Hearing of the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives of the House Energy and Commerce Committee - Opening Statement of Rep. Schakowski, Illegal Meeting on Contempt

Hearing

Today's markup is an unauthorized, dangerous, and unjustifiable escalation of Chair Blackburn's partisan attack on health care and life-saving research.

As we have made clear, the Chair and Select Panel have no authority to report contempt to the House or its Speaker a process historically used only by the House Un-American Activities Committee. This illegal meeting is a political sideshow with devastating consequences for anyone who cares about women's health care or life-saving medical research.

The Chair has manufactured a controversy over documents that she does not need. StemExpress has cooperated with the Panel -- and was doing so voluntarily -- before the Chair issued subpoenas in violation of House and Energy and Commerce Committee rules that required her to notify and consult with me first.

Over the course of this investigation, StemExpress has produced over a thousand pages of invoices, purchase orders, email correspondence, cost estimates, and accounting reports.

StemExpress also repeatedly offered witnesses to explain its fetal tissue procurement business and answer the Panel's questions, including any accounting-related matters. Republicans refused these offers, never scheduled these interviews, and any failure to obtain information rests with Chair Blackburn, not StemExpress or its CEO.

But getting the facts has never been the goal. Throughout this investigation, Chair Blackburn has abused congressional authority to harass, intimidate, and ultimately drive companies away from fetal tissue work in an effort to end life-saving research. This so-called "investigation" has been largely conducted out of public view, and -- ironically -- at the same time that she and other leading Republicans profess support for researchers and finding 21st century cures. Tragically, this stealth campaign is working.

One tissue procurement company informed the Panel in December 2015: "Due in large part to the costs born from having to respond to these congressional inquiries, our client is no longer doing business."

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) told the Panel that "recent national events have increased the challenge of obtaining the fetal tissues" that are being used for ongoing research projects. A study with the potential to impact "development of therapies for HIV, cancer, multiple sclerosis, asthma, and organ transplant rejection."

UCLA went on to explain: "Another laboratory has reduced their effort on studies that require fetal tissues, despite the importance of this research, due to concerns about personal safety."

The significance of fetal tissue research has been reiterated by other leading research institutions, including Harvard, the Yale School of Medicine, and the University of Minnesota. Other researchers have reported that promising studies and clinical trials for neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer's disease, have been halted or delayed due to the reduced availability of fetal tissue for research.

These attacks are particularly troubling as scientists race to understand how the Zika virus impacts fetal brain development and find a possible cure. A leading association of research scientists have explained that "the use of donated fetal tissue, including placental tissue, has provided the best understanding of how Zika viruses behave in the body." These insights "are already guiding the development of drugs that may protect the unborn baby from the ravages of the Zika virus."

Chair Blackburn's dangerous witch hunt has put this life-saving research at risk.

It is also directly endangering individual lives.

On Monday, Chair Blackburn publicly released the name of a health care provider who was interviewed the Panel. This doctor has already been the target of harassment and threats. She repeatedly asked the Chair to safeguard her identity. In fact, just last week, her counsel informed the Majority that her university has had to increase security to safeguard its doctors, teachers, and students. As they made crystal clear:

"[the university] has been working with campus police and local law enforcement regarding the publication of the names by the Panel Majority, as well as the publication of the address and contact information of its doctors and the lab assistant by a "Liveactionnews" blog that was published during the same week. UNM is also concerned about the inflammatory rhetoric of both publications, and will be seeking additional security measures to safeguard these individuals and their students."

Fully aware of this danger, the chair publicly released this doctor's name -- once again putting this provider, her students, her colleagues, and her patients at risk. That is disgraceful. It is also inexcusable.

Yesterday, the Panel received a letter from University counsel objecting to the Chair's public release of this name and intent to vote to release an unredacted transcript of her testimony. They reminded us that anyone favoring release of this information "will personally bear responsibility for any harm that comes to these individuals." At the eleventh hour the Chair decided not to hold that vote, which we appreciate, though much damage has already been done.

This has gone on long enough. We are elected officials. It is our awesome opportunity and responsibility to make things better for the people we serve. That privilege -- and the power that accompanies it -- should not be abused.

From the outset, this investigation has been a dangerous, partisan witch hunt. I will continue to oppose pursuit of criminal contempt. And I will continue to fight to end this investigation and undo the damage to doctors, scientists and the life-saving work that they perform.

I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the Democrats response to the Republican interim update, the letter from the University of California Los Angeles, the letter from University counsel regarding proposed release of a witness deposition, fact sheets from the International Society of Stem Cell Researchers, and today's letter from Ranking Member Pallone to Chairman Upton requesting that he "immediately intervene and demand that Select Panel Chair Blackburn withdraw her request for a contempt vote.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

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