginia. she was in charge in 1995 when the fda approved oxycontin. what we know now to be the tip of the spear of the opioid epidemic. in 2014, she

robert califf to be fda commissioner. yesterday the senate voted 49-45 to advance his nomination. also this week, lawmakers will be voting to extend government funding through march 11th to avoid a shutdown on friday. live coverage. u.s. senate now here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal lord god, who rules the raging of the sea, give to the members of this body a special measure of wisdom and strength for the living of these days. lord, help them to see what a practical resource they have in you as you empower them to complete their daily

, to our president, that we need a new direction at fda. we need people who want to protect us not people who allow drugs to destroy us. thank you. madam president, and i yield the floor. >> i come to the floor tonight to urge my colleagues to vote here in a minute to confirm dr. robert califf, to serve as commissioner of the food and drug administration. he was confirmed to this role previously with strong bipartisan support, i hope to see that again this evening. at this critical moment we need a trusted hand to lead the fda and dr. califf's previous service in this role, his career as one of the nation's leading research scientists given the experience to take on this challenge. families across the country count on the food and drug administration every day to follow the science and the data and keep them safe. and covid-19 has put its work in the spotlight like never before. this pandemic has been incredibly hard on our nation, killed over 900,000 americans and throughout this crisis as people have sought to keep their families safe, th

woodcock established at the fda. in fact, dr. califf joined the board of directors for a pharmaceutical company immediately following his tenure at the fda. he prospered financially in that position as thousands more died of overdoses. due to continued negligence of the fda, more than 400,000 americans have died since dr. califf first served. among those americans was lauren cole from morgantown. her father, michael cole graciously allowed me to share lauren's story with all of you. lauren was the definition of the girl next door. a person who is approachable, dependable and everyone saw her as their best friend. she was also a fierce competitor with a strong will to be the best. the little girl became a competitive athlete swimming at two. she was tumbling at three and skiing at age four. in college she represented west virginia university at the national cheerleaders association, collegiate cheer nationals two years in a row. everything lauren did looked effortless. after completing her bachelor's degree in social work, she wor

the fda needs strong leadership to continue the work and address challenges. and 100,000 lives in one year is a new record according to the cdc with millions of these views e-cigarettes. like antimicrobial resistance could make common procedures more dangerous by making current infection treatments and effective in challenges like skyrocketing drug cost andce pharmaceutical companies who have the fda approval system off the markets and challenges i repeatedly raise the need for fda to improve diversity in clinical trials because when women or people of color are left out. >> come to order. >> this undermines people's health by delaying information that they need to understand how a treatment will affect them specifically for example whether it is safe during pregnancy make it hard toy identify differences in the safety and effectiveness of those populations. and they deserve a senate confirmed leader with experience on these issues working on these challenges before when previously concerned and an overwhelming bipartisan vote to uphold the gold standard. >> .

and then to make the difficult decisions that we need the leader of the fda to make. nothing that doctor caleb has said or done these me to believe to operate the fda any differently than he did during his previous tenure. as if this is not enough reports of circulated that he intends to keep janet woodcock on board. and with that opiate epidemic. with the oversight role in the approval to ravish communities in charge in 1995 when the fda approved oxycontin. what we know now to be the tip of the spear of the opioid epidemic. in 2014 she ignored the advicerw of the fda advisory committee voted overwhelmingly a vote of 11 / two and decided to approve the drug anyway at a time we needed less opiates it is a questionable your hydrocodone with a strong rate of overdose and death just two pills can kill an individual. the pharmaceutical industry has greatly benefited from the status quo that they have established that the fda. in fact he himself joined the board of directors for a pharmaceuticalas company immediately following his tenure at the fda he prospered as thousands

the court consider the nomination of doctor robert head of the fda for a second time. live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. ... chaplain, dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, lord of history, if a sparrow does not fall without your knowledge, certainly the issues facing our senate concern you. your word assures us that in everything you are working for the good of those who love you. may that promise guide our lawmakers as they seek equitable and just solutions to complicated problems. lord, give our senators the wisdom to discern, courage to believe, and the determination to do your will. bless, o god, the faithful men and women who manage the machinery of the senate, without whom this legislative body could not function. thank you for their efficient and productive work. lord, fill this chamber with your presence. we ask in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the r

muddled guidance on boosters that cause fda experts to resign in protest. and needless device vaccine mandates that were not constitutional. one year in, the coronavirus is decidedly un-crushed. and covid wasn't the epidemic sweeping american streets. take violent crime. anti-law-enforcement local policies have led major cities to set all-time record for homicides in 2021. or take fentanyl, this deadly important poison was leading cause of death for americans age 18-45 last year. the number one killer of americans in their prime, fentanyl. so what are democrats treating this like an emergency? when was the last time president biden even talked about this? and drug deaths are not the only consequence of our weak borders. candidate biden's rhetoric incentivized and historic flood of illegal immigration. then president biden's week policies lit the fuse. the result, the biggest surge in illegal border crossings in 60 years. 60 years. all these issues are priorities for american families, but the biden administration has spent most of 2021 focused on none of th

. ♪ ♪ >> tuesday morning, doctor robert, president biden's nominee for fda commissioner and his confirmation before the senate health committee watch live beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three online@c-span.org or watch full coverage on c-span now, our new video app. >> is with us he is chief medical advisor for the bipartisan policy center's joint is a number of times throughout the colored pandemic. welcome back to "washington journal". >> thanks it's good to be on with you. >> we will dive into the latest news or the latest of what we know, you know about the omicron variant in just a

. >> fda told the nation that the united states of america was under attack. besides that attack, pearl harbor changed the course of history including the future and fortunes of a young man from russell, kansas. today i come to the floor with a heavy heart. i'm here to pay tribute to my best friend in the united states senate, yesterday senator dole passed away at 98 years of age. for 35 of those years he served kansas here in the congress. he also was the second longest serving senate republican leader. when iowans first elected me to serve in the senate, bob dole took me under his wing. i couldn't have asked for a better mentor. he treated me like a brother. even when we disagreed he treated me with respect. we shared conservative midwestern values. those values steered us to champion fiscal discipline, american agriculture, rural health care, and limited government. from humble beginnings, the three sports athlete at the university of kansas left his field of dreams, he left them behind to enlist and serve his country. near the end of world war ii he was ca

. >> fda told the nation that the united states of america was under attack. besides that attack, pearl harbor changed the course of history including the future and fortunes of a young man from russell, kansas. today i come to the floor with a heavy heart. i'm here to pay tribute to my best friend in the united states

if i were in the cdc or the fda, those agencies that in october of 2020, counted this report read the early morning safety surveillance systems before the vaccines ever got emergency use authorization, they were talking about how they would rely on these two derived safety signals 'rand i remember one number sayg that morgan to take this so seriously that if we lose a couple of days were, lost work time, because of an adverse event will get the cdc representative on the phone with that individual who going to look into it that simply has not happened read now, one thing that the fda has done, is that it ridiculed some of the early treatment drugs. i don't have it on the charger by the is on the in perspective and again, 15937 deaths in about ten months with the covid-19 vaccine. since 1996, 25 years as total deaths 379. 15937 covid-19 and 379 was in 25 years. and hydroxy, over 25 years. and another appears to be the drug of choice, for hospitalized covid-19 patients, 1499 deaths. and again this information it the agencies are not providing the american public and i think it's informat

. >>> next, the testimony from acting fda administrator janet woodcock on the impact of vaping on underage users. she testified before a house oversight and reform subcommittee.

later an update on fda's products and their impact. ♪♪ >> washington journal every day we take calls live on the air on the news of the day and we discussed policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday morning, a discussion of new federal figures showing medicaid enrollment at an all-time high. marilyn, jamie raskin will talk about the justice department during the trump and biden administration. nebraska : tungsten jeff discussing biden's proposals and foreign policy. ♪♪ c-span's "washington journal" live seven eastern thursday morning and drink with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets. ♪♪ >> defense secretary lloyd austin tells the house armed services committee he supports removing the prosecution of sexual assault in the military chain of command. after reading the final report from independent review commission i'm also testifying joint chiefs of staff mark millie military leaders on capitol hill to talk about the

psaki: of course that will be the supreme the question will require fda approval. there's many a party to determine what is next as a relates to j&j. hopefully will learn for them. we will see. but our goal, weight remain confident in our ability to meet the needs that we feel will be out there in the public by the end of may. and we will have another vaccine for every american on the end of july. without j&j that is based on the supply that we have ordered from nikita mitchell and pfizer and as you probably seen, they've also announced that they are going to work on expediting their own manufacturing and delivery of their vaccine sprayed some are confident that we can meet the demand in the public and now every american over 16 is eligible to receive the vaccine that are focus is on encouraging people to get shots in arms pretty. >> there was work yesterday in the journal considering reducing the amount of nicotine that can be in cigarettes. and also restricting mental cigarettes altogether. is that something you could update us on on whether the administration fa

and actually, just recently, the fda and the european agency as well have now relax those requirements. so no longer does the pfizer biotech vaccine have been capped at minus 88 can be kept at minus 24 after two weeks. there are many more facilitiesie on the country and around the world to have those resources. so now can reach for places that it could before. so when you talk to my distribution. that's an issue they came upon yesterday meet the press. secretary of state was asked by chuck todd on the issue of the u.s. role in the vaccine distribution globally. here's part of his interview. >> check i think we have a significant responsibility. we are going to be the world leader on helping to make sure that the entire world gets vaccinated. and here's why. unless and until the vast majority people in the world are vaccinated, it's still going to be a problem for us. as long as he virusess replicating somewhere, it could be mutating and it could be coming back to hit us. but similarly the world has a very strong interest in making sure we are vaccinated. the same thing applies. if the

lunches but members will hold a confirmation vote on the nomination of isabel guzman to be the next fda administrator. the senate will also work on the nomination of catherine tied to the united states trade representative. you're watching live coverage of the senate on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the senator from nevada. he. ms. rosen: thank you. i stand in support of isabella casillas guzman's nomination to serve as s.b.a. administrator. this pandemic has been challenging for our communities, and it's been especially devastating for our small businesses. we urgently need a leader who is experienced and prepared for the work ahead, someone who will hit the ground running and to revive and restore our small businesses and bring back jobs, and isabel guzman is exactly the right person for this task. having previously served in the u.s. small business administration, mrs. guzman knows the agency well. she understands the struggles that small businesses and workers face not just during this pandemic, but also their day-to-day needs. she will use the agenc

you get a post. >> is a variety of experts, there are 15 voting members and if you members but the fda also has the right to add people to the committee on a case-by-case basis if they feel there is a need for more expertise mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, yesterday would have been john lewis' 81st birthday. that fearless young man who was threatened, jailed, beaten half to death so many times for the cause of love and justice actually lived to reach the age of 80 seems like a miracle. now as america celebrates our first black history month since his passing, we miss him. but we still have the moral force of his message. john made sure of that. two days before he died, he wrote an essay for "the new york times." he asked the paper to print his words on the day of his funeral, of his homegoing, as he said. it was his last message to america. in his essay, john lewis recalled how when he was a little boy in alabama, the threat of white supremacist violence and government-sanctioned terror was a

with the recent fda vaccine emergency use authorization, michiganders and americans are finally starting to receive much-needed reinforcement to combat and to control this viru virus. although there is light at the end of the tunnel, there's two or three months or more are going to be difficult. we cannot let our guard down. we must continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing and wash our hands. we all can and we must play a role in defeating this virus. we can do that if we work together. mr. president, working together is a key to get through this pandemic. we know what happens and we worked together here in this chamber. early on in this pandemic we p work together to pass the cares act. which provided vital resources and support to keep families and workers afloat. we worked together to pass additional aid for small businesses, for testing, for healthcare providers and for hospitals. and right now, need to come together and work together to pass another round of help. we have done it before. and we didn't when case counts were far lower than they are no now. we need to summon

last week the fda approved the first cove 19 vaccine and the process of vaccinating our frontline healthcare workers is already underway. and there is a good chance by this time next week millions of doses of a second approved vaccine will be an route to hospitals across the country. there's no question the race to develop an effectivevi coping vaccine has been a success. it has really been nothing short of a miracle. now it is critical that we take additional actions to ensure the race to distribute the vaccine is successful as well. we have been waiting and planning for a vaccine all year. but funding, congress provided the cares act help execute thewi nationwide distribution project has run dry. while the cost of the vaccine itself is covered there's a host of other expenses that come with vaccinating tens of millions maybe hundreds of millions of people. states are dipping into their ther sources of funding to ensure they have the capabilities to carry out this widespread effort. but it takes specialized equipment from ultra low temperature freezers to stored vaccine to masks, gloves, ot

supplies of an fda authorized fe and effective covid-19 vaccine are aiving at sites across america. vaccinations

at 9 am on c-span 3, and fda meeting will set the covid-19 vaccine made by pfizer. >> wasn't a c-span's podcast the weekly. our guest is don ritchie, senate historian emeritus who joins us to discuss constitutional steps that need to be finalized before president-elect joe biden is warning. you get your podcast. >> next, farewell remarks from senator doug jones of alabama, he talked about his experience on capitol hill over the last three years working with colleagues across the aisle and issues he hopes the senate might address in his absence. >> everyone knows the old saying, time flies when you're having fun. my time, despite the difficulties, the challenges, despite the rancor we often see in this body as well as washington dc i can honestly say i have had a lot of fun. the last 3 years have been amazing. i was able to accomplish a few things thanks to you. you've not just been colleagues. it has really been good. your status been off. i know you hear that a lot from constituents, maybe not enough from other senators. your staffs have been amazing to us and i very much appreciate it

georgetown university medical center doctor jesse goodman former chief scientist of the fda discusses the covid-19 vaccine approval process. watch c-span washington journal live at seven eastern wednesday morning, be sure to join the discussion with your phone call, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. >> listen to c-span podcast the weekly our guest is don ritchie senate historian he joins us to discuss the constitutional steps that still need to be finalized before president-elect joe biden is sworn in, find c-span the weekly where you get your podcast. >> the supreme court is being asked to decide whether facebook text alert system is a violation of the telephone consumer protection act of 1991 which created restrictions on robocalls and the use of systems. . . .

vice president pence says he is very optimistic a coronavirus vaccine may be approved by the fda in as early as a weeknd

day when we didn't have at least one call with somebody who's running a laboratory or someone at the fda, or someone who understood this investment arm we had barred us, that was -- had been designed about 10 years earlier, but never used as we've used it to bring the private sector and public sector together in partnership in a way that advances both tests and vaccines and we would spend sometimes hours a day in a series of 30-minute phone calls trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together. and, i remember one day we were talking to someone at the white house and the comment from his part of the conversation was, knowing how many other conversations we'd had that day, if people had any idea how much the senate and the two of you, he's saying at that moment, are committed to get things done, they'd be surprised because that's the story that never gets told. so so much of the story of lamar and his work here, the good spirit he brings to that work, isn't told, but it's so very obvious. certainly, for me. one of the great gifts of my working life has been for lamar alexander to be such

madam president, yesterday drugmakeriz moderna file for emergency use authorization from the fda for its covid vaccine. the fda's vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to discuss pfizer's covid vaccine next week and is expected to review moderna shortly thereafter. o review moderna shortly thereafter. that means it is entirely possible that by the end of december the f.d.a. will have authorized not one, but two covid vaccines that have so far shown more than 90% effectiveness in preventing the disease. this is very hopeful news. and it's a tribute to the innovative power of the private sector and the efforts of congress and the trump administration to expedite the development of covid vaccines. the light at the end of the tunnel looks like it's on the way. at the same time, madam president, it's essential that we not minimize what's happening with covid right now. cases are surging and are likely to surge further. and doctors and hospitals are struggling. it's essential that we maintain key safety measures until those vaccines arrive. now more than ever we need to keep wearing mask

. >> madam president, yesterday drugmakeriz moderna file for emergency use authorization from the fda for its covid vaccine. the fda's vaccine advisory committee is scheduled v to discuss visors covid vaccine next week and is expected to review moderna shortly thereafter. that means it is entirely possible that by the end of december the fda will have authorized not one but two covid vaccines that have s

they are going ahead and ask the fda for emergency use authorization. experts are calling t this news absolutely remarkable. alongside other promising vaccinesi development from pfizr come astrazeneca, johnson & johnson, and others is continued cause to suspect that victory over this pandemic is not far off. but a huge amount of work remains for us if operation warp speed remained t on this historc trajectory we need to continue investing in the system that will distribute these vaccines around our country. we want small businesses that have already hung on for most of the year to survive a few more months. we need a second round of the job saving paycheck protection program for the workers at the hardest hit the establishments. some major parts of your story cares act of s already run dry committee others are set to expire at years end. we republicans have spent months trying to renew important help and provide even more. we tried to send more than $100 million to help schools and and welcome students and teachers safely to the classroom. we tried to i

which is going to deliver an fda approved vaccine to entered before the end of the year . much as one. maybe as any as two or three. and more perhaps to com anyone spend time watching c-span on the last several months h hard both republicans and the democrats talk about the importance of every single one of these things. but when theegislation includes all of these parties, came up for an initial vote, our democratic colleagues n even allowed this to bill. in other words yet devote to get on it before you can offer amendments and make itetter. so he killed it. without batting an eye, they voted in lockstep to block the bill and unanimous opposed legislation that would be given an additional have trillion dollars to the fight ainst covid-19. the majority leader and rang the bell to the floor again in october and we saw exactly the same thing, theam same bad movie oliver again. our democratic colleagues refused to let us even debate muchess to and the bill. it is not just these targeted packages tt amend blackberry democratic cleagues of the student the wayf other commonsens

jointly developing may be both safe and 94% this follows pfizer similar announcement next week as former fda commissioner summed it up this morning, when the full data comes out i may have two highly effective vaccines against covi covid. of these results hold, we are told the first doses of a vaccine could be administered to certain vulnerable people as soon month. with wider distribution friday. this is a remarkable testament to american ingenuity, to bright researchers and brave test participants to both commitments of the private sector and historic support from smart public policy bikend operation or up speed from the trump administration. asthma dharna ceo said this morning, i want to thank our partners and operation at warp speed have been instrumental to this point. operation warp speed that billions in funding to expedite research and development. it provided to streamlined regulatory environment and prepurchase agreements to readers in gent reduce risk. it is multiplied the compilation of the supplies things like needles and swabs that need to travel with the vaccine itself. with e

if over horgan is president until new york and california reinvent their own fda. to be clear, nearly 4 billion prescriptions every single year. 4 billion prescriptions. testing the expertise and professionalism of the fda. that is the trusted authority. nobody is crying out for liberal governors to have approval let alone potentially delay the end of covid-19 to do so. with the vaccine proves to be the one citizens in new york and california should not have it withheld because the governors care more about opposing president trump than about this. it reminds me when the senator from california declared in september during our vice presidential campaign that you might hesitate to trust a vaccine. the whole country understands our democratic friends are not members of the donald trump. we know that. they do not need to dabble in the early stages anti- vaccine conspiracy theories to prove it. for the sake of public health in confidence, saving lives, they have a moral obligation to stop it. the vaccine has been found and dish vision can begin soon, that is good news

the fda said it would approve a vaccine that was 50% effective, so while the fda needs to review have a vaccine that is 90% effective is about as good as it gets. democrats will do everything we can to make sure this vaccine or any vaccine is distributed quickly, fairly, equitably, and now are one of scale and derivative -- and delivery. the administration, whether it is the trump administration or the biden administration, must do everything to reach underserved communities, combat vaccine hesitancy, and ensure the vaccines are free to everyone. this will be a massive and complex undertaking unlike anything our country has seen. together, fromk the president to congress down to local community health authorities, to ensure it gets done right and against unfairly and against on equitably. -- it gets done fairly and it gets done equitably. pass a strong, comprehensive covid relief bill that actually meets the needs of the american people. excuse me. when it comes to health care education, testing, tracing, unemployment benefits, and other critical issues, this republican majority has p

the fda said it would approve a vaccine that is 50% effective. while the fda needs to review the vaccine to have a vaccine that's 90% effective is about as good as it gets. we democrats will do everything we can to make sure this vaccine or any vaccine is distributed quickly, fairly, equitably. and the challenges is one of scale and delivery. congress should fund a national fox nation program. and the administration whether it is a trump administration or the biden administration must do everything to reach minority and underserved communities. combat vaccine hesitancy and ensure the vaccines are free tobe everyone. this'll be a massive and complex undertaking unlike anything our country has seen. and we must all work together from the president to congress to local community health departments to assure a gets done right and gets done fairly and get sent equitably. so while the incoming administration prepares to take on a surge of covid-19 congress should pass a strong comprehensive covid relief bill that actually meets the needs of the america

even the cdc and fda had fallen in credibility both due to human error and listing blistering political press by the constitution, it is critical to the preservation of democracy charges of big news and claims that the press, the enemy of the people worsened by the media's constant divisiveness have so diminished the trust many americans have in the media thae they instead believe bizarre anonymous conspiracy theories on the internet. now more than any other time in my lifetime, it is essential the supreme court retain the trust of the nation. it may be one of the very few, if not the only of the institutions in which the great majority of americans have confidence. that's why judge barrett's integrity, wisdom and commitment to the rule of law is so important. she will be critical to the preservation of the public's perception of the legitimacy of the court. judge barrett wrote in a texas law review that if the courts opinions change with its cembership, public confidence in the court as an institution might decline. its members be seen as partisan rather than impartial and case law is

him, please do not interfere with the standards set scientists at fda of a covid-19 l vaccine. mr. president, white house did the white t i urged house to do. the white house respected the ecisions of the career scientists. they did not change one word of career dards set by the scientists for the approval of covid-19 vaccines. suggest that the governors of new york and california do the same. they should show the same espect to the f.d.a. career scientists that the white house did. undermining the f.d.a.'s gold efficacy f safety and by setting up state review anels could delay approval, discourage americans from taking cost lives. and there is a reason why we rely on the federal overnment's f.d.a. for the safety and efficacy of vaccines. decided when ess it passed the i'll be logics control act that the federal overnment should regulate dents s after tragic ins f children dying from contaminated diphtheria and smallpox vaccines. t would later become the national institute of health in 1930, with ensuring the safety potency of biological product such as vaccines. the regulation of

doctor peggy hamberg was the 21t commission of the fda. before that she was vice president senior scientist at the nuclear threat initiative a foundation dedicated too reducing nuclear chemical and biological threats. more recently doctor hamberger was born secretary for the national academy of medicine and president board chair with the advancement of