Statements on Introduced Bills (Cong. Rec., Sept. 22, 2020)
Summary
A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated September 22, 2020, at page S5790, under the heading Statements on Introduced Bills. Mr. Schumer and a long list of cosponsors introduce S. 4638, a bill to preserve and promote integrity in scientific decision-making at the Department of Health and Human Services, and the text is printed, creating a task force to review political interference in the COVID-19 response and authorizing $25,000,000 for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Mr. Cotton introduces S. 4648 to list isotonitazene as a schedule I controlled substance and urges action on a drug that has killed too many citizens. The page ends with the preamble of a resolution on student debt.
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“Statements on Introduced Bills (Cong. Rec., Sept. 22, 2020).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-09-22-crec-2020-09-22-pt1-pgs5790-f97f91444d/
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S5790 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 22, 2020
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED (B) communications between political ap- and Human Services in a manner that is in-
BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION pointees, career staff, and contractors within consistent with strengthening the Nation’s
scientific agencies of the Department of COVID–19 response, including with respect to
By Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Health and Human Services; reducing morbidity and mortality related to
Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, (2) initial, subsequent, and final drafts of COVID–19.
Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. scientific publications or communications, (f) TIME PERIOD.—The time period de-
BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, in order to assess changes made by scientific scribed in this subsection is the period begin-
Mr. CASEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. agencies of the Department of Health and ning on the effective date of the public
GILLIBRAND, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. Human Services as a result of political inter- health emergency declared by the Secretary
ference; and of Health and Human Services under section
REED, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BROWN,
(3) other information, as the Task Force 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42
Mr. PETERS, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. determines appropriate. U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect
WARREN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. (d) OBSTRUCTION OF INVESTIGATION.—The to COVID–19, and ending on the last day of
DURBIN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. Task Force shall notify, in writing, the Com- such public health emergency.
DUCKWORTH, Mr. KAINE, Ms. mittees on Health, Education, Labor, and (g) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this section
ROSEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. LEAHY, Pensions and Homeland Security and Gov- shall prevent the Task Force from releasing
Mr. CARDIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, ernmental Affairs of the Senate; the Com- any information before January 31, 2021, or
mittees on Energy and Commerce and Over- before a full report is complete, if the Task
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. KLO- sight and Reform of the House of Represent-
BUCHAR, Ms. STABENOW, Mr.
Force determines that the release of such in-
atives; and the Pandemic Response Account- formation is in the public interest.
HEINRICH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. ability Committee of any obstruction, pre- (h) FUNDING.—To carry out this section,
CANTWELL, and Mr. SANDERS): vention, or delay of information or commu- there are authorized to be appropriated
S. 4638. A bill to preserve and pro- nication requested pursuant to the investiga- $25,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2021
mote integrity in scientific decision- tion under subsection (b), not later than 30 and 2022.
making at the Department of Health days after the Task Force first requested the
and Human Services; to the Committee information or communication. The notifica- By Mr. COTTON:
tion shall include— S. 4648. A bill to amend the Con-
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen-
(1) a description of the information or com-
sions. munication sought;
trolled Substances Act to list
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask (2) the date on which such information or isotonitazene as a schedule I controlled
unanimous consent that the text of the communication was first requested; substance; to the Committee on the Ju-
bill be printed in the RECORD. (3) the date of any subsequent effort to ob- diciary.
There being no objection, the text of tain the information or communication; and Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, we are
the bill was ordered to be printed in (4) a summary of any response from the facing momentous issues in the Senate
the RECORD, as follows: person from which the information or com- and in Washington and in our Nation.
S. 4638 munication was requested, including any ex- Today, we are debating a spending
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- planation by that person of why the re-
bill to keep the government funded
resentatives of the United States of America in quested information or communication is
not being provided. past the end of this month. There are
Congress assembled, ongoing negotiations to help provide
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec-
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Science and
tion, the term ‘‘political interference with additional relief to those most affected
decisions made by scientific agencies of the by the coronavirus.
Transparency Over Politics Act’’.
Health and Human Services’’ includes any With the sad news of the passing of
SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF POLITICAL INTER-
FERENCE WITH DECISIONS OF SCI-
significant action by the executive branch of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there is
ENTIFIC AGENCIES OF HHS. the Federal Government to—
now a Supreme Court vacancy as well.
(a) APPOINTMENT OF THE TASK FORCE.— (1) pressure the Food and Drug Administra-
tion to reach a certain outcome related to a As momentous as these issues are, we
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Pandemic Response ought not miss what is happening on
Accountability Committee established under drug, device, or biological product for the di-
section 15010 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, agnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or pre- the streets of America, though, as too
and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116– vention of COVID–19; many in Washington missed for years
136), shall appoint, not later than 1 month (2) pressure such agency to make a deci- as Americans were dying by the thou-
after the date of enactment of this Act, the sion related to a drug, device, or biological sands as a result of the opioid epidemic
Task Force of the Pandemic Response Ac- product for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, that hit this country, from prescrip-
countability Committee (referred to in this treatment, or prevention of COVID–19 within
tion pills to heroin, to synthetic
section as the ‘‘Task Force’’), which shall a certain timeframe;
(3) prevent such agency from taking an ac- opioids like fentanyl.
consist of 5 members of the Pandemic Re- Now, in recent years, Washington has
sponse Accountability Committee. tion related to a drug, device, or biological
product for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, gotten the news, and we have taken ac-
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the
Task Force shall have expertise in con- treatment, or prevention of COVID–19, or tion to try to stem the tide of drug
ducting independent audits, evaluations, and from taking such action within a particular overdoses around our country.
investigations. timeframe; But the fight continues, so I want to
(b) INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS.—The (4) make a decision for the Food and Drug call the Senate and the Nation’s atten-
Task Force shall— Administration related to a drug, device, or tion to a new threat: isotonitazene. It
(1) conduct an investigation of political in- biological product for the diagnosis, cure,
is harder to pronounce than fentanyl,
terference with decisions made by scientific mitigation, treatment, or prevention of
COVID–19 that the Food and Drug Adminis- but it is equally deadly. It will kill you
agencies of the Department of Health and
Human Services during the time period de- tration would make itself in the ordinary in a heartbeat, and it also comes from
scribed in subsection (f); and course; China. Reports of iso—as this hard-to-
(2) not later than January 31, 2021, and (5) pressure the Centers for Disease Control pronounce drug is often called on the
every 6 months thereafter, until the date and Prevention or any other scientific agen- street—are still scattered.
that is 6 months after the end of the time pe- cy of the Department of Health and Human A shipment was seized in Canada
riod described in subsection (f), submit a re- Services to release, withhold, or modify pub- early last year. Now it has been pop-
port of the findings of such investigation to lic health guidance, data, information, or ping up in Europe, in countries as far
the Committees on Health, Education, publications related to COVID–19 in a man-
ner that is inconsistent with the conclusion
flung as Belgium, Estonia, Germany,
Labor, and Pensions and Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and reached by the relevant senior career sci- Latvia, Sweden, and the United King-
the Committees on Energy and Commerce entists; dom, and, at about the same time, iso
and Oversight and Reform of the House of (6) provide a grant, cooperative agreement, has found its way to America as well.
Representatives. award, or other Federal support through a It has turned up in both pill and pow-
(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the in- scientific agency of the Department of der form, seemingly shipped in con-
vestigation under subsection (b), the Task Health and Human Services for an entity or centrated, small quantities that escape
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Force shall consider— endeavor related to COVID–19 for reasons detection too often. Once it is here, it
(1) emails and other records of communica- other than strengthening the Nation’s
tions, including— COVID–19 response, including with respect to
is usually cut with other drugs, like
(A) communications between the White reducing morbidity and mortality related to heroin and cocaine, to make them
House, the Department of Health and Human COVID–19; or more powerful and much more deadly.
Services, and scientific agencies of the De- (7) otherwise influence decisions by sci- An unsuspecting drug user can inject
partment of Health and Human Services; and entific agencies of the Department of Health a tainted dose or take a counterfeit
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September 22, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5791
prescription pill and be dead within By Mr. SCHUMER: The Veteran Home Loan Disaster Re-
minutes. Iso is just like fentanyl in S. 4653. A bill to protect the covery Act of 2020 would exempt pro-
that regard. healthcare of hundreds of millions of gram participants from the subsequent
According to the Drug Enforcement people of the United States and prevent loan funding fee increase if they lost
Agency, iso is confirmed to have killed efforts of the Department of Justice to their first home to a natural disaster,
at least 18 Americans in 4 different advocate courts to strike down the Pa- allowing them to access a lower rate as
States and has been encountered in at tient Protection and Affordable Care if they were a first-time participant in
least 48 confirmed incidents across 9 Act; read the first time. the program.
States. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask According to the Federal Emergency
However, it has likely killed many unanimous consent that the text of the Management Agency (FEMA), in 2019,
more. We don’t know for sure because bill be printed in the RECORD. there were 101 Presidentially-declared
tests for iso still are not widely avail- There being no objection, the text of disasters across the Nation. So far in
able, given its novelty, and overdose the bill was ordered to be printed in 2020, there have been 92 major disaster
deaths due to a cocktail of iso mixed the RECORD, as follows: declarations alone. Right now,
with heroin, cocaine, or other drugs S. 4653 wildfires rage in different parts of the
may be inadvertently attributed only Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- Nation, and we are in the midst of hur-
to the known substance. resentatives of the United States of America in ricane season in both the Atlantic and
What we do know is that iso is just Congress assembled, Pacific Oceans.
SECTION 1. PROHIBITING DOJ EFFORTS TO AD-
the latest weapon that the Chinese As we continue to experience raging
VOCATE COURTS TO STRIKE DOWN
drug dealers are using in their opium PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORD- wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and mas-
war against America. First, they devel- ABLE CARE ACT. sive hurricanes, it is critical that we
oped designer fentanyl analogs, which The Department of Justice may not in any ensure that we work to limit the ripple
have killed—and continue to kill— case, including in California v. Texas, No. 19– effects from these disasters. Giving
Americans by the thousands. 840 (U.S. cert. granted Mar. 2, 2020), advocate
veterans the ability to replace homes
However, we have taken strong ac- that a court invalidate any provision of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act lost through no fault of their own is
tion against fentanyl. Last year, we (Public Law 111–148; 124 Stat. 119) or any one step in that direction.
passed my legislation, the Fentanyl amendment made by that Act. f
Sanctions Act, to punish Chinese drug
dealers, and the President—equally im- By Ms. HIRONO: SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
portant—pressured China’s leader to S. 4656. A bill to amend title 38,
crack down on underground drug labs United States Code, to provide for a re-
in their own country, which sent nine duction in certain loan fees for certain SENATE RESOLUTION 711—CALL-
fentanyl smugglers to prison. veterans affected by major disasters; to ING ON THE PRESIDENT OF THE
These efforts have made a difference, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. UNITED STATES TO TAKE EXEC-
but the fight is not over. China’s drug Ms. HIRONO. M. President, in 2018, UTIVE ACTION TO BROADLY
dealers have developed a new poison to Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano erupted, de- CANCEL FEDERAL STUDENT
send to America. stroying upwards of 700 homes, includ- LOAN DEBT
Iso has no recognized medical or in- ing a home purchased by a veteran Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Ms. WAR-
dustrial use. It is nothing more and using the VA Home Loan Guaranty REN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SAND-
nothing less than a way to profit off of Program. When this veteran went to ERS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL,
addiction and death. These Chinese replace the home he had lost by once Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr.
drug dealers want iso to be the new again using the Home Loan Guaranty MARKEY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MENENDEZ,
fentanyl, so we have to take strong ac- Program, he found that he would be and Mr. WYDEN) submitted the fol-
tion to make sure they fail before more forced to pay significantly higher fees lowing resolution; which was referred
Americans are killed. for using the program a second time. to the Committee on Health, Edu-
The DEA has already taken swift ac- Our Nation’s veterans should not be cation, Labor, and Pensions:
tion by classifying iso as a schedule I penalized for losing their homes to nat- S. RES. 711
controlled substance, its most restric- ural disasters and it is for this reason
Whereas the United States is facing his-
tive classification. But this is only a that I come to the floor today to intro- toric public health and economic crises
temporary measure that will last 2 duce the Veteran Home Loan Disaster caused by the coronavirus (COVID–19) pan-
years, at most. Recovery Act of 2020. demic that threatens the financial well-
Congress should, therefore, act to en- Congress has established a variety of being of nearly every American family;
sure iso stays on that list for good. programs in pursuit of both thanking Whereas even before the COVID–19 pan-
That is why I am introducing legisla- our Nation’s veterans and ensuring demic, the United States also faced a his-
tion to permanently classify iso as a that they are able to live comfortable toric student loan crisis, which is currently
schedule I controlled substance. This lives after their service has ended. One holding back our struggling economy and re-
stricting opportunity and prosperity for mil-
will ensure iso receives the strictest of these programs is the VA Home
lions of American families;
regulations under our drug laws, and it Loan Guaranty program, which pro- Whereas nearly 43,000,000 Americans cur-
will help our brave drug enforcement vides eligible veterans the opportunity rently hold more than $1,500,000,000,000 in
agents keep this deadly drug off of our to access mortgages backed by the De- Federal student loan debt;
streets. partment of Veterans Affairs. Under Whereas more than 9,000,000 Federal stu-
Furthermore, I call upon the leaders the program the VA guarantees a por- dent loan borrowers are currently in default
of the Chinese Communist Party to tion of a home loan from a private on those Federal student loans;
crack down on the production of iso in lender allowing the veteran borrower Whereas the COVID–19 economic recession
the Chinese mainland. If the leaders of and historic unemployment have com-
to receive favorable mortgage terms.
pounded stagnant wages, labor market dis-
the party wish to reduce tensions, if Participants in this program are re-
crimination, and rising costs of living, mak-
they wish to improve relations, they quired to pay a funding fee in place of ing it nearly impossible for many Americans
ought not to allow their own criminals closing cost and that fee increases to ever fully repay their student loans;
to manufacture drugs with no legiti- based on various factors, including Whereas this historic student debt crisis
mate purpose specifically designed for whether this is a veteran’s first time has left millions of Americans less prepared
smuggling into America to poison our using the program or if they have pre- to weather the recession triggered by the
citizens. viously had a VA Home Loan. For COVID–19 pandemic as communities of color,
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I urge my colleagues and the admin- those who have used the loan before, which never fully recovered from the dev-
astating effects of the previous economic re-
istration to join in this effort to stop the fee is higher, regardless of the cir-
cession, have been hit hardest by the dev-
iso before it spreads even further. This cumstances that led to their needing to astating health and economic consequences
drug has already killed too many of purchase a home through the program, of the COVID–19 pandemic;
our fellow citizens. We need to stop it including if their previous home was Whereas student debt disproportionately
before it kills even more. destroyed by a natural disaster. impacts borrowers of color, who face the
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