No. of Recommendations: 17
HCL, you agree with Dr Birx here then,
Our witness here today,
Dr. Deborah Birx, has firsthand
knowledge of the failures of the previous Administration's (Trump's) pandemic response from her tenure as coordinator of the White
House Coronavirus Task Force. This is her first time testifying
at any congressional hearing about her experience in that role.
Based on what she observed, Dr. Birx has estimated that
more than 130,000 lives could have been saved if the Trump
administration had implemented optimal mitigation measures in
2020 and early 2021. The Trump administration's failures began early in the
crisis and persisted for the remainder of their term in office.
The Administration failed to take basic steps to acquire
critical supplies, develop tests, and prepare for the growing
threat in the early months of 2020, leaving our country
woefully underprepared. The President failed to share accurate medical information
with the American people, instead spreading dangerous
misinformation as we will now see on video. [Video plays.]
Chairman Clyburn.
Consistent with these dangerously
inaccurate statements, President Trump and his advisers
sidelined public health experts and sound science in favor of
discredited strategies that they believed served his political
goals. As detailed in a report released by the select
subcommittee earlier this week, senior Trump administration
officials embraced a dangerous herd immunity via mass infection
strategy that Dr. Birx has described, as I quote, ``a true
threat to a comprehensive and critical response to this
pandemic,'' end of quote.
President Trump ignored warnings from top scientists
throughout 2020, including from Dr. Birx when she anticipated
that the Nation would be entering, and another quote, ``most
concerning'' phase of the pandemic in late 2020. Instead of
taking lifesaving action to mitigate surging cases, President
Trump prioritized his re-election campaign and the Big Lie,
leading to the deadliest period of the pandemic to date.
President Trump's contempt for science and his persistent
attacks on public health experts have had a lasting harmful
impact on our country, undermining many Americans' trust in
public health officials and institutions, and contributing to
the continued politicization of public health. This damage has
resulted in far too many coronavirus deaths, including deaths
that could have been prevented through vaccinations.
Many
preventable deaths have been disproportionately concentrated
among those who trusted the former President.https://www.congress.gov/event/117th-congress/hous... 