"Americans were told to 'trust the science' but the science wasn't being fully and clearly communicated."
"Public health decisions aren't based on medical factors alone--they must take into account other factors including social, economic, or other risks."
"I'm fascinated by this discussion about the data necessary to make good decisions in the future."
"I actually think that the government and government action throughout the health crisis has greatly contributed to the rise of the anti-vax movement."
"Had our prior President, you know, gotten the vaccine as he did and told people about it, that would have done a lot of good."
"we need to invest in primary care and allow people to have that place to get nuanced information."
"we need to be cognizant of behavioral science when we're making decisions about how to increase vaccine adoption."
"It's been a little over 3 years since the House last held a hearing on this topic."
"But at the same time, the culture of openness and transparency in research that we've built here in the United States also opens us up to being manipulated by malign foreign influences."
"So the question here before the panel today is how do we balance these two ideas that are in tension?"
"Combatting that spread is something that has been a societal problem for hundreds of years now, but it's exacerbated by the fact that information now spreads so easily."
"So no one can deny that this effort to combat the spread of misinformation has severely hampered our ability to identify the origins of COVID."