state tax preparers, and we checked in and advanced to see what the right-hander -- what the right answers should be to our tax scenarios. only two of the 19 tax preparers gave us correct answers. some were very off, to the point where they could have cost themselves penalties for themselves as well as the people they were filing for. we also looked at irs data in a three-year period of time and found that paid preparers made errors 62% of the time versus 50% of the time for normal taxpayers filing on their own. it was actually worse. >> what should we do? comm. koskinen: i think you need to get up -- mr. dodaro: i think you need to get the irs authority to assessment. ,hey need to have due process and set the standards and

enforce them. the is a problem because irs's resource levels -- if we are going to rely on paid tax preparers to largely carry out unimportant function -- carry out an important function for the government, we need to make sure they are carrying out their responsibilities, and they can greatly leverage their needities, as opposed to a to beef up the irs. i have worked with some of your colleagues. federalually passed the cyber security enhancement act of 2015. established a program known as the einstein program. it enables national security agencies to identity cyber

threats before they reach our federal agencies. i understand that it is now available to all federal agencies. thatl passed last year also made participation in the program mandatory for all federal civilian agencies. adopt einsteinrs and start receiving its protections. >> we are very familiar with the aretein program, and we scheduled to receive the einstein three equipment this year. there is the issue of implement it. season, i expect we will have it done. sen. carper: like, a year from now? yes, we have to install it, test it, and implemented. it does not get done overnight. sen. carper: that's a lot of

nights. we have three and six to five nights. >> again, -- we have 365 nights. >> again, we are not scheduled, so we have to work out when we will get the equipment. will doper: we everything we can to move you up on the queue. >> thank you, sir. >> senator scott. sen. scott: thank you, mr. chairman. we appreciate your investment of time and energy towards making sure taxpayers' information is as secure as possible. i know firsthand that identity theft is a terrifying thatience, and one all taxpayers have the ability to avoid the reality of.

we have seen too many taxpayers having too much information exposed inappropriately. results. very poor unfortunately, there seems to be a systemic failure of the irs and protecting taxpayer information despite warnings that the irs needed to strengthen and modernize protection of taxpayer information. i have received a number of e-mails from constituents, one from lexington, south carolina, who seemed bewildered at what the irs is doing to protect personal information. i am interested in learning more about what the irs is doing could begrams that successful. other than what has been mentioned, what should be done and can be done? if you could take 60 seconds to share. comm. koskinen: we are doing a

wide range of things. we are getting ready to establish an increased authentication program -- authentication protocol. it will make the system more secure. we are moving to protect the systems with pin cards, so that people can only access e-mails or servers with them. and we have a public relations campaign, going out to taxpayers and give them information on how to protect their data. criminals have been able to masquerade as taxpayers because they already have their information, so we think it is important for individuals to be careful, not get out their social security numbers, not use the same usernames and passwords across the board, because we are all in it together. sen. scott: thank you very much. another issue we have had many

conversations about, and one that should be deeply troubling, ruling last month by the fifth circuit court, basically stop their the irs turnoverdelaying the of their documents. while we spend a lot of time on cyber breaches, the reality is that protecting all taxpayers should be one of our top priorities. has the irs complied with that court order? comm. koskinen: we have complied. we have given the plaintiff's information. they requested names and addresses of the organizations. our strong view was that that was taxpayer information. we had a lot of applications for a lot of things, whether it is private letters or applications,

and often times people do not assume that the application will be made public, so we disagreed with the court, but we have complied because we have that order, but we have only complied with the information specifically in that case, and we have only done it in that case. we have not made a decision about any other case. sen. scott: thank you. sen. hatch: we have to recognize republicans, democrats, senate, house -- and i'm forever getting it wrong. you only missed me by one, and that's no big deal. i am happy to yield to my colleagues. i would like to direct my question to mr. george. employment issue of

related identity theft to the commission or the last time he testified here. i know that there has been a lot of work on this issue. these are cases in which someone uses someone else's identity, their name or their social security number, to get a job illegally. a w-2 form with false information is sent to the irs and the social security administration by their employer . to workf met to try this out. it was a couple of months ago. one,we learned is that, the irs continues to process tax returns with. the u2 information and issues refunds as if they are reaching tax returns, saying, that's not really our job, we are there to process the returns and issue

the refunds, or collect what is overdue. we also learned the irs ignores notifications from the social security administration, that names do not match social security numbers, and you use euros system to determine whether or not a number is valid. we learned that employers are responsible for irs fines and penalties they submit -- from submitting false w-2 information, but the irs is not notifying employers that the information is false. irs identified 2000 and cases related to identity theft last year. yet they did not notify the victims. , that's reallyd not our job. in fact, the iris prevents employees from notifying victims that their information has been stolen. lastly, we learned that when the

of aarks the account victim, it does not notify the social security administration that the victims did not report the income on the w-2. as a result, victims are losing benefits because the social security numbers are not corrected. one, canon to you is, you tell us if this is true on the basis of what we have learned, and tubing, if you do not have the authority to consult with the ssa on a potential fraud and notify each other, do you need the authority to do that? where do we go? i think we can agree that victims need to know that they and they need to an agency of the

federal government ought to have some ability to talk to each other to run a file of one or the other. mr. george: thank you, senator. your assessment is completely accurate. the irs did have a pilot program. that private program ended, so pilotre not -- that program ended, so they are not providing the information. what we are in the process of assessing this issue and expect to issue a report in june of this year. sen. coats: was the pilot program false? did it just not work out at all? mr. george: was it false? no. decision not to continue it, and i don't know whether it was resourced urban

-- resource-driven, or whatever factor was taken into consideration. commissioner? comm. koskinen: as you know, what happens in this situations is they are filing their tax return as an undocumented alien. , they haveund everybody else pay the taxes they own. the question is whether the security number they used to get the job has been stolen. it is not a usual situation. we did run a pilot. whether there is a way we could ofply advise people, a lot times, social security numbers are borrowed from friends and acquaintances and people know they had been used, other times they don't. we are looking at the most effective way to deal with this not filinging people their taxes. i would be delighted to have us

get back to you with more details on exactly where we are. in some cases, there may be a need for more statutory authority, because we are very sensitive to protecting taxpayer information on both sides, but we would be delighted to give you the update on what we have learned and what we might do going forward. i just want to add that there was a bill introduced called the social security identity defense acts that would that wouldthe irs -- eequire the irs to inform th social security agency whether or not a fraudulent number had been used. dom. koskinen: we advise taxpayers that their social security number is in the hands of criminals. what we are talking about here is a case of people filing taxes -10 when it is clear

that used a social security number to get a job. but in other cases, we sent out you should take whateverletters actions you should to protect that information. preparer who is fully certified just sent to me an e-mail saying -- asking if i would prefer to have my tax returns filed electronically or by paper? how am i safer? paper, itu file in takes longer to process and get your refund. we get fraudulent paper returns. it is not as though the criminals do not fire -- file paper as well.

as noted, it does give us the ability to track patterns more easily. it is part of the data we share with the private sector. our if you is to file electronically. >> any other answer would probably flood your agents the with a lot of paperwork. i will do it electronically, i hope it works. thank you, senator. >> thank you mr. chairman. i think all of our witnesses with regard to the integrity of the system. we are very concerned above the recent warming that was given to maryland, virginia, and d.c. taxpayers regarding phishing scams. unsuspecting taxpayers information being used to compromise their privacy and financial integrity. i will go with the commissioner, can you update us

as to the status of that particular concern and whether there still should be a high alert in our region with regard to this scam? something everyone should be aware of is all of the possible scams out there. phone scams where people call you and pretend to be from the irs and threaten you. we work with the id very closely on that. there are fishing expeditions of all kinds masquerading coming financial institutions or the irs seeking information or personal information. a lot of times you will receive a note saying your accounts are frozen, click here to unfreeze your accounts. no institution would do that. we have had a couple of new ones this year. private sector companies where it appears to be an e-mail from the ceo asking for personal employees turns

out to be a fishing expedition. no one is asking legitimately for any personal information like social security numbers online or on the phone. theshould neither click on link or provide that information. >> do you know why this has been geographically in this region? >> we do not. we know that id theft florist in florida. ranave a pilot program that in florida, georgia, and the district of columbia. why those are the regions where more identity theft, we do not know. it is not unusual for a permutation on that scam or scheme to happen in the same geographic area. there is no other indication -- we can't even tell you why the district of columbia and georgia are on the high end of identity

theft. it turns out to be one of those things that develops. >> one challenge in this environment is we have to use all of the resources at our disposal. the federal agencies need to work with the state who need to work with the private entities and taxpayers. what efforts are underway to try to coordinate the resources to go after those who are committing these frauds? >> we have a great effort -- we thoselosely to track down participating in phone scams. have 1700 investigations going on right now. fishing expeditions are harder to track down. we work with the federal trade commission to make sure that information is readily available. the partnership we created a year ago with the private sector

has been a great vehicle for us exchanging information and exchanging information about taxpayers and fraud. we learned about the private e-mails fromy, ceo one of our partners. we all can then publicize that and put it out. forwardsignificant step but your point is well taken, we need everyone working together. as i spoke to the states and the private sector. none of us by ourselves can successfully deal with this problem. ofto give you a sense -- as -- we are sethave to receive 1.2 million calls of concern regarding impersonation regarding $31 million having been sent by people in scams.

noted, wemissioner have engaged in public service announcements, we are doing as much in the local media as possible. the key is getting the word out. you would be shocked at how difficult it is to convince if youthat if the -- don't think you have an irs problem and someone calls you out of the blue, you should hang up immediately and they fail to do so. point, working with our states, maryland, our controller has the ability to deal with preparers and being able to suspend their rights in maryland. that has been compromised by the supreme court interpretation and there will be an effort made to give the irs and ability to regulate again the preparers. i know you support that and hopefully we can use that as an

opportunity to work more closely with the states. the regulation requires minimum standards and information. we are not talking about other regulations. it is appropriately described as requiring minimum requirements of repairs. i will besey: addressing my questions to the commissioner. i do want to say because mr. de niro has great pennsylvania roots that i apologize for not getting to you today. the highll everyone at school that you said hello. course hasn of pennsylvania roots as well so we want to highlight that. start with the commissioner. points you have in your testimony, i know i missed your presentation but the

recent -- written testimony highlights things we should focus on in terms of the volume of your work. fiscal year 2015 you processed to under 44 million returns and issued more than $400 billion in refunds. your new filters stopped 1.4 million returns filed by identity these thereby preventing a .7 billion dollars $8.7 billion in fraudulent returns. i wanted to focus on cyber criminals at the security summit. and on tax scams. with regard to the security summit itself, if you could reiterate or amplify some of the earlier comments about some of the recommendations that came out of that summit and secondarily, how you can -- how the irs can be more adaptive in

terms of dealing with some of those security recommendations. -- what we all agreed -- it that there would be would be critical to exchange things in real time. we are sensitive about protecting taxpayer information and therefore have not been forthcoming with our partners about sharing back. one of their concerns with that they would give us leads and we never told them if they were good. one purpose of the summit was to change that and have a robust exchange back and forth about patterns of activity, suspicious activities. we created a rapid response team with representatives from the states and the irs. we had -- we immediately had a way to get the information out. we all agreed on 20 different data points that we could get.

what ip is using on the computer. how long people are using. if you are filing several returns quickly, you are probably a criminal. all of that has helped significantly. the additional funding we got from congress allows us to fund the development of the information center for analysis which will facilitate more quickly be ability for states and the private sector to access the data rather than them coming to us. it is significant. it is important for it to be an ongoing partnership. has beene things that interesting is the first meeting with the private sector, the preparers and software developers said that the irs with the only ones that could set the standards. and that was fine as long as they worked with us to set the standards. and then we ended up with security standards, increased identification standards that the preparers are using, we are

working together to braun those activities as we go -- to broaden those activities as we go forward. we have seen and up to 40% increase in the refund fraud stopped as a result of just sharing information about leads. implementas you recommendations that you will keep us updated. and if you find any institutional obstacles or policy gaps that we can help you . i wanted to move to tax scams. roundtables regarding senior scams. a lot of them having their impersonation or tax scams. what can you tell us about that in terms of your recent work and what taxpayers should be focused on as we approach tax day?

>> the most important thing for taxpayers to focus on is that if you are surprised to be hearing from us, if you haven't gotten a letter from us, it should've gotten several letters. we never threaten people. we never tell you to make your payment to a bank account or a debit card. if you are going to pay taxes, you pay that to the u.s. treasury. we do not threaten you. we do not surprise you. and if you are going to pay your taxes, make sure they go in a check payable to the united states treasury. sector partnership has been working with us well. they were the ones that said we needed a public campaign to get taxpayers to pay attention to this. list isrs will never do something we have read at various meetings. >> the marketers say you have to

make seven impressions before anyone hears it you. we have tried to make more than seven. we have had very good coverage from the media, local and national over the last few years. the people most vulnerable are the elderly, immigrants, low income people who live in the state of worry and fear and they are the most likely to be prey to these events which is why we are so concerned. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this is a topic that affects all of our constituents. in 2014, we had one constituent case of identity fraud. in 2015, we had 32. that kind of increase indicates the growing problem we are facing. i am particularly concerned about mr. george, your report as

inspector general of the tax administration noting the irs has not established a broad program for tax identity issues. i want to be sure the money is well spent. if i could come i want to shift to another issue. do withning, it has to an urgent issue. and i have worked closely on this issue. do with the health coverage tax credit. 407 -- it reinstated that health coverage tax credit through 2019. it extended the advance monthly payment program which is essential. it is a program that gives advance premium payments.

in placeam was to be one year from the date of the neck and. we enacted it in june of 2016. we said it would have to be in place by june 2016. we were told on march 7 of this year, nine months after the bill passed and by way of a letter from you, mr. commissioner saying that the irs would not start the program by june as required under law but that you hoped to start making advanced payments i january of next year. this has caused a huge problem. six months go by and we hear nothing. and then suddenly, taxpayers are told that the right is being pulled out from under them. expecting that they are going to get this advanced monthly signed in midyear, many

up for health coverage in december and january. they thought they could get premium help starting july 1. these premiums are thousands of dollars per month. taxpayers had to burl money from family, friends, the bank or retirement accounts. in some cases, these taxpayers have the option of receiving plants onbsidies for the health-care exchanges and they turned down that opportunity to stay in their private plan and because they fully expected to get the 17 -- 72.5% payment. these advanced payments are going to be there. these are resilient folks. they had been through a lot. these are people who have been left behind by our own federal government in terms of health care.

they can plan for things and they have done that. they made sacrifices and they got by in 2014. but the pull the rug out from under them three months before they were accepting these debts expecting these payments is unacceptable. the actions of to these taxpayers to find another way to fund these payments for another six months, they are left with opting to drop these programs. to staffs have been trying find a solution. been having discussions about alternative methods of administering these advanced payment program so they are ready to go by july. that you getoday personally involved in this and help this to work out with an arrangement so we can be sure

not to have an unacceptable results. >> this is a critical program. one of our obligations. as we advised people when they were considering this, the last time the program was initiated we got a $74 million appropriation to go with it and so we hired a contractor. this time, we got no money. we said we would do the best we .ould to notify people in addition to allowing people to file in 2014 and 2015 four reimbursement and we could get the advanced payment up and running. as soon as we figure that we could not be running in june we notified you and everyone else. we don't take your point slightly. if there was a way to do it, we would. in addition to the $74 million, the last time the program was set up it took two ears.

all, weany funding at will be six months faster than the last time. it does not necessarily help people who are waiting for those payment. the fact that we will reimburse them after the fact is still a burden. we regret that and we are delighted to work with you and senator brown to find any way to get there before january. our commitment is -- we have to build systems to make payments. we can do the credit at the end of the year because we give credits. we recognize that this is a burden on a number of people who have other problems as well. burden and thank you for your indulgence but nothing you said explain to me why we waited until mid-march of 2016 to tell people that these life altering decisions have made are not going to work out for them. they have to find an alternative

which in many cases will mean they will not have health care coverage that they fully expected under law. i do hope that you will instead work with senator brown's staff and mind to find an acceptable solution so we can get these people some sort of coverage through this advanced health care program. we made as good a faith effort as we could to get it done. there was one possibility we could get it up and running. we decided in february that the i.t. systems would not be ready. it was that because we did not care. we were trying to make the year deadline. >> senator nelson. >> mr. commissioner. you were kind enough to respond they march letter on april first. i hope it was not an april

fools. was one of the questions in the letter. let me read to you your offices response to me. i need clarification. under 26 cfrwas -- 1.5 -- the promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political of of in on behalf opposition to any candidate for public office. given these requirements, please provide examples, mr. commissioner, of when it is c4. c5, c6 for 501

organizations to run ads. examples of when this activity would be impermissible. i know this is a delicate subject. this was your answer and i think it is quite clear. "unlike section 501 c three, charitable organizations, organizations described in 501 c three through six are not engaging innd political campaigning intervention. however, section 501 c, organizations that engage in political campaign intervention may be subjected to tax under

527 f. functionexempt expenditures. whether an organization is engaged in political campaign intervention depends upon the facts and circumstances in each case including revenue ruling. there are six examples illustrating facts and circumstances to be considered in determining whether a section 501 c organization that engages in public policy advocacy has expended funds for a section 527 exempt function that is influencing or attempting to influence the selection public office.

ruling, 2007 -- 41 provides an additional 21 examples illustrating facts and circumstances to be considered in determining whether a 501(c)(3) organizations activity results in political campaign intervention. the analysis reflected in these revenue rulings for determining whether an organization is engaged in political campaign intervention or has expended funds for a section 527 exempt function is fact intensive. a copy of both revenue rulings is enclosed with this letter. that was an extensive answer. i want to know -- i want you to know i appreciate it. this is the clarification i need.

case, and if the irs is really enforcing the law, how much tax revenue have you collected for a political expenditures of 501 c four groups this year or last year or any year ? expect you to have that on the top of your head but i thed like -- i will give answer to this member of the committee. >> i carry around a lot of numbers in my head but that is not one of them. we would be delighted to get you that information as quickly as >> thank you. cantwell.

wanted to ask any of the commissioners, when of the issues i think all government faces is the shortage of highly skilled i.t. personnel. support that had would allow you to streamline the pay in authority and reduce -- so you could get the skill lowly you need. i understand this legislative authority has expired and we need to re-legislate that. so that you can have the critical pay. how much is this affecting us in getting the workforce that we need at the irs. >> it is a significant challenge for us. we have only 13 or 14 people left. there were 40 slots. i.t. peopler working on cyber security.

by this time next year they will all be gone. replacing them is challenging. although a lot of people want to come to the irs, putting people through the normal -- i.t. people are in great demand and putting them through the hiring we like you but we need you to wait 3-6 months. our people are being recruited every day. saying that we really like you and we would like you to come, sit still for six months and we will get back to you does not work. our concern is that in these technology,mation without the authority, and we have not had it since 2013 it has made it almost impossible for us to recruit and retain at the level we need to. >> is this affecting cyber security? >> the head of cyber security

left recently. plus twon it is four -- the people we have remaining -- it would allow was to replace them. because itcal to was is focused on an area of high need. peoplecompetition for knowledgeable in cyber security in general is very high. i.t. also remains high. you are facing stiff competition. chairman,rt -- mr. this legislation keeps getting delayed or postpone based on markups. this is important for us to make sure that we have flexibility. this is an issue for all of our government. to make sure we have the best

technology people. that is challenging for a lot of reasons. but this authority to help you streamline the hiring in the pay is something we need to do as quickly as possible. i would like to thank all of you for appearing today and my colleagues for their participation. i hope this hearing gives us a better understanding of the current environment. i hope to continue to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle as we continue to examine ways to improve cyber security and better protect taxpayer information at the irs. i would ask that any questions be submitted by tuesday, april 26. and get your answers back to us as properly as possible. that would be very meaningful to us. we will recess until further notice.

>> this weekend, this weekend, the c-span cities tour hosted by our comcast cable partners takes tuscaloosa, alabama to explore the culture of this southern city come home to the university of alabama. we will learn about the history of the university of alabama in the 1960's with the author of "turning the tide."

toabove all, he was trying get the university of alabama away from being a party school or a football school and get its focus to head in a new direction academice a viable institution in the south and nationally. it took a while to do that. the first thing he had to do was to hire faculty. only a third of the faculty had degrees. that made us competitive. share of some our of the finest faculty in the country. we were also attracting students today that could go to harvard, yelp, and places like that. we've lead the country in the number of national merit scholars that come here. >> on american history tv come we will visit the mount hill

archaeological site and learn how the native american culture lived from the 11th through the 15th centuries. >> welcome. in its heyday, it was the largest city north of mexico and contains the remains of about 30 flattop mounds. mount b.anding at it contains about 100 1200 thousand cubic yards of dirt. originally, the mounds were built by one basket full of dirt at a time but recent research indicates the base and possibly the sides were initially built with sod blocks that were filled in with clay. this would give a lot more stability to the structure as they were building it.

we know that periodically after the mound was built come it would be capped over with different colors of clay. it would resemble a layer cake. watch the c-span cities tour saturday at four clock p.m. tv and on c-span book american history on c-span3. the c-span cities tour, working with our cable affiliates and visiting cities across the country. road to the white house coverage continues tomorrow in hartford, connecticut where donald trump will address supporters at a campaign rally. voters in connecticut cast their ballots in the primary on tuesday, april 26. we will take you to the rally live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. the cdc's director of public health preparedness and response, dr. stephen red-p says virus is a new thread

and a supplemental appropriation is needed to address the problem. he made the remarks during the governmental affairs committee. from capitol hill, this is just under two hours. >> good morning. this hearing will come to order. i want to thank the witnesses for taking the time to attend, for taking the time to write your thoughtful testimony. we appreciate it being on the record. this is an important hearing. i would consider this our second hearing on the subject. we had governor ridge and senator lieberman here with their pal -- their panel on bio defense. a well-thought-out document, lots of detail.

the number one takeaway was the fact that we have no central authority to kind of accumulate all of the data, acute late the budgets, and direct activity, particularly in the event of a significant outbreak. whether it is, and we have dealt with ebola, avian influenza, we have had hearings on those. now, the zika virus. in wisconsin, weeks -- we have something i can't pronounce, i think i may have gotten that right. it has infected 59 people, 18 people in our state. i appreciate the work the cdc has done on that, responding quickly to a letter i sent. it sounds like you took that seriously in trying to find, what is the common cause. very interesting how my guess, in many respects. anyway, this is an important hearing. i asked that my opening written

statement be entered in the record. as any hearing, the main goal is to lay out a reality, so we understand really, what we are facing here, and when it comes to the different types of bio threats. these can be serious, and maybe the good news about all of them is, the same types of procedures and processes and management structure can be put in place to respond to just about any of them, because the threats are always changing. we are seeing the different type of pathogens, biological threats i listed. again, i appreciate all of your work and efforts in this. i appreciate you coming here. sen. carper: there is a vote at 10:30. do you want to keep going or do

you want us to recess for the vote? when the vote starts, i will leave. i will go vote. i will come back right away. you can keep talking. and then we will start asking questions. thank you for coming. mr. chairman, thank you for bringing us together. this is an even more important hearing, given what is going on with the zika virus. as the chairman said, we convened last fall in hearing to examine the report on this panel chaired by a couple of our friends, joe lieberman and tom ridge. one of the main points in the report was, there has to be somebody at the administration to lead it. he thought the vice president would be a good one. so we will see. we have had a meeting with the vice president and two cochairs, and we will see where that leads. but there is work to be done, and fortunately, the panel provided a recommendation to further enhance the ability to prevent, to detect, and respond to and recover from a biological

incident. today, we have the opportunity to discuss those recommendations with several agencies come a senior people in several agencies would be responsible for implementing the recommendations in the early panel. i am eager to hear how you believe we could improve our country's bio defense system. this is an important conversation due to global events emerging as we speak. ebola continues to threaten africa. after claiming thousands of lives, the spread of the virus has declined thanks in no small part to the investments that america has made. and this -- the health systems of those country. it is a proud chapter in our nations history of late, and i am proud of the work that was done, including by some of you and the people that you lead. that said, the recent news of more cases in guinea and liberia

underline the need to support international partners in their efforts to combat that disease. we are one year removed from an outbreak of avian flu, which decimated parts of our nation's poultry industry. the industry was affected and a number of others in the midwest. while infections of poultry have been limited in number so far, this year, thank god, we must remain vigilant and continue to enforce good biosafety practices at poultry farms across the country to safeguard against another epidemic. meanwhile, we are approaching the beginning of mosquito season. in most parts of the u.s., this presents us with a new threat, in the form of the zika virus we your a lot about. the virus has spread explosively through central and south america. it has reached puerto rico and other u.s. territories and is expected to spread further as the weather warms. the world health organization estimates as many as 4 million people in the americas could

contract the zika virus by the end of the year. researchers continue to learn more about the virus every day. but it is clear that the health impacts are devastating, particularly for pregnant women and unborn children. we have heard that the cdc has recently confirmed this week that something we have speculated for a while, the zika virus is the cause of severe birth defects. most american cases have been linked to travel abroad, but we must he prepared for the virus to present itself locally. it has been encouraging to see a proactive, coordinated response from the administration, the president and the administration, to this threat. federal agencies are helping state and local governments enhance their capacity to track the virus, and there are mosquito control efforts underway. we know medical countermeasures and vaccine developments are being rigorously pursued and we applaud that. to help fund these efforts, the administration announced its

intent to redirect $600 million from other programs, including funds originally designated for ebola, and spend it on zika response efforts. president has made the right call in this sense. i am glad he has done this. these efforts continue, congress should carefully consider the president's request for additional reef -- resources. we must ensure that public health officials have the tools they need to protect us from zika. we should not let our foot off the gas when it comes to our efforts to contain dangerous diseases. thank you for your service and thank you for your testimony today. >> it is the tradition to swear

in witnesses. if you will rise and raise her right hand. do you swear the testimony will give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? thank you, please be seated. summary has a snappy tune there. our first witnesses dr. richard hatchett, director of the bio research and development authority, and acting deputy assistant for the department of health and human services. that is a big title. he served as the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases, the national security staff, and the homeland security counsel. doctor. dr. hatchett: chairman johnson, ranking member car per, distinguished members of the committee and homeland security and governmental affairs. good morning, thank you for inviting me to testify. i am dr. richard hatchett. in my testimony today, i will focus on

steps taken by the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response to strengthen our nation's health security and a contribution to my own office to that end. we have made progress in the past 10 years to advance the state of our national bio defense. committee, and others in congress, we have established barta, and continue to make investments in bio defense and health care. however, as highlighted by recent challenges such as ebola, gaps in, there remain preparedness. as this committee is aware, the recent report by the blue-ribbon study panel on bio defense is indicated that the united states is underprepared for biological threats, and the nation is dangerously vulnerable to biological events. whether natural, intentional, or unintentional in origin. where the civilian public health and medical response is

concerned, it is charged by statute to play a strong leadership role. the asper serves as prisoner paul advisor -- principal advisor in matters including public health emergencies. we ask for chairs and leadership groups, convening in response to come located emergencies, and the public health emergency medical countermeasures which coordinates medical countermeasures development efforts across the agencies. the asper is the -- the author and custodian of the national health security strategy which focuses on protecting public health during an emergency. the asper oversees two critical programs that support medical response. the first, the hospital preparedness program enhances radical preparedness and resiliency of the community level. through its support of health care coalitions. the second, the national disaster medical system, employees medical personnel and related assets for local resources when they are overwhelmed.

the other organization promotes acquisition of medical countermeasures for chemical,, radiological, and nuclear threats, and infectious diseases. the coordination and decision-making encompasses all medical countermeasure lifecycle, from identifying requirements and developing target product profiles, through product development to distribution. they have an outstanding record of success, and is being studied as a model for global preparedness against emerging infectious diseases. to date, at least 23 medical countermeasures that barta has supported have been approved, licensed, or cleared by the fda under this purview. 15 have been approved since 2011, five have been approved in the last 12 months. ranging from anthrax anti-'s and smallpox vaccines, dumb -- radiation sit

symptom medicines, have been added to the national stockpile. with another seven anticipated between now and the end of fiscal year 2018. overall, since the year 2000, fda has approved 89 medical countermeasures for cbr threats and pandemic influenza, as well as 17 supplemental changes to already approved applications in 71 modifications to diagnostic devices. this investment in preparedness has paid dividends. because of the workforce and capabilities, we have developed over the last 10 years, we are better prepared to respond quickly to emerging threats. facilitates the deployment of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics during the ebola epidemic and is engaged in the responses he got. we know from experience that a well coordinated mc response is

a critical enabler of a rapid science and industry response. it succeeds not because they set of government offices succeed, but because response efforts across society are supported and coordinated. to respond effectively to threats as diverse and unpredictable as a biological threat, nothing less than the whole of society response will work. thank you again for the invitation to speak with you. i would be happy to address questions. sen. johnson: our next witness , director ofn redd the centers of disease control and prevention. he has been part of the public health services regarding years and is responsible for all of the cdc's public health response activities. dr.. great, thank you. dr. redd: chairman, ranking member, and distinguished members of the committee, my , directorephen redd

of the office of public health preparedness and response at cdc and it is my pleasure to appear today to discuss the work of cdc to prepare and respond to theats to the help of public. as you know, cdc works to protect the public costs helped by helping communities improve readiness and response. this is for chemical, biological, radiation emergencies, whether those are intentional, naturally occurring events, like the ebola epidemic, or the zika virus epidemic, or accidental. there are two benke programs at cdc that enable us to prevent, detect, and response to health threats. the public health emergency preparedness program and the strategic national stockpile. originsgrams have their before september 11, and the and the racks -- the anthrax attacks. they were expanded after those events, and recognition of the

need to improve the ability of the public health system to .espond in scale and in speed the public health emergency preparedness program's overall aim is to prepare the nation to put -- respond to public health emergencies. since she thousand two, $10 million has been devoted to the effort. the program funds 62 awardees, states, all -- eight territories. ,t funds our staff epidemiologists, lab experts, communication experts, emergency operations centers, laboratory equipment, planning and exercising and efforts to things, or to correct that are identified and exercised as a natural event. stockpilegic national is the national repository of life-saving medicines, vaccines, and medical supplies, such as mechanical ventilators, currently, the stockpile holds over $7 billion in assets.

it operates as part of the public health emergency medical countermeasure enterprise, which you have heard about. the stockpile stores and procurers and delivers supplies in times of emergency. but the public health emergency preparedness program and the strategic national stockpile were instrumental in the ebola response, and are being used as part of the zika response. let me turn to zika. yesterday, 41 countries have reported local transmission of the zika virus. in the continental united states, over 300 cases, travel-associated cases, have been reported. one he intended these are in pregnant women. seven have been sexually acquired, sexually transmitted. there is currently no local transmission by mosquitoes, but the problem exists here because of these travel associated cases and sexually transmitted cases.

in puerto rico, there is transmission from mosquitoes. over 300 cases, one in six of these are in pregnant women. about somed, to talk of the things we are doing in the zika response, you heard from senator carper that yesterday, cdc operative publication that concluded that zika virus infection causes severe birth. asked outstanding questions. on april 1, we convened the zika action plan summit in atlanta. this brought together state and local health officials to review the latest scientific information, and jump start planning at the state and local level. issued travel guidance for women who are pregnant, within 72 hours of identifying the virus in the brains of children and fetuses that have died.

we have developed laboratory tests. we are working closely with local health departments, and we are implementing mosquito control measures with the government of puerto rico to prevent transmission to pregnant women. risks are ever present. due to investments from congress , the nation is better prepared to prevent, detect and respond to help emergencies than we were before the events of september, 20 -- 2001. the cdc is on the front lines to protect americans from health risks, wherever those threats occur. we know that we will be call of pond to respond -- called upon to respond in the future. thank you. sen. johnson: our next witness , administratorea of annual -- animal, plant and inspection services. he promotes american

agriculture, regulating genetically engineered organisms, administrating the carryinglfare act and out wildlife damage management activities. you, senators. i appreciate you being here to hear us. over 8000 men and women work around the world to protect american agriculture of -- and pestsal resources against and diseases. we want to keep them out of the country, but if they do get into the country, we have the expertise and the tools to detect them, and to control them, and hopefully eradicate them. although the crux of our mission understandealth, we there is a crucial link with human health. our partnerships with the cdc and other federal and state agencies emphasized this one health approach. animal health can affect human health. human health can affect at -- animal health. that is why it is important that we communicate and coordinate

with each other. that is why the emphasis on one health in the national blueprint for bio defense is so important, and why we support it and appreciate that they emphasized it. i want to highlight a few examples of what we do. better create within our -- veterinary services program a one health coordination center. it works closely with internal veterinarians to make sure that they are considering human health aspects of animal health programs. at the same time, they work with their counterparts in the human health arena to make sure those agencies have an understanding do can affectey agriculture and animal health. because this communication is so important, we have embedded a veterinarian in atlanta with cdc to exchange information, literally every day. we always share information with our partners about our well-established disease surveillance efforts.

when we have information about damaging diseases, we share them quickly. this committee knows, as the chairman and senator a lead -- alluded to, the dem -- the devastating impact avian influenza had on producers, and the impact on the availability and price of eggs and turkey. thousands of contractors, state employees did the important work to control that disease. behind the scenes, our partnerships with the groups with us today were there and were important. our scientists shared information with cdc about avian influenza, about the virus. we had no reason to think that that fire us was going to be a human health threat. but avian influenza viruses mutate. supplyingnstantly information to cdc so they could develop candidate vaccines if indeed it ever should have jumped over to the human health problem. we are working closely with

colleagues in the fish and wildlife service to test wild birds. the good news, we tested 43,000 wild birds over the last nine months and have found no more examples of avian influenza in those birds. that is helpful information. we spent a lot of time assessing our efforts in controlling avian influenza last year, and in our capability to detect it. we compiled a very substantial, very large new planning document on what we can do to prevent avian influenza from becoming a huge problem. we had a chance to test it out in indiana in january. there was indeed one case of highly pathogenic influenza, and nine cases of low pathogenic avian influenza associated with that. we were able to get on top of that immediately, white it out. we have had no cases of avian influenza other than that since

last june 17. something we learned in all of our review was that we need to rebuild our capacity to respond to large animal health emergencies. we have 200 fewer animal health professionals, veteran aryans come and take -- veterinarians and technicians. we need to rebuild the workforce. they recognized that in the president cost budget request. there is a proposed $30 million increase for animal health emergency response. werealize just how lucky were to get on top of the avian influenza after all of the damage it did do. mr. chairman, this concludes my testimony. i appreciate the opportunity to be here. sen. johnson: my next witness is firoved. there we go. it is kind of pronounced, yeah, whatever.

he is the director for the national bio surveillance integration center and the office of health affairs of the department of homeland security. he previously served as the senior bio defense chief medical officer of the department, dr.. we have generations of people being called firewood in my family. chairman, ranking member. distinguished members of the committee, i want to thank you for inviting me to speak. i appreciate the opportunity to testify on our role in bio defense. it is an honor to sit beside my colleagues. i am the director of the .ational integration center i'm a microbiologist by training. i work with anthrax at the national institute of health. -- bio defenseo

policies. i have a broad understanding of the biological threat to our homeland. i have a strong commitment to improve bio defense progress. and risks posed by emerging infectious diseases and weapons bybiological terrorist organizations and rogue states will continue to challenge our ability to prepare and protect the homeland. in the wake of these threats, the department of homeland security remains fully engaged in proactive characterizing of the threat, providing warning of emerging and infectious diseases, and ensuring our critical missions will continue should a biological event occur. our recent ebola virus disease outbreak in africa, dhs divided intelligence analysis of state and local governments and first responders, directed research to characterize the threat of ebola persistence until public health and

operational responses, and coordinated and implemented advanced screenings for 42,000 international passengers at five airports. the day, we build upon these lessons learned from the responses to ebola. we apply them to other biological threats as we tackle the reemergence of viruses like zika, where we ensure our partners continue to have timely information, our work versus informed,-- force is and employees are provided for. we must remain vigilant and innovative as biological threats evolve and new threats emerge. the dhs office of health affairs coordinates the department costs activities to understand the threats today and the threats of tomorrow. the biological threat information comes from multiple sources and takes a true one health approach to bio health and emergency response. for large-scale biological

knowledge means important decisions that can save lives. operationalnt's programs are critical to our nation's bio defense. the national bio surveillance detection center is situated within dhs to provide health and environmental data to ensure that decision-makers have timely information. to accomplish this, we monitor thousands of data sources and leverage expertise of 14 federal department and agencies were members of our charter. including those you see at this table. we integrate this information into reports of biological incidents that could cause economic damage, social disruption, or loss of life. my colleagues and the blue-ribbon panel on bio defense having knowledge the progress we have made in delivering daily situational awareness to partners.

we still have a lot of work to do to fully realize the vision that this committee started with a comprehensive bio surveillance integration. to address this, we are developing new collaboration innovative data sources, and fostering greater stakeholder engagement. the hs's bio watch program provides leaders with actionable information on detection of a biological agent to enable an effective response. is how weoked benefit work with each local jurisdiction to ensure that the decision-makers are familiar with how the coordinated unfold. will on ford -- there is no other program that provides this layer of defense. dhs science and technology director is collaborating with oha on a program that will shorten the time to detect biological agents as well as address capability needs.

one of our most critical roles is integration of local public health with emergency management, law enforcement, and intelligence partners in their preparation and response to biological events. one initiative we are developing and coordinatn is a vaccine initiative. we are evaluating the feasibility -- the feasibility of an anthrax detection program. a vaccine is scheduled to rotate out of the strategic national stockpile. i want to thank the committee whomoving, senators, legislation authorizing the program. i thank you for your time and look forward to answering your questions. sen. johnson: mr. chris curry is the direction -- director of heeland security where evaluates emergency management, national preparedness, and critical infrastructure issues. he has led reviews of federal programs in efforts to prevent,

plan for, and respond to natural and man-made disasters. mr. currie: thank you, chairman, ranking member, other members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to be here. i would like to talk about the work done by a defense. defending the u.s. from naturally occurring or man-made biological events is a difficult effort. leadership and coordination are fragmented a large, effort, not only at the federal level, but across levels of government and the private sector. a number of federal departments at this table today alone demonstrates this point. in a hearing last fall, your committee heard the findings and recommendations of the blue-ribbon study panel on bio defense. our work through the years has come to many similar conclusions and recommendations. today, i would like to talk about this work. ranging from coordinating the entire bio defense enterprise, down to improving very specific programs. at the highest level, the blue-ribbon panel concluded that

there is no central leader, no comprehensive national strategic plan, and no all inclusive dedicated budget for bio defense. our work is also found that there is no national strategy or single focal point for bio defense. as an illustration, there are over two dozen presidentially appointed officials with bio defense roles. five years ago, we recommended that homeland security, within the white house, develop a strategy and designated focal point for coordination. they did issue a strategy in 2012, a designated office within the white house. this is progress, and shows commitment to coordinating bio defense efforts. but it doesn't go far enough. the strategy does not identify resources and investment needs, which is critical to prioritize resources across such a complex enterprise. we have heard the national security staff created a more specific implementation plan to the strategy. however, we do not know the

extent to which it is actually being used across government and across these departments. thus, we do not know if it will operationalize coordination and prioritization of resources. we have identified challenges with specific agency bio defense programs, like those within dhs. our report in october found that 12 years after the bio watch program was first employed, their is still not information about its capabilities. this is because it was put in the field so quickly without performance requirements. we have found that because bio watch was not fully tested, it its uncertainties are unknown. we recommend dhs not pursue upgrades until it establishes system performance requirements and tests those. i would like to talk about our work on the national integration center. within dhs. be theset up to integrator, analyzer, and innovator of bio surveillance

information across the federal government. however, it has never fully met this bar. they have implemented recommendations to collaborate with the cdc and hhs and usda, however, we reported last year that persistent challenges get in the way. for example, most of its primary federal partners, those like cdc, told us that image product and activities and add value, did not provide new meaning, did not help them identify biological events quicker. they still have difficulty getting the data they need, because partners won't share it -- thererestrictions are restrictions. the challenges are not easy to address by dhs alone. we have identified options for policy or structural changes to help the organization fulfill its mission. changes inequire law, and it is unclear that these would address the challenge. to the biggerack issue, the blue-ribbon panel specificestment in

programs should be evaluated in terms of cost and benefit. they should also be prioritized against other programs across government, as part of the national bio defense strategy. another critical part of this prioritization should be using the most recent threat and risk information to guide decisions. thatis important to ensure our limited resources are directed to the most important areas. without a strategy that bridges across the departments, it is difficult for decision-makers in congress and those in the executive branch to make resource decisions. this concludes my prepared remarks on behalf -- and i am happy to answer your questions. back,ohnson: i want to go within the specific agencies, talking about an update on exactly where we are. i want to start with the usda. outbreak occurred and june.cember

that was basically migratory birds flying south, correct? but obviously, in june, they are also flying back. i want to get, to what extent did we dodge a bullet? have we gone through basically two additional migratory patterns without this hitting us again? mr. shea: it's too soon to say. what ended up being the final end to the outbreak last year was really the onset of warm weather. once the temperatures get consistently above 70 degrees, the virus pretty much won't survive. sen. johnson: similar to human flu? mr. shea: yes. sen. johnson: we were coming and going then, migratory birds coming up, coming back, temperatures that we certain point in the outbreak ended? mr. shea: exactly. when migratory birds fly south, they have a clear path. they keep going. when they are heading north, they can slow down. year, and thelast

reason we thought it was bad in iowa and wisconsin, is that the birds were heading north, but the weather was still too cold. they got to a spot where the lakes were frozen. on onehnson: i have been of those lakes. got it. that is good news. the outbreak in indiana, is that typical? on a location cb small outbreaks and stuff and we can respond quickly? findhea: it is typical to low pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks. what we believed happened here, is probably a low pathogenic virus that may have mutated on just one farm. the local surrounding area, where we had nine or 10 other infected premises, were low pathogenic. sen. johnson: but that was spread not by migratory birds, just within the localized flock? mr. shea: it may have started with migratory birds, but it spread as you suggest. sen. johnson: i want to revisit ebola. hasll go to dr. firoved.

that been wiped out? has it been contained? are there any active cases right now in africa that we are aware of? dr. firoved: unfortunately, we have seen cases reemerging, getting -- beginning in liberia. to my colleague from cdc, but there is active tracing going on. sen. johnson: tell me what happened there. did we get to a level of zero and it's coming back? dr. redd: the widespread transmission that was seen in 2014 and 2015 has been contained . what we have seen repeatedly in liberia, sierra leone, and ginny, are small clusters identified after a few cases, rapid response, and implementing the measures that brought the disease under control when it was more widespread. notrtunately, this is unexpected. the latest case, we believe, is from sexual transmission, a

person that had ebola in the past transmitted that disease through the route of sexual transmission, and a small cluster occurred. and i think that this outbreak is now being worked very hard, both in guinea and liberia. the cases and liberia are connected to the ones in guinea. now, the response is very vigorous. large numbers of contacts being identified and traced to be sure that if one of those people does become sick, they will be put into oscillation and given treatment quickly. sen. johnson: because of the tragedy that occurred there, does the general population, are they more educated as well? in addition to the public health and safety officials, do they know how to respond? is it a combination of that? tell me what worked. what lessons we learned. dr. redd: i think, to go back to the lessons, the situation that is occurring right now is not that different than what

2014red in march, april of , in terms of where the disease is occurring, and the location. the thing that is different is, we have a much more vigorous response. and liberia,a there is the capacity to identify cases quickly and respond, and there is an international presence that is able to respond. to go back to 2014, the things that didn't happen that needed to happen work, the ability of those governments to rapidly identify cases, to respond effectively to them, and when the response wasn't going well, to call for help and for the international community to be able to respond. that is basically the structure of the global health security agenda, which is being implemented in those countries and in other countries in africa , asia, and the americas. sen. johnson: so you are describing a real, you know, a real progress in terms of public

health and safety officials. has there been progress in terms of information to the general population? ebola breaks out in these african countries. think there has been. particularly at that inflection the country,ing on twice 14-2015, it is likely that a lot of the control was actually implemented outside of official channels, the communities understood the risk that ebola caused, and took measures into their own hands in terms of isolation facilities, local care. i think this is actually a really important question that we need to have better data on. it appears that that was an important part of the response, in addition to the community mobilization and communication efforts that took place. i hate to ask this, but what was the final mortality rate? how many people really were

affected? wen this first broke out, were projecting a few months from there, a million people. how did we contain this? dr. redd: it didn't reach a million people. the absencee was in of any control measures. i think, in some ways, although the number was massive, it wasn't -- sen. johnson: it got the public's attention. it went up tens of thousands? dr. redd: tens of thousands of cases. 10,000 or so deaths. totalor context, the number of cases in all the outbreaks up to that point was around 2500. so around 10 times more cases than had ever occurred, and one of the things, just thinking about the sexual transmission side of it, we probably have twice as many male survivors as there were total cases before this outbreak. sen. johnson: is that unusual? was that because of additional

treatment? hydration? i mean, how many people were infected, how many people die, what was the survival rate? dr. redd: i can give you the exact number. a 5000, 12 thousand deaths, something like that. sen. johnson: how many people infected? 25,000.: 50 percent mortality rate. when i give those numbers, i have to say, the quality of the information, particularly early in the outbreak, when medical services were overrun, many deaths occurring -- sen. johnson: i am trying to get magnitude. where are we in terms of development of a vaccine? ebola has been around. we were working on the vaccine. i imagine it has become a priority. are we making progress? dr. redd: yes. i will answer that question then turned to my colleague. the vaccine is actually being used now to control the outbreak in liberia and guinea. clinical

trials were undertaken of different vaccines. there was one in liberia and sierra leone, the vaccine got there after the disease was on the down trend. they were not able to show effectiveness. they were able to measure the safety of the vaccine. a trial conducted in guinea using a strategy to measure effectiveness found the vaccine to be effective. strategy, containment where a case was identified, and then the cluster of contacts and the context of the contacts were vaccinated. that study showed effectiveness. sen. johnson: i realize this is a ballpark, but what level of effectiveness -- someedd: there is questions about whether he person was exposed or not. it wasn't tested to be effective after exposure. timeframe, it them

in for -- demonstrated effectiveness. i can give you an exact number. sen. johnson: i don't have the luxury. did we ever get to the bottom of the infection of those nurses in texas? again, we were assuming we kind and wethis understood, were going to take precautions, and yet, we still had, did we ever solve that mystery in terms of how those -- dr. redd: i'm not sure if we totally solved it. we put in place a different plan or personal protective veryment, which included specific guidance on what types of protective equipment were needed, and also put in place a strategy to train, use the personal protective equipment, before needing it. then, additional specificity about when a person is being treated for ebola, including things like observatories --

observers to make sure he person did not accidentally, when they are taking the equipment off, alsoof a risk period. following those individuals act or the person was gone. similar to returning travelers that the doctor mentioned, tracking them daily until the potential link you bashan. was over. -- until the potential incubation period was over. sen. johnson: it seems the procedure was, we can have this in hospitals to the point where, let's do it in specialized hospitals. is that the process and procedures in place right now? we will have centers of excellence here, and maybe, hospitals have to be ready. they have to respond. but then, transport individuals that prove positive? theredd: for ebola, that is system in place. a lot of the discussion is about other diseases. there might be more cases. trying to adapt the system so that we have the right care for people who have these very

severe effects. the way, ebolay is obviously a unique disease, but the procedures in place are good procedures for a number of types of situations? yes.edd: there are a couple characteristics of ebola that are different. the main one is the small number of cases, and the need for the very rigorous infection control procedures. if there were a large number of cases, the system we have in place would have to be changed. cases, the level of capability. doctor, can you speak to the progress of the vaccine, the effectiveness, and our ability to produce it? dr. hatchett: would you like me to touch on the ebola reconsiders? sen. johnson: sure. hospitalett: through preparedness programs, with the

assistance of the funding provided by congress and the ebola supplemental, we have a tiered system nationally of ebola treatment centers. there are now nine regional ebola treatment centers. education ande training centers at the pinnacle of that system. and then, there is a system of eating hospitals, i believe the local is 73 state or ebola treatment centers that can manage patients temporarily before they can be transferred to the nine centers that are fully equipped. then, there is a larger system of assessment hospitals, i believe the number is over 200 nationally. sen. johnson: i will turn it over to senator carper. hopefully, i can get back here and we can follow up. i had to leave as soon as you started to speak. it was not cause and affect. we trade off like this. we use 15 minutes when we can vote. so we keep things rolling and

don't delay you. , the housete and representatives, people give one minute speeches. give us your best one, please. bigcurrie: there were two places i wanted to focus on. one was, the 60 thousand foot level. the coordination across the bio defense enterprise. the second piece was looking at some of the specific programs at dhs we have looked at. we have done a lot of work at hhs and usda, as well. let me focus on the 60,000 foot level. i think one of the problems that we have identified during the years, and so has the blue-ribbon panel, is the lack of a unified strategy at the top, the federal level, to guide efforts and resources. all of the departments work really hard and do a good job of doing their individual missions. the problem is, there is no one above that has the authority or ability to actually drive resource decisions, and

priorities. that makes it difficult to know if we are addressing the top priorities. and so that was a key point from my opening statement. sen. carper: we talked a little bit, and i mentioned the study panel led by joe lieberman and tom ridge, and the recommendation that attempted use the -- to speak to the point you made. let me just ask all of you. with respect to the recommendations, i think they made 33 recommendations, and one was that the vice president should personally lead this. what current plan activities are you taking are planning to take to address the recommendations contained in the report? what do think about the recommendations of the vice president, in this case joe biden, to lead the effort for the next nine months, and presumably whoever precedes him?

>> i can start. we have not taken a formal position on whether the vice president is the right place to put the responsibility. we do understand why the blue-ribbon panel white -- made the recommendation of the vice president serve in that role. it needs to be some of you position of authority that can dictate all of the federal departments, each with their own powers and responsibilities, to do things and spend money a certain way. we made our initial recommendations along those lines to the national security staff in the white house. therehink, and our goal was again, to try to put it at a level that was about the departmental level. so far, i think we have been a little underwhelmed at the efforts that of come out of the response of that recommendation. there have been strategies developed, but the problem is, even within those offices, they still have trouble dictating exactly what the other federal department or doing. so with the right entity, what the right entity is, i'm not sure. but the problem is consistent across our work and the panel's work. sen. carper: thank you.

what current or plan activities are you taking, or planning to take, to address the recommendations contained in the report? dr. hatchett: thank you, sir, for the question. participated in the process that led to the development of the report. we participated in the meetings. we read the report with interest when it came out. we feel that we have actually undertaken activities that address, or parallel, some of the recommendations in the report. i mention the establishment of the ebola treatment centers, and the national hospital system for managing diseases that require high containment. that, in some ways, is similar to one of the recommendations within the report. we are not responding directly to the report. but we certainly feel it has been a valuable contribution to the national discussion on this issue. the carper: the re-think,

-- do you think, the point, the -- the blue-ribbon panel recommended the vice president follow-up and implement the recommendations of the report. president, howe about the junior senator from new jersey co? he finished his book to her. he needs stuffr. to work on. dr. hatchett: we feel we have effective cross government mechanisms in place to make sure threats can be identified and responded to a broke -- appropriately. within the statutory spear of the assistance tech -- secretary for preparedness and response, which is public health and ethical preparedness and response, we have mechanisms in place which reduce the need for an oversight figure. we have too been very effective coordinating bodies that are interagency bodies, but we work with the fda and the department of defense.

the first of these is the disaster leadership group, which the assistant secretary for preparedness and response can be -- convenes and -- in response to issues that arise in recent months, for example, we have convened two different groups, one to address a crisis, the other to address the emerging zika crisis. within the domain of medical countermeasures, we have a very effective coordinating body, the public health emergency medical countermeasures enterprise. i cited some of the successes we had demonstrated. that entity has evolved. sen. carper: all the right there, otherwise these guys won't have a chance to say a word. dr.? are a number of recommendations that pertain specifically to cdc. i could go through those now, or we could submit written answers that, just quickly,

recommendation 15 is a collaboration with the department of homeland security on the anthrax vaccination. we are providing the vaccine for the pilotould if started from the strategic national stockpile. there is a recommendation to develop and implement a medical countermeasure response framework. we actually are working with state partners or the public health emergency medical countermeasure enterprise to theement improvements on distribution and dispensing of the stockpile. is ae, there recommendation to allow for deployment of sns assets. that was number 23. we are working closely with new york city on really, kind of a project management formula that, when they are ready to administer product from the stockpile, that we get it there that quickly. so, matching the delivery from the stockpile to the local capacity.

we will be working with other health jurisdictions to marry their capability and our capability. there is a recommendation to overhaul the select agent program. i think that that would fall into the overall category of a high-level policy decision. we are doing a lot of work to improve the select agent program within our authority, improving the inspection process, the incidents thatrt are identified at the facilities, and to improve the communication and transparency aspects of that. there actually have been three recent -- sen. carper: hold it for a moment. , ther for the record status of your implementation. those of you with -- to have begun and completed him lament -- implementation, and those of you who have no intent to implement. you can respond to whether or not the vice president is a

better person to oversee the implementation, or senator booker, as i suggested. cast some light. raise her hand, how many think we need somebody like the vice president to oversee the implementation, and without that we will not make the kind of progress we need. how many think, and if you do, raise your hand. if you don't, raise your hand. all right, thank you. let the record show booker 2, joe biden zero. there are several people leaning towards joe, as well. senator booker. sen. booker: i have lost many votes before. iis is when i am happy -- one am happy to not win if possible. i want to thank you very much for holding this. i think this is an urgent hearing. there i a lot of consequential realities at stake. i want to thank the people before me. your dedication to the health,

safety, strength and security of our country is admirable. concernsw jersey-based , and perhaps i could start with that. , so, a lot of the dollars received for our state for homeland security are based upon formulas. the hospital preparedness is one that recently, new jersey has seen a significant cut in. incongruous to me, because as the risk profiles are calculated by the department of homeland security, we have actually seen increases in some of our areas. for example, in fiscal year one, the homeland security record might -- recognized new jersey's bold rebuild the to a -- vulnerability to an attack. grants,also raised our

our urban area security initiative vulnerability, moving on the risko seven index. we see the new jersey, when it comes to risks, terrorist attacks, bio attacks and the like, is getting more severe. but yet at the same time, somehow, it in the formula, we are being cut from the hpp program. i am wondering, what is the reason for the cut, given that the department of homeland security sees us, and you understand the new jersey is, i live 10 miles from manhattan. series, manhattan is moving their back offices and a lot of their infrastructure to new jersey. asch, again, as dhs sees heightening our risk. in -- in your opinion, is this problematic? or do you see it in a different way? >> i can't speak to the particular case of the new jersey allocation, but i can say

that the urban area security initiative risk scores are , hospitalto the hpp preparedness program formula. that formula, and those allocations, are reviewed annually, so they are adjusted annually. there are many other factors other than risk, which goes into the formula. certainly, population. given that i am not myself personally responsible for the hospital preparedness program, we can certainly we can certainly get back to you with a more detailed response. sen. booker: new jersey is one of the more densely populated states in america. companies, imical just don't understand how we could be going down, especially when other areas of the federal government are seeing us at a higher risk for these problems. i would appreciate it.

let me go over my concerns in zika and some of the other elements. redd, can you explain to me the process for the new jersey health preparedness program. the award was increased this year, but because cdc is looking for additional money for zika, we have seen money taken away from states, including new jersey. that raises concerns for me that we are rate -- going around instead of raising new money and increasing our preparedness. can you explain to me the process for cuts, and are these ornt cuts across the board, are these crises and concerns for security? dr. redd: let me start by saying

i agree with your underlying point, that this is a new threat, and we need supplemental appropriation to be passed. that would address the problem in a way that it needs to be addressed. sen. booker: that is a profound statement that i want to repeat. you agree it is a new threat and we need supplemental, new funding, instead of taking away urgent dollars from existing programs. dr. redd: yes, sir. sen. booker: thank you, that is an important statement. of redd: in the absence that, there is a difficult decision that the administration had to make, whether we would respond to the current threat or not. 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. there was an across-the-board cut to the health emergency preparedness program.

it was a little complicated as to how each dollar amount was arrived at, but each group lost funding. sen. booker: there is obviously a better way to do it. , we seem tok about be often very reactive to a crisis. we have predictive analytics to know better about what is coming, before it dominates the headlines and fear -- could we do a better job heading these crises off? dr. redd: it is something we continue to work on. to take the particular case of zika, there are many aspects of this that are unprecedented. it has been 50 years since an infectious disease has been identified as the cause of a birth defect. there has never been a birth defect caused by an infection transmitted by a mosquito. the historicalse record, this is not something we would have predicted.