Ranking Member Ruiz’s Statement at Select Subcommittee Final Report Markup

Washington, D.C. (December 4, 2024) Below is Ranking Member Raul Ruiz's, M.D. statement, as prepared for delivery, at today's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic markup to consider and adopt the Select Subcommittee's final report. 

 

Click here to watch the video.  

Markup Statement
Ranking Member Raul Ruiz, M.D.
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
December 4, 2024

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

First, I'd like to begin by entering into the record a number of letters and materials the Select Subcommittee has received in recent days from parties to investigations this Congress including from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Francis Collins, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the American Federation of Teachers.

These submissions memorialize substantive objections these parties have to representations made in the Majority's report, and I believe it is important that the record reflect their perspectives.

Look, it goes without saying that both sides of the aisle have not always seen eye to eye in the Select Subcommittee this Congress. 

And it is clear from our two final reports that as the Select Subcommittee concludes, we are leaving with different impressions of what we did or did not find.

At various points, we've debated these issues, and I think the record is clear on where we all stand.

So, as we wrap up these two years, I want to say a few final things.

First, I want to acknowledge the devastating loss of life that the COVID-19 pandemic inflicted on families and communities across this country.

More than one million Americans lost their lives too soon, and while we have overcome the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I recognize that as a nation, we may never fully overcome this grief that all of us share, regardless of political party.

Second, I want to thank the hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, first responders, health care workers, essential workers, scientists, business leaders, policymakers, and people who came together to mount America's response to the most significant public health crisis we have faced in a generation.

Often at great personal expense, millions of Americans put their neighbors before themselves to help ensure that we could make it through this challenging period.

It is this selflessness that represents the best of what America has to offer, and it is this selflessness that gives me hope that despite our differences, we can find a path forward for safeguarding and strengthening our nation's public health.

Now I won't pretend that this process won't be messy at times.

But it is my sincere belief that we can come together as true professionals to work through the noise of politics and partisanship to do the real work of preventing and preparing for future pandemics. 

Closing pathways for novel viruses to emerge, be they in nature or in a lab. 

Strengthening our schools so that they can be better prepared to maintain safe in-person learning during future pandemics. 

Fortifying infection prevention and control in nursing homes to keep our seniors safe. 

Exploring how we can lay the groundwork for the rapid development of future vaccines and therapeutics for novel viruses when they inevitably emerge. 

And more. 

In my opinion, we didn't do enough of that this Congress, and I consider that a missed opportunity. 

But as I said at our final hearing last month, just because we haven't yet come together to tackle these serious challenges doesn't mean we can't.

And as I have said since the outset of the Congress, I am willing to work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to move this work forward.

So as we conclude the Select Subcommittee today, it is my hope that we can set aside politics and commit to the forward-looking mission of meaningfully getting ahead of future viruses. 

Because even after two years, I still believe that it's not too late to come together and do the work of saving future lives. 

Thank you, and I yield back.

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