During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) questioned HHS Assistant Secretary Melanie Egorin about the department's cooperation with Congressional subpoenas.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Thank the gentlelady.
00:01 All right, we're going to proceed with the second round.
00:05 I recognize myself for five minutes.
00:09 Assistant Secretary Egorin, on April 5th, HHS provided a response to inquiry about stating
00:19 that in calendar year 2021 to 2023, HHS made contact with either an unaccompanied child,
00:28 sponsor or both in 308,833 households.
00:32 HHS noted that in 66,622 households, HHS was unable to make contact
00:38 with both the sponsor and the UAC.
00:40 However, not included in HHS's production was the number in safety and well-being calls
00:45 in which HHS was unable to make contact with the UAC themselves.
00:49 As the New York Times previously reported in February 2023, HHS was unable to contact
00:54 through safety and well-being calls 85,000 UACs.
00:58 More than a year later, that number is likely far higher today.
01:03 Will you commit to provide information about when we're going to receive by the end of the week?
01:15 The number, the total number of UACs with whom you have lost contact.
01:23 Congressman, I want to first, you know, reiterate our commitment to making sure
01:32 that when children are placed with a sponsor that they have, you know, services available to them.
01:40 Unfortunately, as you saw in our President's budget proposal,
01:43 we are limited in our statutory authorities as well as our funding for post-release services.
01:48 What I can commit to you today is to come back to you with an estimate and to continue to work
01:53 with your staff regarding when we can have information available.
01:57 The information that HHS provided on April 5th was not current through 2024
02:03 and only captured calendar years 2021 to 2023.
02:06 Will you also commit to providing this information through the present date
02:10 as the subpoena compels you to?
02:11 Congressman, we will continue to work with your staff and can see what data are available.
02:18 I can continue to work through an accommodation process.
02:20 All right.
02:22 Well, let's shift a little to criminal aliens case files.
02:25 In response to the committee's February 20, 2024 subpoena that compelled the production
02:31 of case file materials for several criminal alien UACs that were released
02:35 from HHS custody during the Biden administration, HHS has produced 2,476 pages.
02:41 However, the materials produced were replete with redactions,
02:45 even though the case file materials are not classified
02:48 or subject to any applicable privilege.
02:50 Would you agree?
02:51 Congressman, we've made over 3,600 pages available for in-camera review,
03:00 and we at the department take our obligation
03:03 to protect these children's personal health and personal identifiable information seriously.
03:08 Why did HHS provide the committee with case files that contained redactions
03:14 when those redactions were not contained in the case files committee staff initially viewed
03:18 in camera?
03:18 Congressman, as we discussed before the committee the last time, we will continue to make sure
03:26 that we work through individual redactions.
03:30 And my understanding is we have worked with your team to lift specific redactions
03:35 and prioritize specific pages.
03:36 In terms of the differences, it had to do with how the accommodation process
03:42 and how the committee staff had released information previously without letting us know
03:48 that that information that did have sensitive information would be released publicly.
03:52 Will you provide the committee the documents governing HHS redactions and how they're applied?
03:57 Congressman, redactions are applied to protect the personal identifiable
04:04 and personal health information.
04:05 We are happy to continue to have conversations around specific redactions.
04:10 Do you have guidance?
04:11 Do you have guidelines for redactions?
04:13 Congressman, we provide, we approve.
04:16 Yes or no?
04:17 Congressman, we continue to.
04:19 I'd like a yes or no on that one.
04:21 Do you have internal guidelines on redactions?
04:23 Congressman, we look at the individual material and redact to make sure
04:26 that we are protecting personal health information
04:28 and personally identifiable information of the children in our care.
04:31 Where does that come from?
04:32 Does that come from guidelines or does that come from something you made up yourself?
04:35 Congressman, as you know, there is a constellation of factors that can be used
04:40 to identify any individual.
04:41 We are all at risk of that.
04:42 So, we look at documents to make sure that we protect it.
04:45 You do understand Congress is not under the Privacy Act, correct?
04:48 Congressman, we take our obligations for the personal health information
04:52 and personal identifiable information very seriously.
04:55 Apparently not serious enough to follow a subpoena from Congress.
04:58 Congressman, it's my understanding for the subpoena
05:00 that we have been incredibly responsive.
05:02 We have answered follow-up questions.
05:04 You know that's not accurate.
05:05 I'm going to yield to the gentleman from Congress.