to the current threat or not and the only way to respond to the current threat was to identify funds that could be used now. i think your description of a blunt instrument is correct, that there was an across-the-board cut in preparedness program. it's a little bit complicated how each dollar was arrived but every grantee lost funding. >> we seem to be reactive to crisis. do we have analytics to know better about what's coming before it dominates the headlines? could we be doing a better job heading the crises off? >> i think it's a big challenge and one we continue to work on. to take a particular case of zika, there are many aspects of

this that's it's been unprecedented. there's never been a birth defect transmitted by a mosquito. if we were to use historical record it's not something that we would have predicted. i think that there are -- there's a need to be able to forecast more effectively than we have been able to do. totally different problem with ebola, although the event that occurred in west africa was also not predicted. i think that event had we had in place systems that are being put in place now, we wouldn't have had the event that we had. we might have had something that's similar to what we are seeing now with a very rapid detection and response to a problem. >> okay. and then i'm going to submit one more question for the record because i have to go. it's more about just general preparedness, i like the idea of sudden testimony that

preparedness is not an event, it's an ongoing process but i do worry about the states having run a lot of table tops for a lot of things. i worry about our overall state and federal working coordination and preparing for a lot of the problems that i think are going to become more and more unfortunate, they are going to be more seen not just here in the united states but threats coming from overseas, so thank you. >> thank you so much, senator booker. senator peters. >> thank you for your testimony today. i concur with my colleagues. these are serious threats and we appreciate your dedication to it. in addition to being on the homeland security committee here, i also serve on the commerce committee. i'm currently working with

gardner on a group that's going to be reauthorizing the america competes act. from my perspective, if we are going to increase our biodefense preparedness and work on counterdiseases which can work as threat or nationally, that we need to fund basic science research and consider it both a national and really a homeland security priority for us. last year in a hearing examining the blue-ribbon study panel, this committee heard that -- report found that investigators are more likely to engage in early-stage research versus private sector focus on specific product goals and user needs and this was a cause for ebola medical countermeasures not to be able when they were needed. when looking at the america compete act the group examined global funding and found that private investment in the united

states correlates very closely with government and investment. when government investment in r&d shrinks the private sector pulls back as well. and yet federal r&d spending has fallen below 1% of gdp, which i believe is unacceptable for our future and important for biodefense as well as seed corn for innovation. i'm a big supporter of robust federal funding for basic research and can contribute to the next big thing, whatever the next big thing but also sparks new industries, creates jobs, builds the economy but as discussing today prepares

biodefense preparedness as well. first to dr. hatchchet and dr. reddk you explain how you make sense of where we are, where our needs are and what you would like to see? >> yes, thank you for that question. just to be clear, so i am acting director of research authority as our name implies, we work in the area of advanced research and development and we understand that term. it means -- when we were working these are medical countermeasure that is have reached the clinical stage of development and many of the problems relate to the testing of the product as well as scaling up manufacturing and working up manufacturing issues to we can be able to produce the product at large scales. we have to depend on our -- our colleagues at the national institutes of health and the department of defense to fund that basic research. we don't fund basic research,

and it's very important for us to coordinate our efforts within so that as they cultivate products and bring products forward in the early stages of development, we are ready to transition those products to advance development n. the case of the ebola vaccines, and ebola therapeutics for that matter, it's been one of the threat that is the homeland security has identified and had been moving those countermeasures forward through the development cycle. when the ebola epidemic started in 2014, none of those products had reached the stage where our organization was -- that they were ready to be developed by our organization within a very short span of time, within about a year we believe able to transition 12 products that from

preclinical development to advance development, and many of those products have been tested in west africa. we do have a strong system as it relates to biodefense. i couldn't agree with you more about the importance of basic research. >> thank you. thank you. dr. redd. >> yes, sir, if we had a panelists from nhi you'd have a good description of the proportion of basic research and the proportion of applied research and application, so we do some basic researnlg ourself, but our mission is to protect the health of the public and use the tools that are available to make sure they're effective and make sure they're disseminated. we are more on the end-user side of that spectrum. >> i guess the follow-up question is, do you believe that we need to be putting more into basic research as the threats need to be developing and in some ways at accelerating rate? we are probably doing ourselves

disservice if we don't put more resources in the foundal level -- foundational level of science? >> i think we do. and some of those kinds of questions are difficult -- >> not possible to answer at the basic level. >> all right. any of the other panelists that would like to weigh? >> yes. >> sure. at the department of homeland security we had science department and it's critical to helping the department meet the needs of a shake hoeders whether they are first-responders, helping make improvements and relies on a diverse university program as well at the centers of excellence to help us meet those needs and just recently we have been talking about ebola, some basic understanding that has significant ramifications of biodefense have to be answered still. one of the questions is how

persistence and how long does it remain infectious. one of the studies with our partners is trying to understand what does it do on a car pet of an airplane or surfaces that employees might encounter in the airport. this kind of basic research has real serious implications for our day-to-day operations so it's been critical. >> all right, thank you. appreciate it, thank you very much. >> thank you, senator peters. looking at the list of folks, they may come back. next on the list senator ernst. maybe next for us. then senator portman. >> thank you, gentlemen, for being with us today. this question is for anyone on the panel, please. and i want to follow up on a question that was asked earlier by ranking member harper.

one of the blue ribbon is implementation of biodefense strategy. and as the blue-ribbon panel -- excuse me, blue-ribbon study panel concluded, u.s. in biological threats and it's critical that the administration apply comprehensive strategy. could mr. currie or anyone on the panel speak of this recommendation? >> our recommendations have been very similar to blue-ribbon panel's recommendations.

one of the reasons it's so difficult to do this, this links to the recommendation of providing the vice president with authority to do this, is because it has to come at a level that's above the cabinet and the department level because departments cannot tell other departments what to do. it's very difficult to -- it's very, very difficult to allocate resources between the departments and identify resources priorities, deciding we wantless resources in one department than the other. that's exactly why a national strategy across the federal government is so important but it's very difficult to do. >> we understand the difficulty but also the importance and necessity of doing that. >> thank you for the question. while the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response has not developed strategy described in that report, i do think it's important to point out that they

did lead the development of a national health strategy, the first national health strategy was completed in december of 2009 and updated version of the strategy was completed in december of 2014. the national strategy is a broader strategy. it doesn't just like at biodefense, it focuses on securing the security as the title implies. it has five major strategic objectives, community that is are capable to responding to incideepts of all kinds including bio-defense related threats. third is to promote comprehensive situation. decision makes can respond appropriately. fourth is to promote integration of public

health, health care and emergency management systems at different levels of government, and the last strategic object i have to promote global house security so we can address issues like the ebola epidemic. we did work with stakeholders and other agency partners. >> that's wonderful. great first step. thank you very much for being here. how do we integrate information about animal and human health without creating or perpetuating misunderstandings and fear among consumers both here at home and abroad? we do see this where perhaps the chinese or other governments will push away any commodities, produce that they feel, you know, might do them harm or they can make that up. so your thoughts on that.

>> i think one thing that's very important and we work with our colleagues in the human health side to be clear about the science. a very good example was what was being called the swine flu in 2009 where we should have called it by the proper name novel n1h1. industry in iowa was put in real disadvantage because of fear of an influenza that really shouldn't have been only attributed to swine. we work on a daily basis to make sure that the messages go back and forth. >> very good. and also you've spoke about the swine flu. we can talk about the aviant

flu, but go ahead. >> there's some robust communication that is go on between these -- within our center we also have a liaison within the usda and proves to be critical. and in one case just last fall, we are seeing news reports come up about resurgence of influenza that were not accurate. working through the national wildlife center, also with the department of interior as well our colleague at usda, we are really able to push through those agencies and able to tamp down these stories and preventing a story from gaining legs that could have economic consequences, and so i think the one health approach is so critical to everything that we do and we need to continue to

bridge this divide. >> great. yes. >> just briefly to support the administrator here, we have a very intense scientific interchange with usda on influenza and also for food-born diseases. there are some pockets of just very, very close collaboration. very good. i appreciate that so much. and we spoke about this earlier, we heard about it earlier, but as you know, last year the poultry sector was rocked by the aviant influenza or hpai commonly called the bird flu. this was def straiting -- devastating in iowa. it was one of the worst born-animal diseases in our nation's history and the livestock sector is also regularly impacted by these diseases and they struggle to

control them. it's not inconceivable that an inintention actor could introduce a dangerous and contagious pathogen to mess with our security. to that end, what is the usda doing to prepare with the terror of bioterrorism. >> i'm very much interested in your answer. senator portman has a dead stop. if you can just yield for a moment. >> thank you, senator, and thank you senator carper. this is an important area. i have a number of questions that i'm going to be submitting from the record. probably to each of you, at least the three of you as i see there. i want to focus on one issue dr.

dr. hatchet. my understanding is the way in which someone becomes contagious with ebola creates a health problem in and of itself whereas with zika it's not transmitted person to person, however, transmitted from mosquitoes to people very easily. i just wonder what you can do to leverage our assets including one in ohio, it's the air lift wing there that provides area spring for our country. they do incredible work and work with regard to oil spills and also work with regard to mosquito infestations. do they have a role where we can see unfortunately a movement from latin america up to the united states? >> thank you for that question. sector control is what you are

refer to go in terms of controlling mosquito population. it's an area that cdc has responsibility for. if i can yield to my colleague and let him answer your question. >> it's hard to give a global answer to that question. the very ability of mosquito-controlled districts in the u.s. is remarkable, some localities have really finally honed enterprises. i think that there could be a role for that air wing in location that is don't have the capabilities and need it, one of the places that we think it's important that the zika outbreak is pointing out is the need to really revitalize those mosquito control efforts. not only for contract but really just to understand what's going on, that part of what those mosquito-controlled districts is capture mosquitoes and we just don't have the information that we need right now to -- in the

u.s. to make best decisions. >> thank you, dr. redd. i want you to know that it's ready and willing and do outstanding work and a way to leverage to assets to address a real potential biological issue that we are currently facing such as we did with ebola over the last couple of years. thank you. >> senator ernst. >> thank you, i will submit questions for the record. i have a stop also. >> i would like to hear the answer. it's a great question. just brief. >> bioterrorism efforts. >> we work close with homeland security and border protection that does inspections of things that come into the country. that's our first line of defense looking for things. after that, what's important is

finding the outbreak quickly and so surveillance is really the key. we have surveillance on farms, in markets, feed lots, everywhere, surveillance not only comes from usda but more abundantly from people and when they find a disease, they are duty-bound to report that to us. the key is surveillance and prevention, keep the things out of the country. some other things are going in the course of dhs, they are developing countering measures at the center, soon to be relocated, but they are working very hard to find countermeasures, detection methods and all these things are in place now. >> and just to follow up with that, then, as we preparing for potential incidents, is it

important to have stockpiles of vaccinations or other veterinary supplies then to safeguard? >> absolutely. we do have a veterinary stockpile but not robust enough to handle a huge outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. we don't have a huge stockpile of some of the others. >> senator mccaskill. >> thank you. >> i understand there was threat to determination process that include nongovernmental experts. these determinations are, in fact, the guidelines that dhs considers a particularly chemical biological or raidiolo

raidiological. my question to you, doctor, is anyone on the committees associated with any of the companies that are actually getting the funds for the research and development for possible countermeasures? >> i'm -- the science and technology decorate is the organization that runs risk assessments and risk assessments. while i have been involved in the process i'm not knowledgeable as to the membership that they rely on when they put together those. >> if you would get that for the record, that would be helpful. i've had a hearing on this in previous years with the person that you just referenced and was frustrated with what i thought, and i'm going to go into that a little bit because i think it's relevant to the hearing today

about what we are warehousing and why and what we are spending money on. if you look at the funding decisions and the priorities and the trade-offs, we spent 1.4 billion on anthrax countermeasures alone. two of the investments were for anthrax. we also bought 10 million doses of viothrax. we bought that vaccines in 2005 and then we bought another 18.75 million doses two years later. now, all of that money is -- i understand, you have to spend money to be prepared even if you don't use it. i get that. it appears to me that anthrax investment is crowding out other measures in terms of funding, and i would like someone to

address that because while we had one anthrax attack, it seems to me that the covered is bare in a lot of other areas where we need to have bioshield funds being used and i would appreciate for someone to address that specially when dr. lorie, basically said that it's therapeutic to potentially could be effective against an antibiotic anthrax infection. there wasn't certainty that it would be. dr. hatchet. >> thank you for your question. i will try to be brief and address all of them. with respect to the anthrax antitoxin, we do have very limited and we do have three

license and fda -- anthrax is one of our top threats and we have made substantial investments to secure the nation against future anthrax attacks. to address your question about whether it's crowding out other products, i have to say it's not. we as the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and respond are the rewards of shield funding. over the last 12 years, we have added 17 products to the strategic national stockpile using bioshield funding, but also antivirals, drugs and treatments for radiation, acute

radiation syndrome, chemical nerve agents and most recently we have added four products to address the risk of thermal burns. we have a number of new product that is we will be prooccurring this year. we al adding -- anticipate adding as many as five new products. only two of those are for anthrax but they also include treatment for smallpox and we may add five new products next year. we have been able to built a diverse against threats. >> does the smallpox include imavune. >> we have purchased significant amounts of imavune over the last

years. >> is there a problem there's no apparent use for this vaccines at this time, in fact, seven years after procurement it's not recommended, the advisory group, world health organization is not recommended for emergency use? >> i would respectfully disagree with the statement that has no use, was created to be a vaccines that we could give to persons who had relative smallpox vaccines. a substantial number of people who could have severe reaction to the other available smallpox. >> that makes sense. i'm just concerned when the world health organization growns -- groups of experts noted that it was not recommended for

emergency use and we've sent 650 million on it, i hope that would raise the hackles that sits in this year trying to figure out what's going on, why are we spending that kind of money when clearly there's real questions about efficacy and safety? >> we have effective spok -- stockpiles of vaccines. the potential concern about the imavune is that id -- it requires two dozes. for persons that have been exposed to smallpox there's no and given three or four days it can protect those who have been exposed to smallpox.

.. >> support approval of the product including support for nonclinical, clinical and manufacturing as well as funds for licensing and approval. this was our baby.

well, then we had to turn around and buy it from a for 3,000 a dose. most people don't understand that. why we would pay for the development of the drug and then pay 3,000 the pop for the drug after we paid to develop it. >> the pricing is complex. because these products do not have commercial markets we have to provide the sustaining revenue that will allow for the manufacturing base to remain intact. the price you quoted is clearly in the middle of the range. there are dozens of therapeutics, and the prices for those products range from slightly less to

substantially more. i would argue that it is a fair price. >> have we explored if it would be cheaper to do this ourselves? you know, we are paying them to develop the drug and then we are the only customer and continue to pay them. it seems like we are guaranteeing a profit for something that is wholly owned by the government. >> if i could say that we do look at different business models for how we support countermeasures, and a related domain we have the smaller market failure problem in the thinking through different approaches and how far it would like the private sector to carry and potentially what we may

have to ensure we have those proximally need them which might include the scenario that you mentioned. confirming your question initially you talked about the shelf life of products. it does have a total lifecycle cost containment initiative. whenwhen you look at the products that we are developing, trying to find ways to reduce long-term care cost. you mentioned the smallpox vaccine, the development of a lyophilized version of that product. >> that's terrific. >> and we're doing that across the board. see how we can reduce those costs. >> i am involved in an investigation where a guy figured out there was a limited market for certain drug i went out and bought it and jack the price up.

maybe we need to take a page out of his book and jack the price down. maybe we buy cannot figure out what the prices to buy the drug that we paid to develop and continue to manufacture it ourselves and drive the cost down because now we are taking out the profit from our investment. i do not quarrel with a private company being able to make money off their investment, but it seems weird that we are making the investment and then they profit. that is the kind of deal any businessman would like to get. >> we are always looking at ways we can be better stewards. we recognize our responsibility and that we do provide a great deal. >> i would love you take a look at that. i'm not sure this makes sense to the taxpayers.

>> thank you, mr. chair. >> i want to come back just briefly and follow-up with respect to avian influenza outbreak. hit hard. turkey. and we saw that happen before november 2014, june of last year. we fully expected on the east coast. and it just has not happened. and we have done pretty good on bio security. what you think we have escaped this blow? >> all of the scientists will tell me that it is all speculative. some of the reasons seem to be something like, the virus circulating may have mutated to a less virulent form and

therefore when they are dropping the virus it simply not catching on like it did last year. so that is one possibility. another possibility is that the virus security has improved, and it has dramatically. bio security is much better. so those are some of the things that seem to have led to it. >> i don't know who to ask. talk to us about how the difference or similarity between when a bullet is transmitted as compared to the virus? >> i will start with zika. mosquitoes, sexual transmission command blood transfusion.

there is no instance where that has occurred, but it is a possibility. ebola is not transmitted by mosquitoes, can be transmitted through sexual transmission, but its primary route is contact. coming into physical contact with the body or secretions from multiple i and then direct contact. the cdc announced them as we described earlier, the zika virus is now purported to be a source of significant brain damage to developing fetuses. there are a lot of consequences that flow from that. would you take a minute or two to talk to us about what actually happens to the brain -- and this happens

all over. what is actually happening? and what is the capability? if the child is born alive, what are some of the consequences? >> a couple of points. this declaration is not changing. one of the reasons to make this declaration was to make it easier to move quickly and particularly to take away any of the confusion that people might have when there deciding whether or not this put insect repellent on. there is no question that those preventive measures are important to prevent something confirmed. what happens when a fetus is infected is the brain is infected. that was one of the early

findings, actual microscopic slides can see brain tissue and virus right there. well we think happens is that the brain actually because of this infection shrinks so that you have a normal fetus with an infection. that is what causes the small heads. it is actually, even though the term microcephaly just mean small head, the severe cases, the very particular kind of malformation, very, very rare up until this point where the plates of the skull of the fetus are actually overlapped and that is not part of the regular.

it is actually a very specific finding. even though there is evidence for the cause, there are many questions, and you pointed out several. every pregnant woman who gets bitten as this severe, adverse effect command we do not know why that is. there is a likelihood that there is a certain time for pregnancy that is the greatest risk. we also suspect that there are other adverse events that can occur, which is typical of other birth defects. it is rarely a single thing. we don't really have good information. firstly have any idea to what degree the baby is born with this disease that you describe comparability to function?

>> it depends on the severity which is the question. for the ones that are severely affected, right at the time of birth, that is the extreme. and i think you can go down the line, they're may be much less findings in right now will look like normal births. >> last question, what good can you give to people who will be traveling to other parts of the country's and their concern? >> our advice that is expanded to include more places, if you are pregnant it's probably not a good idea to go. if you do go, use mosquito prevention measures, and effective insect repellent,

insecticide underclothes, long sleeves a light-colored clothing and do what you can to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. >> thank you. >> thank you all. just really quick, there is only one species. is that your? >> there is one vector that is presumed to be the dominant. eightys egypt i is not to be the predominant. thought to possibly also be a vector. >> what is the status of the program they used to genetically modified mosquitoes or reduce the population? >> i will have to you back to you with specifics on that. there is a programmatic approach indoor residual and outdoor residual that is

being used in puerto rico for pregnant women to prevent mosquitoes, killing mosquitoes right there. also bring larva sides and potential breeding spaces and removing potential breeding spaces. there are number of experimental, less widespread uses. in all of this we need to learn the effectiveness of these measures because this is a difficult mosquito manatt to kill an individual level, but to ensure there are enough being killed to reduce transmission. >> anyone else speak to the status? experimental at best. when a close out the hearing go down the panel. based on the blue ribbona blue-ribbon panels conclusion that we don't have a strategy or any kind of functioning leader here for budgetary as well as

operationally, you are involved in these organizations that have a very well-defined strategy. organizations that don't. where you also note. so i want to give your evaluation. if you are saying, you agree , you don't have to say a whole lot more. quickly tell me what the disconnect is in terms of what jail and the panel is talking about my lack of strategy and coordination. i will start with you. >> thank you. i think the problem is tremendously far-reaching. and a stretches to all sectors of society and essentially all parts of government. within the domain that we work in all public health and medical preparedness response, i feel that we do

have strong strategies for mechanisms and added structures in place to respond. >> i think there is a powerful process to make the kind of changes being proposed. that follows the legislature and executive branch and is a recommendation and needs to be looked at carefully. >> i certainly agree. so many great things are going on. though still be brought together. >> sure. >> i think that we are taking to heart the blue-ribbon panel in trying to implement as many as possible. i think there are strong strategies and coordination methods. we touched on a few today.

we will never be done. one of the things that strikes me, we were talking about interagency coordination, connect the dots mother was one anecdotal story that someone stood up and said i thought we would do this after pearl harbor. this is aa task that is never done and we will always have to striking grow >> come from a manufacturing background. just a final comment. the gentleman here, there is a strategy for assessment. >> the strategies important. i want to take away from the efforts. public health strategy, the closest thing. if i had to now one key thing that is not being done it is this idea of being

able to prioritize investment and effort. within each area you can do that because the agency departments have control. >> of the agencyat the agency level you think you're doing a good job prioritizing. it is that top-down allocation of resources. thank you all for your time, testimony. the hearing record will remain open for 15 days until april 29 at 5:00 p.m. this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations]

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> republican presidential candidate campaigning in connecticut today. live coverage in hartford.

>> live coverage tuesday night. join us at 9:00 o'clock eastern for election results candidate speeches and fewer reaction. road to the white house. >> seventy-two of our dalia the the next president of the united states. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> book tv has 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend. on saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern book tv is live from maryland state capitol. in a 7:30 p.m. their book chasing ghosts, the policing of terrorism. on sunday night at 9:00 o'clock afterwards with ellen malcolm discussing her book when women when. looking at the rise of women elected to public office. >> we wanted to raise money and thought if we gave

remain credibility they can go on and raise the additional money needed to win. political venture capitalists. they were the kickstart her. early money will make the dough rise and have been doing so ever sense. >> the complete weekend schedule. >> five representatives of automakers, supply manufacturers and consumer safety advocacy groups. a house energy and commerce subcommittee is looking into the agencies on road in vehicle safety.vehicle safety. this portion of the hearing is one hour.

>> thank you for your time and patients being here today. we will follow the same format as the 1st. summarize the opening statement. for our 2nd panel the following witnesses, president and ceo an alliance of automobile manufacturers. president and ceo. ceo automated recyclers association. jackie julian, president advocates for highway and auto safety. senior vice president and

motor and equipment manufacturers association. we do appreciate you all being with us here today and will begin the panel. your recognized for five minutes summarize your opening statement. >> chairman, ranking member, thank you for the chance to be here today. i do so on behalf of the us, europe, asia. rather than read a prepared statement i thought i would run through some slides. this 1st slide is a 65 new line. fatalities, the roughly 33,000 roughly where we were the online is coming down

about. that is with the cdc describes is a tremendous public health achievement. the gains us far one is changes in behavior. fewer people driving drunk. the 2nd piece of that is the technology focused. moves that yellow line down forward. next line. so a quick summary. as you all no we did significant research last summer. in terms of awareness about 85 percent of the awareness folks have comeau we also

know that there is a relationship in terms of certain factors. more educated you are for the higher the income of the greater the risk perception for the higher the level. the older the edge of the car. the less likely somebody is, and the closer the relationship the more likely somebody is to get it done. find ways to motivate people and we do now mail and e-mail until we're blue in the face. it is not unlike campaigns. sending a message, motivating somebody to behave. it is very tough.

elements of the ecosystem to engage. delighted with the fast act. a really strong idea. those folks engage and when you go in for a renewal or quote those folks notify father focus on the current the. this is a sample. so this is really important. there were 32,625 folks who died in 2014 on the roads. of those 31,479, nothing to

do with the vehicle. 3.7 percent of fatalities related to vehicle factors. motorcycles, light-duty vehicles. 836, 2.6 percent were vehicle factors, light-duty vehicles. of that, roughly two thirds were accidents related to vehicle maintenance factors. under 1 percent 2014 related to the vehicle. the other part down there. very hard to see relates to the age of the car. 5 percent of fatalities. those same portion is 27 percent.

the cars that are older than ten years represented 75 percent, and just 26 percent. so obviously a very direct relationship. i will skip to the next line so as he talked about the future and technology in the tools necessary to drive safety, there is a question about what happens. a revolution with autonomy on evolution toward autonomy. and the benefits you are crew accrue immediately. the environmental benefits, national security, reduced use of fuel. the fact, the benefits that you don't get, the last line , if you look at market

factor, examine future, this is a study that was done by movies about a week ago. this is their estimate about self driving cars. in 2020 self driving cars. in 2030 they deem it to to become common. in 2035 they deem it to become standard. in 2045 it's the majority. in 2055 they deem it to be ubiquitous. ubiquity. along the way we have technologies like automatic braking will have a huge impact on the social benefits. we have an enormous opportunity to make fantastic safety gains when the focus on technology is one where we are moving forward. the administration has done exactly that.

>> the chair thanks the gentleman. the gentleman yields back. >> thank you. ranking member, thank you for the opportunity to testify. represent international automobile manufacturers. members directly employ well over 100,000 americans and silver 40 percent of all new vehicles. the companies are improving the safety of vehicles on the road today and revolutionizing mobility. automakers are competing seriously and taking the lead to introduce innovative technologies that address and solve problems. i've submitted written testimony in which i discuss these matters in more detail. help drive life-saving technologies and the marketplace. first i would like to update the committee on actions taken. the recent tragedy has shown that we must continue to

work to reach every affected customer and fix every vehicle. since we last met the decisive action to investigate what we think is an important idea addressing through the vehicle registration process. we requested appropriators fully fund the pilots, have been encouraging states to look at this and urge the release for requested proposals to get the process started. industry is been working hard to complete the takata recall by employing new methods beyond what is required by law to find, inform,find, informed, and encourage others to bring new vehicles in for repair at participating remedy programs. industry is reached out to insurance companies asking for their help.

in january automakers joined with the department of transportation to announce. we are working to share best practices and to examine ways to better identify potential safety risks earlier. together we have made substantial progress. but we have more to do. innovation is already producing significant benefit. there are two critical near-term priorities to accelerate innovation and dramatically improve our safety. first, the federal government needs to take a leadership vehicle automation. throw policymakers have long recognized the public benefit of national motor vehicle safety standards allow manufacturers to bring the latest advances in

safety to consumers in all 50 states. a patchwork of local and state laws will almost certainly slow. for instance, what happens in the automated vehicle meets the design criteria for one state but not another. is the vehicle band from crossing the state line? the federal government must quickly expand its leadership role to ensure the development of policies that foster rather than inhibit innovation. secondly, the federal government must help accelerate the change in benefits that will come. moving the proposed vehicle to vehicle move forward will create an interoperable standard so that all cars can communicate with each other and the infrastructure to warn drivers of dangers and ultimately avoid crashes. after more than aa decade of research and development and significant investment by the public and private sector this technology is being tested on public roads

and is ready for widespread deployment. government support must ensure about theboth the vehicle standard is established and that access to the dedicated spectrum free of harmful interference is maintained with clear rules and vision will flourish. exciting developments in creating tremendous benefits and yet bring challenges that must be addressed. i believe that collaboration is the key to ensuring the benefits of these technologies reach consumers. there is no one single approach to achieve this goal. 's work together to develop and use the right tools in the highway. thank you for the opportunity to testify, and i look forward to your questions. >> chairman, ranking member, members of the subcommittee, appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today. dedicated to the utilization

and represents interest of over 4500 and the united states reached a silver 500,000 recycling parts. these are designed by automobile manufacturers and built to meet their requirements. these parts are utilized and continue to operate as originally intended. i come before you with appreciation for the congress providing the industry with access to parts data on all recalled parts and to discuss the important steps that must be taken to implement the provision. the language does not provide access, it does signify the importance of enhancing consumer safety.

the goal of 100 percent remedy rates for safety recalls and it had numerous discussions with the administrator and staff. not have any conversations on this issue, however we believe we have provided the agency with significant insight into the data that must be made available to address consumer safety concerns. leadership stands ready. specific data requirements need to be addressed to ensure. in my comments i will address three main issues. first, recycling. necessary to specifically identify manufacturers with affected parts in the supply chain. the data on part names, descriptions, numbers must

be tied to specific numbers for recyclers to be able to identify affected parts. the relationship enables process and method data. it is only with access to specific numbers tied to standardize part information that the commercial inventory management system providers and operators have the ability to develop software that can automatically identify parts in the inventory or identify the vehicles prior to the purchase. however, mapping each recall campaign, the system providers to determine it is so time-consuming. secondly, no new government

database needs to be developed. already required by statute. included in the quarterly report. currently the statute requires to continue to be available online as part of the manufacturing recall. it requires them to submit the notification reports. manufacturers already submit quarterly reports that may only involve a modest timely access the data fields within the reports. providing these reports is unacceptable. the implementing language must embrace information technology resulting in

processing methods based on the relationship between abandoned part. vehicle manufacturers themselves with the refusal to grant access points to a monopolymonopoly on critical safety information that puts consumers at risk. it is no longer a matter of letting manufacturers decide whether it suits their business model. it is a consumer safety concern. it is important that address the scope of data. to effectively address the requires manufacturers to limit the recall, automakers must be required to cover

the 252 recall campaigns. it is only through recalled parts that they can come together to help improve recall remedy rates and effectively address the recall remedy requirements enacted 15 years ago. i am thankful for the attention and thank you. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. >> thank you very much. jackie gill. i appreciate the opportunity to testify before you.

the good news is that we have solutions in hand. there is an unfinished and overdue safety objective which is attention and action by congress. i like to briefly highlight several needed improvements. the grim statistic comes at a time when americans are also facing a record number of recalls her vehicle safety which has been mentioned repeatedly. exacerbated by the disturbingly low rate. however, the most effective and direct solution can be summed up in one word. must identify safety problems sooner and take corrective action immediately. millions of vehicles are under recall today, one out of five registered vehicles. for years from the public.

now consumers must bear the burden. [inaudible] important role making's required by congress. they must focus on how well

they were doing. there are many map 21 requirements that are overdue, some by more than a year. in 2014 to improve occupant protection. in addition motorcoach fires are frequent, often times fatal and yet completely preventable. been ignoring repeatedly ntsb recommendations about strategies and rules that can be implemented to address prior prevention which needs to change. another top priority. again, delayed conducting rulemaking is required by congress that affect the safety of all of our children. rules requiring simple reminders and improving the lab system for proper child restraint purdue last

october. also, as you mentioned, millions of children riding in the back seat are needlessly at risk, but there are solutions available. no need for a child to die when inadvertently left behind in a vehicle or because the seatback fails in a crash that kills her seriously injures a child. it is time to issue rules requiring technology to alert adults and to update the seatback strength standard issued in 1967. unfortunately this did not adopt important safety solutions that are still needed and contained. early morning reporting requirements.

they also believe you have been a driverless cars holds great promise. federal oversight, minimum performance standards as well as transparent or verify data are essential. consumers should not be guinea pigs, and we cannot be a passive spectator. signed in past and allow the national motor vehicle safety law to protect the public against unreasonable risk of accidents occurring. in new line principles have not changed, but in order for the agency to fulfill statutory mission made sufficient resources and the strong resolve to use enforcement authority to protect the public. thank you very much.

>> the chair thanks the gentle lady. i had a phonetics filling in front of me which i followed. >> no need to worry. my staff misspelled. your in good company. >> you are recognized for five minutes for an opening statement. >> serve senior vice president. manufacturers association. in the inmate represents manufacturing components. develop and manufacture aftermarket parts, service

maintained and repaired, 256 million vehicles on the road today. the largest supplier manufacturing jobs in the united states directly employing over 700,000 a year. developing advanced transformative technologies, safer, smarter, and more efficient. ultimately about two thirds of value. working closely to provide cutting-edge systems and components. today i wanted to focus on the benefits. there are many ranging from passive to active.

to avoid or mitigate vehicle crashes. combined to provide the opportunity for significant reduction of fatalities and injuries. in 2015 we put out a report. last year testified before subcommittee to provide immediate safety benefits that can virtually eliminate traffic fatalities. 30 percent, 10,000 life saved annually.

the market penetration is growing at two to 5 percent annually. driver error is by far a leading factor, significant risk opportunity. recognize the importance of the direction to include trash avoidance technologies. shortly after passage they announced. the purpose of this enhancement is to expand the program by including for the 1st time crash avoidance, mitigation technologies and pedestrian safety. they convinced congress to take this may just the forward. collaboration is key to the success.

even though it is a voluntary nonregulatory program it has a substantial impact on how the design future vehicles. in addition, they provide information to the consumer. a variety of other tactics utilized to achieve the overarching goal. we support the volunteer agreement to make breaking equipment standard. additionally, we strongly believe another key element is the expansion of development, most notably the european union. these efforts do not equate to a lower standard of safety, rather a strong system to address the safety

technologies. committed to motor vehicle safety. as the industry moves forward we believe they have the potential. outsource the agency to actively engage in the harmonization. the completion of testing standards and regulations. providing greater access to safety technology. >> i thank you all for your testimony. we will now move to the question portion of the hearing. >> thank you. good morning and almost afternoon to you all. i believe i heard you say

that fatalities are increasing. >> recently released data showing that comparing the 1st three quarters of 2014 in the 1st three quarters of 2015, number 9 percent increase in motor vehicle fatalities. and that represents one of the largest jumps. and so it is really significant which is the reason we need to focus on the programs and strategies. >> i am looking at your chart. >> that is because they are not official membership. we do know that the aggregate number has risen

beyond. so there is a delta that is disconnected which is concerning. what we don't know is the cost. we won't really know. passengers, drivers. we have seen some early clues. pedestrian motorcycles and there was a spike, but we won't no until the full data set comes out. live in the zero defect world 99 percent of the fatalities we are addressing , so the question is, cope with the 1 percent.

we have to find a way to deal with the preponderance of the problem. the good news is that technology brings that possibility. the ability to avoid accidents will save thousands of lives. thefaster we can implement the technology to better off. >> according to your chart 1,196, as i understand it. related to vehicle factors. >> correct. >> what is defects and one is maintenance. if you have an improperly inflated tire. >> i'm sure this is still a matter of speculation. to the increased fatality,

andcommand i will ask ms. gillan placated be based upon factors such as texting, for example? i'll give you an actual response. every day i drive to work. it takes me about an hour. as a focus on my driving i like to see what the other guys doing and see a lot of folks looking down at their home -- at the phone. if you watch people more often than not. >> i see one in the hallways of congress. >> it involves people a generation younger than uri. bumping into me as their texting and not looking where there going.

if you would like to respond >> we need to attack this problem. looking at improving the behavior of the driver. we just put out this report. however, the other part of the equation is also the issue of driving safer cars. the former president of mad said, the best defense against a drunk driver is a safe car. the problem is, we have seen the people are getting two or three notices. >> thank you. my time is expiring. >> the chair thanks the gentleman.

>> members -- in february the center for auto safety file lawsuit alleging the department of transportation failure. >> am having a hard time. >> let me try again. in february the center for auto safety file a lawsuit against dot alleging the failure to publish online was a violation. dot issued a federal register notice thing that it would begin posting online. conveniently they started appearing yesterday. here is my question, members

of this committee drafted and pushed hard. i know this might sound rhetorical, but should it have taken a lawsuit start posting that information? is this a pattern we should worry about? >> yes, and there is an issue closer to home. rearview cameras. that is also an issue where finally and 2008 we get legislation passed requiring rearview cameras as standard equipment. because of the legislation and tenacious advocacy we ended up having to file a lawsuit. so we are kind of safe with all of these roadblocks. we can get the agency to issue the rules.

i have given examples in my testimony. finally, we have to resort to litigation. public interest groups handled the case, but it really is unnecessary for the very common sense and important rules and regulations that consumers want. >> and let me point out in terms of rear visibility, that law passed in 2008. and so finally in 2018 we will see that standard. so i wanted to ask you, we talked a bit about recalls. 2015 was another record-setting year. more than 51 million vehicles were recalled.

dr. rose time they said publicly that the diligence and pursuing automakers is part of why recalls have gone up rather than just an increase in the number of defects. perhaps that is partly the case. because of the recent high-profile recalls the industry is more willing to go to recall faster to get ahead of the story. do you agree? >> well, i think as i said in my testimony, we supported legislation which remove the on civil penalties. i think that you have gm, takata feeling that they could ignore the law and produce cars that were faced with defects. .. i think that while, you know, i

support what mitsa is doing but i think we need a tough cop on the beat. i think a lot of the issues -- we got technical service bulletins published but there is an issue with transparency still. i heard from another board member that they are still trying to get documents out of them. it is still a difficult process for consumers to get that information. i will tell you if you look back on those three examples consumer groups paid a big role in exposing those problems. that is the importance of having this information available so we can be a cleck on what is going on also -- check. >> thank you for that. a number of people brought up in january that minhtsa woulincrea

voluntary standards. >> they are forcible. when when a consumer going in a showroom they don't know if they are meeting that standard. they are done in secret without public input from stakeholders and result in the lowest common denominator of industry practice and discourage innovation. >> my time is up. we will leave it at that. >> chair recognizes the gentlemen from texas mr. olsen five minutes for questions, please. >> thank you, my good friend and our chairman. welcome to all of our witnesses. i do not intend to ask any question but i want to deliver a plea from home. on march 31st, two weeks ago

today, huma honey was heading home from high school, turned on the street from her neighborhood and tapped the car infront -- in front of her. a minor fender bender. her airbag sent a piece of shrapnel the size of a nickel into her neck and she died in her own car with her seatbelt on. she was 17 years old. here is a photo of the accident scene. i drove to see where huma died herself. it was so close to my home. eight turns through seven traffic lights and three stop signs and i was there.

it is hard to believe a young girl could die right there in such a minor collision. i know that there has been a lot of progress in getting recalled cars in for repair. right now about 70%. that is great. but i also know and worry about another huma being out there. i know that we cannot quit at 70%. we cannot quit until the number is 100% of a cars are repaired with a defect like this. i wish i could tell you i have achieved this. i can't. but i know that working together we can achieve our goals. that starts by acting on the pr

promise at the start of my comments. it comes from huma's brother's short video: that is a county sheriff there and that is her brother. hear my voice. the machine is not working properly right now. not today.

that is the part lodged in her neck right there. about the size of a nickel. that works. >> curoded artery. a piece of the metal fragment was found lodged in her neck. it was this large like this. >> regardless of whether or not you receive a recall notice if you have a car with a defective airbag get it fixed before you lose a loved one. that is all i wanted. >> get out there and make sure people know if they drive a vehicle in america log on to safercar.gov and check out the car online and make sure you don't drive a defective car.

if you do, let's get it fixed. let's make sure another huma happens again. yield back. >> chair thanks for gentlemen. chair would note he defered his questions for other committee members and i will yield myself for five questions. given what we have just seen, and i guess this is a question for rosekind and bozzella perhaps. i will refer to the slice that you gave us and when you hook at the bottom corner with the stuff that is hard to read, the fatality percentage was 75% in cars that were older than 2005, ten years, and that is 46% of the fleet. that is the challenge because if you look at some of the stuff that mr. rosekind had provided

to us, a compliance with recall notices in that age set of cars that is older than ten years is 15%. so we have got a disconnect there. you said something that intri e intrigued me in your testimony because you talked about your insurance companies. i tried to link up and call through my iphone but i couldn't. but your insurance has your vin number. and one of you mentioned partnering or getting insurance companies involved to help with this. there is an opportunity. they have the data and maybe we can talk to mr. rosekind about the larger datasets being able to go through more easily but that seems like a fix and i know my insurance company that

advertises heavily on tv and says 15 minutes could save you 15% or more everybody knows that. 15 minutes could save your life or your daughter's life. that is pretty important stuff. what can we do to engage our state dmv's and insurance companies there is a way to get the cars in and get them fixed is there not? >> the short answer is yes. we want to see every car fixed. we are trying to steer owners to the information but we have a gap. we are not trying to shift the burden but bring others to the party to help get the job done. it strikes us the dmv and insurance world are the touch points consumers engage with.

they a perfectly natural place to go -- they are -- we have custody of the name when we sell a new car. but often times the 10-11 car has been resold multiple times. so the trail goes cold. so the trail is hotter with dmv and with the insurance companies. so we turn to everybody in the ecosystem to say help. >> it seems like there is opportunities there. when you mentioned an insurance company that lept off the page at me because they have your vin number. it is on the card. the state requires you to buy it to drive on their streets. i appreciate the efforts that the automobile manufacturers have made. i have seen full page ads

in "the dallas morning news" i don't doubt you have a vested interest in getting the cars back but there are others in the ecosystem the insurance company has the vin number and it is touched once or twice a year. people go in for an oil change two or three times a year. in my state, we have to get a state inspection and comply with all kinds of things. that is another opportunity. i like your statement of an all-hands on deck proposition. let me ask you because this came up in an interview i was doing with a local television station. they said they had a viewer who had received recall notice and was trying to get her car fixed and there was no part available. how would you address that?

what can we tell her? >> it is a very important question, mr. chairman. at first the customer should call the manufacturer. it is very important the customer call the manufacturer and explain the situation the vehicle is in and listen to the advice and counsel of the company that will tell them what the parts availability situation is. the customer should also reach out to the dealer and get additional information about how the dealer is handling parts. i think these are really very very important questions. i would start very much with calling the manufacturer and asking what that specific manufacturer's situation is. >> here is the real world situation. third or fourth owner. they know the make and model so

do they go to a website? what are the practical steps? they took it to a garage and they said we would like to help you but we cannot get thbecause they are on backorder. >> they can find the 1800 number. they can go to the manufactu manufacturer's website. there is important information at the website and caller assistance lines and consumer assistance lines. i think this is very important in addition to going to safercar.gov. >> i have gone way over time but i want to ask one additional question. we dealt with a problem with an ignition switch a year and a half or two ago.

we don't hear about it much. is that because the problem has been fixed and everybody brought in their cars and got the recall problem fix switched that was shutting off the ignition? why are we not hearing about those defects any more? are we all done? at a hundred percent compliance? >> i don't know the exact compliance rate but i will check into that. >> thank you. i will yield to the gentlemen from kentucky mr. guthrie. >> thank you for being, everybody. you brought update on the sharing and analysis center and how much information sharing is occurring and have any vulnerabilities been detected

through the isack? program? >> it is up and running a. the portal is working. there is an ex change of threat information. we have also began the process of bringing in suppliesuppliers. nhtsa has been briefed. we are making progress. we are also involved in a best-practices effort where the framework has been established already and we will be rolling out more detail by the summer. as dr. rosekind mentioned, there has never been a market cyber attack just yet. but we know it is coming. we are the first industry to get ahead of the curve to establish this before an event occurs. >> anything to add? >> i will ask another question. should cyber vulnerabilities in vehicle be approached

differently than traditional safety defects found in motor vehicles? >> it is an important question. when it is a vulnerability a defect and not a defect. this is something the agency is reviewing and a conversation we are having within the auto motive associations. it does speak to why it is important we extend the cybersecurity best practices framework we announced and build out the cyber best practices. it is critical we design cybersecurity and think about it and act on it throughout the design process, throughout the manufacturing process and ownership process. >> should dealing with cyber issues be treated within the recall system like safety defects? should cyber issues be treated similarly or a separate way to deal with that?

>> i think the short answer is it depends on the circumstances. a vulnerability is not by definition a defect. i think you have to start there. then the question is what is it we are addressing with ward to the systems in the vehicle and and perhaps more broadly. but a vulnerability is not a condition of a defect. >> wouldn't you say everything is somewhat vulnerable. >> when you slash a tire in a car it is not a defective tire but a malicious act. dr. rosekind made the point earlier today that the cybersecurity issue requires m nimbleness and one topic of discussion is how do you manage

change in a world in which technology and innovation is happening very quickly. what dr. rosekind was saying is regulation has not necessarily worked fast enough to dole with the rate of innovation. that is an important case and true here. >> quick question. i am turn to the safety principles and stick with you two. what is the timing for each of these practice ap principles? and are you or companies are regular meetings with nhtsa to cord na accordinate the process? >> we are working with the administrator directly and then more broadly. >>

>> we have been asked my nhtsa and we are drafting our own principles. we have a thousand members so it will take a little longer to review them and we want to reflect the responsibilities of the suppliers and the impact of the after mark. we support the principles that were laid out but we feel like there are other initiatives we think are important. >> ms. wilson, how would that affect auto recyclers? >> lumping us into individual operators after the market space and make sure the cybersecurity is protected. you have other security issues with vehicles at&t that the amount of folks able to work on those vehicles is limited based on those security concerns.

we have to find a way to make sure the independent operators out there that work in that space are not black listed. i think the european union has put in good language to work on that. >> it is the chairman's time if you have a chance to respond if the chairman allows. >> proceed. [mic not working] [inaudible conversation] >> if the chairman allows. >> can i just add one more thing. i know mr. bainwol talked about voluntary standards and with cybersecurity that is a strong

case we don't want voluntary standards because it means just that; you don't have to abide by them. as we enter the world of driverless cars and the fear of cybersecurity problems that is when we need an agency like nhtsa setting the minimum standards so everybody is playing by the same rules and that consumers can be confidant fese are not something one automaker abides by but the other says it is expensive and we don't want to do it. >> i see no other members wishing to ask questions the chair would ask if the gentlelady had more questions? >> i do not and i need to go. >> it came up with the all-hands

on deck nature of this. we heard the emotional testimony from mr. olsen who has lost two constituents now. let me once again stress, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, you have a roll and this data is -- role -- easily accessible. lower left hand is the vehicle identification number. safercar.gov and you can query the database. any time you take your car in for service you should ask the dealer if he queried the

database. it will change. we heard this morning of 30,000 more cars being added. so you cannot just check it the first of the year and be done. you need to check from time to time. perhaps in appropriate interval is when you take your car in for service. this has been an important hearing. i do want to thank all of your witnesses for being here today. before we conclude i would like to submit the following document for the record: a letter from rma, a better to the national dealers auto association, pursuant to committee rules, i remind members they have ten business days to submit additional questions for the record. i forgot i will have a question dealing with the event data recorders in automobiles and the ownership of that data and who has title to that information

this came up doing the uncommanded acceleration hearings and who owns the data in the electronic data recorders and i will submit that for the record. >> i would like to submit for the record the letter that we received from ms. hope and mr. brening. >> i ask witnesses to respond within ten business daze of receiving the question. it has been a good hearing. i advise people to check the nhtsa website. with that this meeting is adjourned.

>> this weekend the c-span city tours hosted by our comcast cable partners takes us to alabama to explore the history and culture of the southern city which is home to the university of alabama. we will learn about the history of the university of alabama in the 1960 with the author of turning the tide; the university of alabama in the 1960s. >> well what the president was trying to do, i think above all, was get the university of alabama away from this party school focus and get it heading

into new direction to become a viable academic institution first in the south and then nationally. it took a while to do that. first thing you had to do was hire faculty. when he became president only a third of the faculty had dene z degrees. we have our shares of some of the finest faculty in the country today. we are attracting student today that could go to harvard and yale and places like that. we lead the country in the number of national merit scholars that come here. >> and on american history tv we will visit the moundville site and learn how the native american culture lived through the 9 to 11th centuries

>> this was the largest city north of mexico and contains the remain of 30 black top mounds. >> we are standing at mound b. this is the largest mound in alabama containing about 112,000 cubic yards of dirt. this would have been where the structure for the highest ranking member of the highest ranking clan would have been. science originally thought they were built by one basket load at a time but recent research indicates the base and possibly the sides of the mound were initially built with sod block which were sealed in with clay. this would give a lot more stability to the structure as they were building it. we know that periodically after the pound was build it would be cast over with different colors of clay so if you sliced into the mound it would resemble a

layer cake. >> watch this saturday at 4 p.m. on c-span2 and sunday at 2:00 p.m. on c-span3. working with cities across the country. a signature feature of booktv is our coverage of book fairs and festivals across the country with non fiction talks, interviews and call-in segments. booktv is live from the maryland state capper -- capitol. we talk to matt by and his book all of the truth is out; the week politics went tabloid. and the book "on my own". race in america with author of the "the b side; living and dying while in black ameri ameriameric

america "and books on author on the subject of drones. go to booktv for the complete weekend schedule. >> tonight on c-span2, a house hearing on the safety of washington, d.c.'s metrorail. the national taxpayer advocate presents their report on customer service test irs. and this a house hearing on the mismanagement of afghanistan reconstructioning projects. the new ceo of the washington, d.c. area transit center testified at a house hearing about safety lapses and it decision to close the entire subway system for 24 hours to conduct safety checks. mark meadows of north carolina