Ranking Member Ruiz’s Opening Statement at Select Subcommittee Hearing Reviewing CDC Pandemic Policies

Washington, D.C. (June 13, 2023)—Below is Ranking Member Raul Ruiz's, M.D. opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at today's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky reviewing CDC pandemic-era policies.

Opening Statement

Ranking Member Raul Ruiz, M.D.

Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic

Hearing on "Oversight of CDC Policies and Decisions During the COVID-19 Pandemic"
June 13, 2023

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Director Walensky, for being here today.

As Ranking Member of this Select Subcommittee, I have often said how important it is that we focus on forward-looking policy solutions that will leave us better prepared in the event of another deadly novel airborne virus.

At the forefront of this work is the nation's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which, under Director Walensky's direction, helped guide us out of the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her steadfast leadership mobilized the most successful vaccination campaign in our nation's history, leading to more than 600 million shots in arms, prevented 18.5 million hospitalizations, and saved 3.2 million lives from COVID-19.

Under her leadership, 95% of America's schools that were forced to close during the previous Administration's failed pandemic response, safely reopened for in-person learning within just one year.

And because of her tireless efforts, our nation's public health workforce was fortified, and the CDC made critical strides to ensure that the American people received accurate, data-informed public health guidance that reflected what we knew about an evolving ever-changing pandemic at crucial points in time.

I say all this to not only thank Director Walensky for her service to the nation but also to stress where we were and where we are today because of her leadership.

You see, when Director Walensky began her tenure at the CDC, she inherited a beleaguered agency during the pandemic's deadliest two-month stretch on record in the United States.

In fact, every day, more than 3,000 people in the United States died from COVID-19.

What's more, Dr. Walensky ascended to the role as Director not only as the agency was in the midst of battling a deadly novel virus—but also as it was suffering from the severe setbacks and damaged morale that resulted from months of political interference by the former President and his Administration.

Throughout the early months of the pandemic, our nation's scientists were sidelined by White House officials and the President's political allies, who meddled in CDC's communications, public health guidance, and scientific reports.

That's in addition to the President's own downplaying of the coronavirus, which hampered our nation's pandemic response during one of the deadliest periods in America's history.

This political interference and harmful messaging by the former President also manufactured a deep distrust in our nation's public health institutions—fundamentally undermining our ability to respond to future threats.

That, coupled with the ongoing vilification of public health experts with the purpose of advancing a partisan narrative.

And now, we're seeing the real and dangerous consequences.

In fact, a February 2022 Pew Research Center report found that fewer than three in ten adults in the United States now have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public's interests.

As a physician and public health expert, this is deeply concerning to me, and it should be to us all.

Our ability to prevent harm and save lives in the event of another pandemic is intrinsically tied to a strong relationship between our nation's public health experts and the American people.

So where do we go from here?

How do we move forward?

Now that we are on the other side of this pandemic—thanks to Director Walensky and the Biden Administration's leadership in delivering vaccines and safely reopening workplaces, schools, and our economy—we have the opportunity to rebuild the trust that has been eroded.

We have the chance to right the wrongs of the previous Administration by identifying and implementing real solutions that leave us better prepared in the event of another deadly virus.

Solutions like empowering the CDC to promote comprehensive and timely data collection and reporting, equipping the CDC with the tools and resources necessary to continue rapidly disseminating accurate information and guidance to the American public without political interference, and investing in the CDC so that it can continue to support its state and local partners in the face of future public health threats.

It is now that we should work to reinspire confidence in our nation's public health officials—not continue to vilify and breed distrust in them.

It is now that we should continue to assemble a strong public health workforce and see through Director Walensky's vision for the CDC to identify, prevent, and respond to novel viruses and threats more nimbly.

And it is now that we should build on the Biden Administration's progress to bolster whole-of-government pandemic preparedness so that we can more rapidly respond in a future public health crisis.

So today, I hope we can make progress on advancing these objectives, because if we do, we can and will ensure the nation is better prepared in a future public health crisis—and that means future harm will be prevented and more lives will be saved.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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