[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S881-S903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Border Security
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I find it so interesting how people
are watching so closely to see what this administration does, and I
have been so pleased to see that the polling shows, by an overwhelming
amount, 70 percent of the American people agree with how President
Donald Trump is carrying out his job, getting things done for the
American people, things that they voted to see done, and he is keeping
those promises.
Now, when we look at the issue of illegal immigration, we see that in
his first weeks back in office, what he has done at the top of his to-
do list has been to take action to secure this border. The numbers that
we are seeing, how they have dropped with the number of encounters,
with the number of ``got-aways,'' this is encouraging. The message is
out there. The United States is going to protect and defend its
sovereignty. We are going to protect and defend our people. That is
important, and we are seeing it.
Now, the President has taken some Executive actions that have yielded
results. By Executive order, he restored the ``Remain in Mexico''
policy. He restarted the border wall construction--which, by the way,
this is something the Border Patrol has told us not for just a few
years, but for decades: We need a border wall. That is where the phrase
``build the wall'' came from; it came from people that are down there
every day protecting this country from harm.
The President has also ended catch-and-release. Now, that is that
practice where somebody comes across, and then they get their paper
that they are claiming asylum, and they are told that they can go on
into the country and go wherever. And there are nonprofits down there
on the border, and they give them a plane ticket and food and a phone
and off they go to their desired destination at taxpayer expense. So
that has ended.
The President has also sent troops to the southern border and, thank
goodness, we are seeing these deportations of criminal illegal aliens
taking place.
Yesterday in Nashville, we had eight that were apprehended in a human
trafficking ring--eight. Two of them are linked to Tren de Aragua. They
were Tren de Aragua gang members.
Now, these are all things that the President is doing to make this
country safe, and we have security moms all across this country--and
certainly across Tennessee--who are reaching out to us and saying: Keep
it going. Deport those who are criminally in this country. Let's carry
this out. We are seeing such good results.
In operations across the country, ICE, which is Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, has arrested 11,000 criminal illegal aliens,
including many violent offenders and gang members. Since inauguration
day, migrant encounters at the southern border have reportedly dropped
87 percent. As I said, we are seeing results.
We know that for years, former President Biden allowed more than 10
million illegal aliens to enter the country, including tens of
thousands of convicted criminals and more than 1.7 million known ``got-
aways.'' And for 4 years, Tennesseans and Americans across the country
have suffered the tragic consequences, including rampant migrant crime.
Recently, our Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference
released a report documenting the widespread migrant crime in our State
during the final months of the Biden administration. Now, the report
confirms what we already know, that during the Biden years, every town
was a border town; every State was a border State.
So our Tennessee District Attorneys General took the last 3 months of
2024 and they said: Let's look at what is happening in these last 3
months and see how this has escalated.
Now, of course, we know that under Joe Biden violent crime rose 43
percent his first year that he was in office. And what we saw from the
District Attorneys' General report is that there were, in 3 months--now
this is a 3-month number--there were 2,719 reports of illegal aliens
being charged or convicted of 3,854 offenses in the State of Tennessee.
Among them, the most common offense was driving under the influence.
There were 654 arrests of those illegally in the country driving under
the influence. These offenses accounted for more than 13 percent of all
DUI arrests across the entire State.
And this problem is a big reason why, last year, my Republican
colleagues and I introduced the Protect Our Communities From DUIs Act.
This bill would automatically deport any illegal alien who is charged
with driving under the influence.
As I have gone across our State, in each of our 95 counties--which I
visit every year--in each of these counties, I have heard from law
enforcement, from police chiefs, from sheriffs that these DUIs are such
an incredible problem,
[[Page S882]]
and the number that are committed by those illegally in the country.
Now, over this same 3-month period, illegal aliens committed hundreds
of violent, heinous crimes: 154 instances of domestic assault, 80 of
aggravated assault, 21--21--convicted of child abuse, 9 of statutory
rape, 8 of sexual exploitation of a minor, 7 of vehicular homicide, 4
of murder, 3 of rape of a child. And the list goes on and on.
As I said, over 2,700 illegally in the country that were convicted of
more than 3,800 crimes.
Disturbingly, these numbers are likely an undercount. Only 73 of
Tennessee's 95 counties reported data to the District Attorneys General
Conference under Biden. National data showed illegal aliens were
pouring in from countries all over the world, and the Tennessee Migrant
Crime Report also reflects this. There were 92 unique countries of
origin--from Mexico and Guatemala, Jamaica, Romania.
Here is the bottom line: Because of Joe Biden's open border policy
that was supported by far too many of my Democratic colleagues,
thousands of crimes were committed by thousands of criminal illegal
aliens in the State of Tennessee over just a 3-month span. And this, my
colleagues, is just one State. This is my State, but we know this is
happening in communities all across this country.
More than anything, the report underscores the importance of
President Trump's mass deportations which are underway. There are many
ways that Congress can support these efforts. My CLEAR Act, which I
have talked about many times on the floor, would ensure State and local
law enforcement officials have the tools to help the Federal Government
deport criminal illegal aliens. This is crucial, especially when you
have got far-left leaders like the Chicago mayor refusing to turn over
criminal illegal aliens to Federal custody.
Now, General Bondi is suing these sanctuary cities for allowing
criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our great Nation to
harm Americans. And thank goodness, she is being tough on crime.
I have also introduced the Preventing Violence Against Women By
Illegal Aliens Act, which would allow the deportation of illegal aliens
convicted of sexual offenses or domestic violence. Any illegal aliens
who commit these heinous crimes should be removed from the country
immediately, and I encourage all of my colleagues on each side of the
aisle, support this.
And my CONTAINER Act would ensure that border States like Texas have
the legal authority to place temporary barriers on Federal land to help
stop the flow of traffickers, drugs, and criminals coming across the
border.
There are thousands of criminal illegal aliens residing in Tennessee
and across the country. We should be using every resource at our
disposal to remove them from our country. In many ways, the bills that
I have mentioned would help President Trump to get the job done.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, it is not often that the stakes of a vote
to confirm a Cabinet nominee are this high, but tomorrow, when we vote
on the nomination of RFK, Jr., to be the Secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Services, the stakes will be life and death.
Mr. Kennedy, in his words but more importantly in his actions, has
proven over and over again that he is a unique danger to society, but
he is on the edge of becoming the country's top health leader, with the
power to unleash bygone diseases and undermine trust in science for
generations to come.
For the first time ever, we will have a Health Secretary who has
actively helped to cause outbreaks instead of to contain them. We will
have someone in charge of medical research who has taken every
opportunity to undermine science instead of promoting it. We will have
someone who has never come across a crazy idea that he didn't like,
whether it is that anti-depressants are the cause of mass shootings or
that chemicals in the water are turning children gay. This is the
Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Those two things
right there should be immediately disqualifying. This should be 100 to
0.
This guy used to be a Democrat. This guy was pro-choice. This guy was
for clean energy. This shouldn't be a partisan issue, except to say,
for HHS, you need somebody who has devoted their life and hopefully has
some expertise in the area of public health.
It is not just that we didn't get someone who has expertise in public
health, we have someone who has caused disease and death. I say those
words with precision. I understand that both sides of the aisle are
prone to exaggerating their case and being apocalyptic when we describe
a pending vote. I have been here for a while, and everything is always
the most important vote that we will ever cast. I don't know if this is
the most important vote we will ever cast. I do think--gosh, I hope I
am wrong; I really do hope I am wrong--I do think this is likely the
Cabinet Secretary vote that is likely to age the most poorly because
this person has the potential to actually cause diseases like rubella,
like mumps, like measles, like polio that have been gone for many
generations because we have a vaccine regime.
I want to tell you what he did in Samoa. In 2019, he flew to Samoa to
discourage people from taking the measles vaccine. The reason was that
he wanted to run a ``natural experiment'' to see how people would fare
against the disease without protections.
Some of you may know this. My father was the first whistleblower
against the Tuskegee experiments in which the U.S. Public Health
Service did a similar thing. They knew that penicillin cured syphilis,
and they knew that, for the most part, untreated syphilis caused death.
But the U.S. Public Health Service decided to divide a cohort of
African-American men into two parts. One would receive the medicine and
be safe and be cured. Another cohort would receive a placebo and not
get the lifesaving cure for syphilis. Why did they do that? To
``observe the disease process.'' To observe the disease process.
When you investigate whether or not a medicine works, there is a
whole process to it--the FDA, double-blind studies, all the rest of it.
The basic idea is that you try to get to some level of reliability or
statistical significance so you can project out into the population
what is going to work and what is not. The sick-in-the-head way to do
it is to say you can't achieve statistical significance until you just
let a bunch of people get sick and figure out what happens.
The U.S. Congress, led by someone with whom I served for a couple of
years, Tom Harkin, when they found out about the Tuskegee experiments,
they made a law against U.S. Public Health Service ever doing that
again because it is immoral. It is bad science, sure, but more than
that--they treated these African-American men as if they were worth
experimenting on; as if this category of human beings in the United
States was expendable for scientific research purposes. And that is
exactly what happened in Samoa. That is exactly what happened in Samoa:
6,000 people got the measles, 83 people died, 79 of them were kids.
It is so chilling to contemplate the idea that someone as
recognizable as a Kennedy would fly across an ocean to a small,
developing country and basically tell everybody: Be afraid of this
lifesaving medicine.
It is not like he did that once and said ``I am sorry, I
misunderstood'' or ``I am being misunderstood.'' This dude actually
sells onesies on his website saying--I think it is like ``Unvaxxed,
Unafraid'' for a little baby. This guy has views that are out of the
mainstream of, I would guess, 99 out of 100 U.S. Senators.
I do understand the pressure that some of my colleagues are facing.
They are being told: If you vote against one Trump nominee, you will be
primaried.
That is not a small amount of pressure. But this one, I just promise
you, is not going to age well.
Some of my colleagues are expressing reservations in private. I think
that is better than not expressing any reservations at all. Some of
them are getting private assurances from Mr. Kennedy that he does not,
in fact, hate all vaccines; he just wants to answer questions and all
the rest of it. I am not reassured. I think this person has
demonstrated over a pretty long career that he says whatever is
convenient in the moment.
[[Page S883]]
This is like an unreconstructed--he is a Kennedy. He was running for
President in the Democratic primary, and now he is a Trump guy like 10
months later. What does that mean? It means he has no core values.
There is just no way to go from over here to over here politically in
such a short period of time except that he was offered something, and
he was offered this job. Why does he want this job? Because he has a
very specific view about public health.
I just want to make one other point. The problem of our food system,
the problem of the extent to which we subsidize ultraprocessed foods
that are coming from commodities, that are subsidized in the farm bill
and causing people to get increasingly diabetic and all the related
health problems that happen related to that--that is a really
legitimate place to do some good, bipartisan work. I would love to do
that. It is also not what the HHS Secretary does. It is what the U.S.
Department of Agriculture does for the most part, and it is what the
Congress does.
The problem is the farm bill. The problem is, you get what you
subsidize, and we are subsidizing all the corn products and all the soy
products and all the sugar products that go into the lab-tested, extra-
delicious, extra-bad-for-you, extra-addictive stuff that is making us
all--even though we are the wealthiest country in human history--a very
unhealthy country. If that is all this guy were working on, you could
count me in.
But if your idea of public health has to do with healthy food, has to
do with prevention, has to do with understanding that our food system
and our agriculture system and our USDA and our farm bill process is
essentially broken, you don't have to purchase this kind of crazy, evil
stuff. You just don't. You don't have to do it. There are lots of good
people on the food system side you can work with, work for, cheer on,
organize with.
But this man is going around--he is not talking about the COVID
vaccine. He is not talking about whether or not it is appropriate to
require masks in public, and Democrats and Republicans are still
arguing about stuff like that. He is talking about stuff that, like, if
you are a parent and now you don't know whether, when your kid goes to
school, they have reached herd immunity for stuff that is like way,
way, way, generations back in the rearview mirror.
So I don't know if this is going to mark one of the most important
public health moments in American history, but I can't think of another
time where we actually have the technology, we have the medicine, we
have the science, we have the distribution system, we have the public
infrastructure to keep people safe, and we just decide by a vote of 53
to 47 to make people unsafe.
Secretary of Defense, DNI--all these are important--Treasury--every
Cabinet position is important. It is going to be a little more
challenging to know whether your vote is vindicated in the sweep of
history. I think this guy is going to age very poorly in the job
because I think we are going to see bad public health outcomes very,
very shortly. This really is a matter of life and death.
I understand what I have learned over the last 10 days is, if
Republicans are going to display courage, it is not going to be on the
Cabinet. There are a few that have voted not with their party, but for
the most part, they are in line, and Trump is going to get his Cabinet.
But let this be a marker for everybody. Let today be a marker for
everybody. Even if you voted for Trump, if you didn't vote for Trump,
if you are not a voter--it doesn't matter. If you think it is a good
idea to leave all of these diseases in the rearview mirror, then this
is a very, very bad person to have running the Department of Health and
Human Services.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
Ms. ALSOBROOKS. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, I had the opportunity to
question Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the President's nominee to serve as
the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
I asked Mr. Kennedy, Jr., a simple question: What different vaccine
schedule would you say I should have received?
I asked this question because just 3 years ago, Kennedy said:
We should not be giving Black people the same vaccine
schedule that's given to Whites, because their immune system
is better than ours.
When I asked him this question, Mr. Kennedy referenced a study by
Poland, a study he assured me--and not just me but also my colleagues
on both sides of the aisle and the American people watching--that this
study asserted that, indeed, certain races required a different vaccine
schedule.
That was a lie. In fact, the study's own author stated the data
doesn't support a change in vaccine schedule based on race.
Mr. Kennedy's response was damning, and his response was dangerous.
So I followed up following the hearing with a letter and with
questions. I wrote to Mr. Kennedy:
During your testimony, you cited ``a series of Poland
studies'' that underlie your claims that Black people and
White people should have different vaccine schedules. You
ended by saying--
In that hearing--
``You don't believe the science? The peer-reviewed
studies?'' Well, Mr. Kennedy, I do believe in science and [I]
did some digging into the studies you referenced. NPR
interviewed the authors of the studies you cited--medical
experts with years of experience--and they universally
disagreed with your assertions. In fact, Dr. Richard Kennedy
of the Mayo Clinic, who was involved in a study you
mentioned, made clear that ``the data doesn't support a
change in vaccine schedule based on race.'' Dr. Kennedy
also stated that your suggestion would be ``twisting the
data far beyond what [the studies] actually demonstrate.''
Dr. Gregory Poland, who you mentioned by name during the
hearing as doing research supportive of your claim, told NPR
that his team ``found `no evidence of increased vaccine side
effects' and that any claim of `increased vulnerability'
among African Americans who receive the rubella vaccine is
`simply not supported by either this study or the science.'
''
NPR quoted Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University as saying
[that] your conclusion was `taking it to a very unsafe place'
because Black children already have lower vaccination rates
than their peers. That is why I said your claims on this
issue were dangerous.
[I have to ask you, Mr. Kennedy]: Do you still believe that Black and
White individuals should have different vaccination schedules?
Now, you would think that the man who wants to serve as the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, the man who wants to be tasked with the
mission of HHS, which is improving the health, safety, and well-being
of America, would provide a thoughtful and nuanced response. It was
anything but because, let's be clear, Mr. Kennedy is not a doctor; he
is not a scientist. In fact, his only tangential connection to the
world of health and science is decades-long activism in questioning the
efficacy and safety of vaccines. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised
at his curt and dismissive response.
Mr. Kennedy wrote:
If confirmed, I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes
it difficult or discourages people from taking the vaccines
but instead seek transparency in these products.
Yet another lie.
Mr. Kennedy's life story is one riddled with quackery and laden with
conspiracy theories.
I quote him; when he said:
There's no vaccine that is safe and effective.
I quote:
None of the childhood [vaccines] have ever been studied.
He also said:
They get the shot; that night, they have a fever of 103;
they go to sleep; and 3 months later, their brain is gone.
This is a Holocaust, what [this country is doing].
I quote:
Autism comes from vaccines.
The polio vaccine given to his generation caused cancer
that ``killed many, many, many, many more people than polio
ever did.
The COVID vaccine was the ``deadliest ever made.''
He also said:
COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people.
The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and
Chinese.
He also said:
There's no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.
These are all statements made by a man who is asking to be held
responsible for a singular mission. The mission of the U.S. Department
of Health
[[Page S884]]
and Human Services is to enhance the health and well-being of all
Americans by providing for effective health and human services and by
fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying
medicine, public health, and social services. It is a task of epic
responsibility; a serious job that, when done well, can save hundreds
of thousands of lives; a job that, when done poorly, will most
certainly cost American lives.
Let us not speak of Mr. Kennedy in a vacuum. We have now held the
floor multiple times over the past week over a string of nominees that
are dangerous to the American people not because--and I cannot stress
this enough--we disagree with their politics or their worldviews. We
can have robust policy debate. We can have robust scientific debate. In
fact, robust debate has the potential to move us forward as a country.
Respectful debate is the hallmark of this body. It is a crucial
component of free speech.
I went to law school, and I spent years in the courtroom trying cases
and making my arguments before a jury of my peers. Grounding my
arguments was a basic set of evidentiary facts. But what we are dealing
with here isn't a debate; it is a popularity contest and a test of
loyalty.
Mr. Kennedy is not in this position today as the nominee for
Secretary of Health and Human Services because of his vast experience
in medicine. Mr. Kennedy is not in this position today because of his
deep scientific knowledge. Mr. Kennedy is not in this position today
because he has respect for the scientific method. Mr. Kennedy is not in
this position today because he respects medicine. Mr. Kennedy, like
many of his fellow nominees, is in this position today because of his
deep loyalty to the President of the United States.
What makes our job increasingly difficult as Members of the U.S.
Senate is that we have the duty to advise and consent. It isn't just a
privilege of this Chamber; it is a responsibility to speak for the
people of our States as well as the American people as we evaluate the
qualifications, the experience, and the temperament of a President's
Cabinet nominees.
What is happening on the part of my Republican colleagues is not
advice and consent. The sole qualification being assessed is loyalty--
not loyalty to country, not loyalty to the American people, not loyalty
to the duties and responsibilities we have been entrusted with by the
voters in each of our States. The sole qualification up for assessment
is loyalty to the President, and Mr. Kennedy has that in spades.
But loyalty to this President comes at a cost--not a cost to the
billionaires, not a cost to the people in this body but at a cost to
the American people--Democratic Americans, Republican Americans,
Independent Americans, Americans who voted for this President,
Americans who did not, and Americans who did not vote at all.
The President has been consistent that he believes the American
people delivered him a mandate to carry out his agenda. With respect to
the health, safety, and well-being of America--the purview of Health
and Human Services--the President believes that cutting funds for
medical research into things like cures for cancer is apparently a part
of that mandate.
Just this weekend, the President announced massive cuts to NIH--an
Agency which I am proud to say has its home in Maryland. The mission of
the National Institutes of Health is to seek fundamental knowledge
about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of
that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and
disability. It falls under the very Agency Mr. Kennedy is seeking to
run.
Here are what some scientists--people I implore Mr. Kennedy to listen
to despite his apparent distaste for the profession--had to say about
these massive cuts:
Dr. Richard Huganir, professor and chairman of the Department of
Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in my State
of Maryland, said:
We were all just dumbstruck. I'm calling it the apocalypse
of American science. This will basically change science as we
know it in the [United States]. . . . The bottom line is that
we are going to have a lot less resources, which obviously
means we are going to have to lay people off and research
will be slowed down.
Dr. Otis Brawley, professor of oncology and epidemiology at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Policy,
said:
We're going to see health research kneecapped.
Dr. Brawley has actually overseen grants at the National Cancer
Institute, which is part of the NIH, as well as received them for his
cancer research.
He went on to say:
People who are getting treated in clinical trials now for
cancer will find many of those trials will close down.
Dr. David J. Skorton, president of the Association of American
Medical Colleges, said:
These are real consequences--longer waits for cures and for
diagnosis, slower scientific progress, losing out to
competitors around the world, and fewer jobs. Those who are
facing any health challenges will suffer from less biomedical
research.
Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, a Duke University--my alma mater; go Blue
Devils!--professor of medicine who won the Nobel Peace Prize in
chemistry in 2012, said:
I think the American people need to understand how
devastating it would be if this goes through. A lot of
research would just have to stop; I can't imagine that the
shortfall could be met from other sources.
NIH funding supports over 600 current and ongoing clinical trials at
Johns Hopkins in Maryland. The NIH supports hundreds more critical
research projects and clinical trials at the University of Maryland--
clinical trials in cancer, pediatrics and children's health, heart and
vascular studies, and the aging brain; research on traumatic brain
injury to members of the military, suicide prevention, addiction, and
patient safety.
Clinical trials support over 23,000 jobs and $5.7 billion in economic
activity in Maryland. These massive cuts will lead to over $200 million
in losses to Hopkins and over $50 million in losses to the University
of Maryland.
I may not be a Republican voter, but I can assure you, Republicans
across our country aren't seeking to stymie progress on a cure for
cancer.
By putting the NIH in his crosshairs, the President is targeting some
of the most vulnerable Americans: the young child suffering from sickle
cell disease; the working mom who is also struggling to care for a
parent with Alzheimer's; the family member suffering from an opioid
addiction; the father dying of lung cancer--all diseases being actively
researched by the NIH.
Disease and suffering do not respect the boundary of partisan
politics; they impact each and every American family. It falls in part
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to do everything in his
power to get us closer to cures. Instead, I fear we have a nominee
before us who is more interested in getting us closer to conspiracies.
With loyalty to the man in the White House as opposed to the health
and well-being of the American public, Mr. Kennedy is likely to follow
his boss in supporting attacks on Medicaid. This administration and my
Republican colleagues are seeking to upend Federal Medicaid financing
and are considering per capita caps and repealing Medicaid expansion
funding.
Let me make this simple. The Republican framework to cut Medicaid
puts nearly 435,000 Marylanders at risk of losing coverage. It will
lead to major gaps in healthcare coverage and undermine family economic
security. It will put quality care out of reach for more families.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, these are Democratic
families; these are Republicans families. That shouldn't matter to the
President or to the nominee for the Department of Health and Human
Services. All that should matter is that these are proud American
families.
The administration's attacks on Medicaid would kick millions of
people off their health coverage and force States to make deep cuts to
benefits, eligibility, and reimbursement rates. My State can't afford
these cuts. Maryland's families can't afford these cuts, as 96 percent
of eligible children in Maryland are supported by Medicaid and/or CHIP.
Cuts would disproportionately hurt children with the lowest incomes and
the highest healthcare needs.
[[Page S885]]
At a time when Americans are struggling under the weight of
inflation--scraping to pay for food, gas, and housing--we cannot strip
away or cut their health coverage. That is a cruel move that will
certainly bankrupt many individuals and families. Many Americans are
one catastrophe away from financial ruin, and if you take away their
coverage and access to affordable care, it will be realized.
Don't just take it from me; Marylanders have been calling and writing
in, demanding that Congress do everything it can to fight against
attacks to Medicaid.
Jacqueline from Baltimore shared this with us:
One day, I was at work and passed out in the bathroom. Had
to be cut out of the restroom by the firemen. After being in
a coma for 12 days, it was determined that I am a diabetic.
Having Medicaid saved my life. If I did not have Medicaid or
any insurance, I would have been sent home, and who knows
what would have happened?
Another constituent from Ellicott City shared this:
My 22-year-old son has autism and a significant cognitive
disability. He is a happy, affectionate person who loves
being around people and being physically active. Due to
behavioral challenges at home, he lives in a group home. This
environment is one in which he can be safe and thrive. He
also attends a program licensed by the state's Developmental
Disability Administration Mondays through Fridays, 9-3. This
program provides meaningful day services. Both his group
home and day program services are funded through DDA's
Medicaid Waiver. Given the cost of my son's services and
the services of many other individuals with developmental
disabilities, a limit on federal Medicaid dollars would no
doubt force Maryland to reduce services. If my son was not
able to continue living in his group home, he would become
homeless. Another impact of Medicaid cuts could be his
healthcare, as he is fully reliant upon Medicaid for his
health insurance. He will never be able to work enough
hours to draw health insurance benefits, due to his
disability.
Such an anecdote should stir all of us to action. It should stir the
Members of this body to take more seriously our duty to advise and
consent, to push back against a nominee who sees his role as a loyal
foot soldier to one American who sits in the White House and not the
millions of Americans whose health and healthcare are on the line.
Last week, I looked Mr. Kennedy in the eye, and said I would not be
supporting his nomination. I said that his views are so dangerous to
our State and to our country; that his voice would be a voice that
parents would listen to.
I honored my constitutional duty of advice and consent.
On behalf of every single Marylander who has lost a loved one to
disease, every single Marylander who works at NIH or is actively
researching cures, every single Marylander who has been led astray by a
snake-oil salesman peddling quackery instead of science, I will be
voting no on Mr. Kennedy for them.
To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I urge you to think
long and hard about the phrase that you believe encapsulates your
mandate--``America First.'' If we are not putting the people of this
country first, then we are most certainly not putting this country
first. ``America First'' cannot exist if the people in this country are
too sick to be strong. And when you have someone like Mr. Kennedy
responsible for the health of our citizenry, I fear that is where we
are headed--dead last, literally and figuratively.
I may not be able to stop this nominee from being confirmed, but I
want every Marylander to know that I will never stop fighting for your
health and for the health of your loved ones.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor to join my
colleagues with a great deal of concern to discuss the Trump
administration's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to be the next
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
To put it very simply at the outset, Robert F. Kennedy--RFK, Jr.--is
unfit to lead the highest health office in our Nation.
First of all, RFK has no--let me repeat, no--health or medical
experience. That, in and of itself, should be a redflag on this
nominee, who is supposed to be tasked with leading our Nation's health
Agency.
But, sadly, that is not where the redflags end.
From his radical and dangerous opinions on vaccines and public health
to his promises to cut medical research, to his ever-changing position
on women's rights to access reproductive healthcare, he has proven that
he lacks the credibility, the knowledge, and the capability to be the
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Let's take a step back. When President Trump ran his campaign, he ran
a campaign on lowering costs for working Americans. Well, where has
that promise gone?
We saw today that inflation has gone up in the last quarter. It is
over 3 percent now. And we have seen nothing from President Trump's
first weeks in office that addresses the high cost of healthcare, of
food, of housing, of childcare.
Two weeks ago, this administration, including the Health and Human
Services Agency, halted funding across the board for programs like our
community health centers and substance use treatment programs. These
centers are often the main source of healthcare for their communities.
They serve the people across the States of this country.
In our office, I heard from programs like Coos County Family Health,
a community health center that provides lifesaving care to rural
patients across the northern part of New Hampshire, what we call the
North Country. Their programs for training new doctors and providing
services for victims of domestic violence were, and still are, at risk,
thanks to Trump's Executive orders and funding freeze.
I heard from Navigating Recovery in Laconia. That is a substance use
treatment service that depends on Federal funding for more than 50
percent of its budget. They are worried about keeping their doors open.
This is an organization with providers who will literally sit with a
patient by their hospital bed, following an overdose, to make sure they
are getting the best guidance, the best treatment, and the follow-on
services, like housing and childcare, that allows them to start their
recovery.
This is a real issue for us in New Hampshire, where we have been hit
very hard by the opioid epidemic.
The Trump Executive orders and funding cuts will force Navigating
Recovery to lay off staff and to curtail assists, should those funding
cuts continue.
These are actions on the part of the White House that don't lower
costs for family. They do just the opposite. They put people out of
work, and they weaken our ability to care for our most vulnerable
populations.
But when he was asked if he would reverse this policy of cutting
funding for programs like substance use recovery, RFK refused.
The thing is, we should be taking steps right now to lower costs for
families and children. Half of the uninsured Granite Staters site costs
as their reason for not being able to afford health insurance. More
than two-thirds of people in New Hampshire have delayed care, and
another 25 percent have delayed buying needed prescriptions or said
they have to ration their meds.
We could help these people right now. We could pass the Healthcare
Affordability Act, which would make permanent premium tax credits in
the Affordable Care Act that have cut healthcare costs for 24 million
Americans, nearly 70,000 from New Hampshire.
Passing that bill would directly help constituents like the man in
Newmarket who contacted our office. He is 55 years old. He is a patient
at Lamprey Health Care, which is a community health center. He had been
uninsured and avoided going to a doctor his whole life. But, sadly, he
was recently hospitalized for 10 days because of complications from
untreated diabetes. He had sepsis, and he had an infection in his foot.
Unfortunately, he didn't have insurance when he was hospitalized.
But, luckily, Lamprey Health Care sat with him and helped him purchase
health insurance on healthcare.gov, helping him avoid potentially
devastating medical debt.
These tax credits are vital to his and to millions of Americans'
ability to afford healthcare. But, again, when asked about these tax
credits, RFK refused to say that he would support extending them--so
much for any concern about lowering costs for families.
[[Page S886]]
Now, if this administration is not trying to lower costs, what are
they doing to help the people they swore an oath to serve?
Last Friday, our research institutions got a notification almost
overnight that their funding through the National Institutes of Health
would be gutted. This decision threatens our ability to find cures for
diseases, to get ahead of public health crises, and to hire and retain
talent. I think it was made rashly and irresponsibly, without really
understanding what the impact would be.
Slashing those funds won't make research more efficient. Instead, it
is going to cripple our ability to treat and cure horrific diseases.
Dartmouth College, which is in Hanover, NH, is one of our preeminent
research institutions in the country. Last year, Dartmouth received
nearly $100 million in NIH funding to help with its cutting-edge
research to treat diseases like diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and
Alzheimer's. This NIH decision--this decision by the Trump
administration will cut Dartmouth's funding by $38 million. And we
don't know what the future impact of that would be.
Will we miss the next cure for pediatric cancer? Will we fail to
advance treatments in Alzheimer's?
What we do know is that this has an immediate impact on the people
living in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire. More than 1,300 employees
are supported by Federal grants at Dartmouth, and the vast majority of
these are supported by the National Institutes of Health. The job loss,
the economic impact that will result from this decision will be
devastating.
And, sadly, once these jobs are gone and the researchers leave, there
is no going back because they are going someplace else. They are going
overseas.
But we, unfortunately, know that RFK supports this decision because
he has publicly supported gutting NIH staff and research. If Robert
Kennedy is confirmed, I fear he will do nothing to push back or to
reverse these reckless decisions.
The Secretary of HHS also holds immense power over ensuring that
women in our country have the ability to access reproductive health
services, including abortion. Interestingly, I thought this was
something that RFK and I agreed on, but now I am not clear what he
supports.
He used to proudly say that he was pro-choice, but since being
nominated, that belief seems to have disappeared overnight. The only
thing I think he truly believes is in his desire to do whatever Trump
wants, even if it means compromising his own values.
Women in this country need to know that the Secretary of Health and
Human Services will defend our rights to access all the healthcare we
need. But at every turn, Republicans and the Trump administration have
pushed forward dangerous policies intended to threaten access to full
reproductive care.
They put on the Supreme Court the Justices who overturned Roe v.
Wade, and at the State level, they have instituted draconian abortion
bans that threaten the lives of mothers.
Women are literally dying--dying--from a lack of care because of
these bans on our health. This is 2025. How did we get here? I remember
before Roe v. Wade. I remember when hundreds of thousands of women died
from back-ally abortions. Are we back to that point?
Everyone knows that banning abortion and making women seek dangerous
options does not stop abortions. It makes them more deadly. But with
RFK at the helm, that is the grim reality we face.
He is not someone I trust to defend a woman's right to access
reproductive healthcare. He is not someone I want leading Health and
Human Services.
One of the few issues that we have some actually insight into are his
views on public health. His dangerous, radical, and wrong beliefs about
vaccines are well documented. Every child who gets sick or dies from a
disease that could be prevented by a vaccine is a tragedy.
RFK will not only undermine public confidence in vaccines; he
indicated that he intends to continue to profit from anti-vaccine
lawsuits. It is shameful, and it is corrupt.
We have also heard reports that the Trump administration plans to cut
as much as 50 percent of Health and Human Services' staff and decimate
the work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC is our first line of defense for public health, most
importantly tracking and responding to outbreaks of diseases not only
domestically but abroad as well. The Trump administration has already
taken steps to gut our global health and aid efforts, from withdrawing
from the World Health Organization to cutting the CDC and the U.S.
Agency for International Development.
They argue that these efforts are wasteful and unnecessary. But just
last Friday, we were notified in New Hampshire that we had only the
third confirmed case ever in the United States of clade I monkeypox, or
Mpox. The case is travel-related, meaning the patient caught the
disease abroad and brought it home.
Sadly, these diseases don't just stop at countries' borders. They
don't just happen overseas. They affect us here at home. The Trump
administration's efforts to eliminate our public health infrastructure
doesn't make America safer, it doesn't make America stronger, and it
doesn't make America more prosperous. It does the exact opposite.
And Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is complicit. He is complicit in these
efforts, and he will only continue them should he be confirmed.
America deserves a leader at HHS who values science, who protects
public health, who defends women's rights to reproductive care--to the
full range of reproductive care--and who upholds the integrity of our
country's core health systems. RFK, Jr., has shown time and again that
he is not that leader.
His dangerous rhetoric on vaccines, his reckless plans to gut
critical Agencies, and lack of understanding of basic healthcare make
him uniquely unqualified to advance the well-being of all Americans. I
urge my colleagues to reject his nomination for Secretary of Health and
Human Services.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Banks). The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I yield 30 minutes of postcloture debate
time to the Democratic leader.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right.
The Senator from Michigan.
Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr.'s nomination to serve as Secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Services, also known as HHS.
Throughout his entire nomination process, it has become clear that
Mr. Kennedy is wholly unprepared to lead this Department, which is
charged with promoting, as well as protecting, the health of all
Americans.
If confirmed as Secretary, he would be tasked with managing programs
that millions of Americans depend on each and every day, including
Medicaid and Medicare; the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC; the
Food and Drug Administration, or FDA; the National Institutes of
Health, or NIH; as well as a number of other initiatives aimed at
preparing for and responding to public health and medical emergencies.
In total, HHS has a nearly $2 trillion budget and manages more than
90,000 employees. HHS is an extremely, extremely complex organization
that requires a leader with expertise on how these critically,
critically important programs are actually administered.
Yet, during his hearings before the Senate Finance and HELP
Committees, Mr. Kennedy showed his severe lack of knowledge and
understanding about the most basic of Federal health programs. Mr.
Kennedy could not answer the most basic questions about how the
Medicaid Program works or how it benefits more than 70 million
Americans who depend on health insurance.
At a time when Republicans are proposing drastic cuts to the Medicaid
Program to pay for their tax cuts to billionaires, we need a Secretary
who not only knows how the program works but will protect the access to
healthcare services it provides for children and some of the most
vulnerable people in our country. It is very clear Robert Kennedy, Jr.,
is not that Secretary.
During his nomination process, Mr. Kennedy also made it clear he does
not understand the differences between the
[[Page S887]]
various components of Medicare, a program that keeps our seniors cared
for well into their golden years and often plays a key role in a
person's decision about whether or not they can retire with dignity.
Amid ongoing threats from Republicans to privatize Medicare, we need
a Secretary who will protect this program that generations of seniors
have counted on to get care and generations to come that are paying
into that fund for their future.
Mr. Kennedy's lack of experience and basic understanding of our
Nation's healthcare system is, to say the least, extremely alarming. We
cannot confirm a nominee who doesn't even know the most basic answers
about programs that he is actually in charge of administering.
Since Mr. Kennedy was nominated to lead HHS, I have heard from
thousands of my constituents from every corner of Michigan--from
densely populated cities to some of the most rural areas in our State--
who are deeply concerned about how his plans for the Department would
impact families. For example, I have heard from countless folks about
the rising cost of healthcare that is squeezing Michigan families'
budgets. Healthcare prices are rising faster than inflation, making it
even harder for people to get the care that they need.
I have heard from a constituent who has operated a food pantry in her
community for 13 years. She worries about what will happen to the
people that she serves if they do not have access to the food security
programs made possible by HHS. In her letter, she shared that most of
the people in her pantry services are literally one ER visit or one car
breakdown away from being able to feed themselves or their families.
Public health initiatives are a lifeline for so many in Michigan as
well as across our country. When our neighbors have access to basic
health resources, it allows them to focus on improving their lives,
whether that is gaining meaningful employment or getting an education.
So we need an HHS Secretary who is focused on improving access to
Medicaid and expanding the premium tax credits for the Affordable Care
Act that allows millions of Americans to access affordable healthcare.
That clearly is not Robert Kennedy. He would not be that Secretary.
Instead, he believes that Americans would rather be on privatized, for-
profit healthcare.
HHS is also in charge of providing mental health services and support
to communities all across our country. Unfortunately, we have a mental
health crisis impacting Americans today, with record high levels of
mental illness and suicides, especially among our youth.
I received a letter from a social worker in Michigan who helps
students who were traumatized by the horrific shootings at Oxford High
School in Michigan and at Michigan State University. She is worried
that, without proper mental health resources, Americans who have been
impacted by senseless gun violence--whether at school, at their places
of worship, at nightclubs, or at shopping malls--will grieve and
struggle alone.
Unfortunately, Mr. Kennedy has only further stigmatized these
important resources, even making comments during his confirmation
hearing linking an increase in school shootings to an increased use of
antidepressants. Mr. Kennedy's ideas would only worsen the mental
health crisis that we are seeing today.
Instead, we need a Secretary who will invest in SAMHSA, the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. We need a Secretary
who will ensure that everyone has access to the programs and health
professionals needed to address this mental health crisis. Robert
Kennedy, Jr., is not that Secretary.
HHS oversees our Nation's major medical research, helping to advance
breakthroughs in science and development of new treatments for deadly
diseases, from childhood cancers to Alzheimer's. Research institutions
across my home State of Michigan are conducting critically important
research to improve health outcomes for Americans who suffer from these
diseases.
A Michigan scientist who specializes in CDC research contacted my
office. They fear that if Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, it could impact
their ability and the ability of thousands of researchers all across
our country to conduct medical research that is literally saving lives.
In a matter of weeks, we have already seen the Trump administration
freeze funding and halt critical work at the National Institutes of
Health and its research partners across the country. We need a
Secretary who will fight to do this important research moving forward,
research to cure cancer, to treat deadly viruses, and to address
cardiovascular disease. Mr. Kennedy is not--he is not--that Secretary.
Advancing medical research is especially important today as we face
increased cases of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases like
measles. And despite this, Mr. Kennedy has time and time again sown
doubt and promoted dangerous lies about the safety of vaccines.
My constituents are alarmed at what that will mean for their
families. A concerned mother-to-be--who wrote to me and my office when
she was 38 weeks pregnant--told me that Mr. Kennedy's long history of
spreading dangerous medical disinformation and undermining public
health initiatives is directly at odds with how she plans to keep her
future child from infectious disease.
I also heard from a constituent who was born before the polio vaccine
was approved. She said that, to this day, she can still remember the
relief on her mother's face when the polio vaccine became available.
This moment has stuck with her throughout her 30-year career as a
registered nurse, where she has made it her life's work to study and
safely administer vaccines in her community.
Let's be clear. Let's be absolutely clear. Vaccines are
scientifically proven to protect against diseases like chickenpox,
polio, influenza and, yes, COVID-19.
We have eradicated deadly diseases and protected our children due to
incredible scientific advances in vaccine research. But now vaccine
skeptics like Mr. Kennedy have risen to prominence, discouraging people
from getting safe, proven vaccines, and putting every American's health
at risk when it comes to infectious diseases.
We need a Secretary who understands the effectiveness of vaccines and
who will do more to prevent these diseases through routine childhood
immunizations. Mr. Kennedy is not that Secretary, and, if confirmed,
Mr. Kennedy has made it perfectly clear that he will stand in direct
opposition to this evidence-based medicine.
Mr. Kennedy's falsehoods about basic public health practices have
impacts that stretch far beyond our physical health. Another
constituent, a clinical therapist, said she is seeing firsthand the
devastating impacts that misinformation can have on mental health,
adherence to treatment, and overall patient well-being. Specifically,
she mentioned that ``the spread of falsehoods about vaccines,
psychiatric care, and medical service fuels distrust in lifesaving
interventions, exacerbates existing mental health crises, and hinders
efforts to connect patients with effective, evidence-based
treatments.''
I have even heard from parents who are concerned about Mr. Kennedy's
narrative suggesting vaccines cause autism. Because he has given
credibility to these lies and questioned facts from scientists and
doctors, these parents worry that their children will not receive the
most basic, routine care they deserve.
In the midst of so many healthcare challenges, from prescription
drugs to mental health, to various public health threats, we cannot
afford to have someone as unprepared as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in
charge of all these public health Agencies.
Even well-respected organizations know that Mr. Kennedy would be an
absolute disaster for our public health. Take the American Public
Health Association, for example. In a letter, they said:
To effectively lead our nation's top health agency, a
candidate should ideally be trained in health administration,
clinical care, or a related field and must believe in and
follow the scientific evidence that serves as the basis of
our nation's system to protect and to promote the public's
health from the many threats we face.
We simply cannot afford to have someone as unqualified as Robert
Kennedy, Jr., be in charge of our top public
[[Page S888]]
health Agency. He has failed to exhibit even the most basic knowledge
of how HHS programs are administered to the millions of Americans who
depend on them each and every day. He has misrepresented scientific
evidence that is at the foundation of what HHS sets out to accomplish,
which is keeping Americans healthy and protected from disease. He has
demonized doctors, scientists, researchers, and medical professionals
who, unlike him, have actually done the important work to keep our
communities safe.
I urge my colleagues to judge Mr. Kennedy on his lack of
qualifications. It is clear he simply does not have the expertise, the
training, or even the leadership skills necessary to lead a Department
as important as HHS.
We need a Secretary who will protect the health of Americans. Robert
Kennedy is not that Secretary, and if he is confirmed to lead the
Department of Health and Human Services, the American people will
ultimately pay the price with their health.
I urge my colleagues to join me in voting no.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, just over 5 years ago, Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., traveled to the Pacific island Samoa. Mr. Kennedy was on
a mission to spread baseless and debunked conspiracy theories about the
safety and efficacy of children's vaccines.
Trading in his esteemed family name and peddling himself as some sort
of expert, Mr. Kennedy discouraged parents in Samoa from vaccinating
their children. The impact of Mr. Kennedy's visit was undeniable.
Health providers in Samoa reported that anti-vaccine voices ``got
louder'' after his visit, and the rate of measles vaccinations for
eligible 1-year-olds in Samoa fell to under 33 percent--well below herd
immunity.
Five months after Mr. Kennedy's visit, Samoa had a massive measles
outbreak, with 5,000 of its citizens contracting the disease and 83
Samoans dying, the vast majority of whom were children under the age of
5.
During his recent Senate confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy doubled
down on his denialism, claiming, ``We don't know what was killing''
those children in Samoa.
Mr. Kennedy also claimed in written responses to Senate questions
that ``my words had nothing to do with vaccine uptake in Samoa or with
the 2019 epidemic.'' But the current top health official in Samoa has
denounced Mr. Kennedy's characterization of the measles outbreak in his
country and Mr. Kennedy's role in it as ``an outright lie'' and ``a
total fabrication.''
As someone with a background in science but more importantly, just as
a father of two young men, I am horrified by this story. The measles
vaccine has been one of the most successful public health and science
stories of the last century. One vaccine administered in two doses now
provides protection against four devastating diseases: measles, mumps,
rubella, and chickenpox.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, nearly twice as many young people
died from measles as from polio. Thanks to incredible scientific
research and medical advances, we now have a vaccine that is proven to
be safe and effective at protecting our kids from these deadly
diseases. This vaccine has largely eradicated the measles outbreaks
that used to result in the devastating loss of babies and young
children--that is, until anti-vaccine crusaders like Mr. Kennedy
started promoting phony science and conspiracy theories in places like
Samoa.
Over the last two decades, thanks in large part to Mr. Kennedy, this
anti-science movement has moved from the darkest corners of the
internet into the mainstream. The Samoan story provides us a
heartbreaking example of just what is at stake if we give this
movement's leader a national platform to spread his junk science.
I hope all of my colleagues take seriously what it would mean to
confirm this anti-vaccine, anti-science, snake oil salesman as our next
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
As the leader of the largest anti-vaccine organization in the
country, the so-called ``Children's Defense Fund''--and I use air
quotes for a reason--Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly pushed junk science
studies to spread fear and skepticism of vaccines. And it is not
limited to the measles. Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly and falsely alleged
that safe and effective vaccines for tetanus, for the flu, for COVID,
for HPV are dangerous to human health.
Mr. Kennedy has even promoted the completely discredited conspiracy
theory that vaccines lead to autism. I want to be really clear that
decades of extensive, peer-reviewed, scientific studies have found no
connection--zero connection--between vaccines and autism. When he was
pressed about this during his confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy
continued to promote junk science studies rather than walk back his
misinformation.
In response to Mr. Kennedy's words in his confirmation hearing,
Christopher Banks, the president and CEO of the Autism Society of
America, said:
The Autism community deserves leadership that prioritizes
evidence-based policies and respects the lived experiences of
Autistic individuals and their families. The continued
promotion of debunked vaccine theories only serves as a
distraction from the critical research needed to better
understand Autism and provide support for the Autism
community today.
I completely agree with Mr. Banks.
Financial disclosures from his confirmation process have also
revealed that Mr. Kennedy has made millions of dollars in referral fees
from law firms suing vaccine manufacturers based on baseless conspiracy
theories. If confirmed, his own personal financial interests could
still be tied to these anti-vaccine lawsuits.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to more than a
million deaths in the United States alone, Mr. Kennedy campaigned to
end the nationwide vaccination effort that helped us save millions more
lives. He continued his well-worn and, again, completely evidence-free
message that no vaccine is safe and effective. And just like with all
vaccines, the COVID vaccines went through independent review and
extensive trials to ensure they were safe and effective. If Mr. Kennedy
had had his way, we might still be losing thousands and thousands of
our family members and neighbors to that virus.
Mr. Kennedy has, again, without any sound evidence also pushed
conspiracy theories claiming that antidepressant medications cause mass
shootings and chemicals in our water make children gay. If those claims
sound nuts, it is because they are.
Mr. Kennedy has said that he is opposed to promoting prescription
medications to treat chronic diseases, including anti-obesity
medications like Ozempic that are currently used by millions of
Americans.
Mr. Kennedy has said that he would eliminate the entire nutrition
department at the Food and Drug Administration, jeopardizing the safety
of our Nation's food supplies.
Mr. Kennedy has said that he supports gutting the National Institutes
of Health, which supports the development of medicines to treat
diseases and delivers untold resources to healthcare institutions in
New Mexico and every other State in this country.
During his confirmation process, Mr. Kennedy also reportedly made
commitments to my Republican colleagues to support restrictions on
mifepristone, a medication abortion and miscarriage management drug.
Mifepristone has been approved by the FDA for 25 years.
It is true that Mr. Kennedy has made a number of conflicting
statements in the past about his personal views on women's reproductive
healthcare, but during his confirmation process, Mr. Kennedy signaled
to Republican Senators that he will go along with whatever President
Trump wants to further roll back women's reproductive rights.
Mr. Kennedy is not who any of us should want to put in charge of our
Nation's health and food safety. The Department of Health and Human
Services oversees health coverage programs that serve half--half--of
all Americans. HHS plays a critical role in overseeing Medicare,
overseeing Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. HHS also supports the
medical research that helps us to develop the next vaccines, prevent
the next pandemic, and find cures for cancer and chronic diseases like
diabetes.
We have already seen President Trump, Elon Musk, and his DOGE minions
target scientific and medical research at Agencies like the National
Institutes of Health. Just last week, we saw them announce an estimated
$4 billion cut for health research at universities across the Nation,
including
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an estimated $17 million impact at the University of New Mexico
alone. And just like many of the unilateral and illegal actions of this
emboldened Trump administration, this one received a temporary halt
from a Federal judge 2 days ago.
But whether this particular attack holds up in court or not, the
Trump administration's intention is clear: dramatic cuts to medical
research into treatments and cures that countless Americans are
depending upon to save their lives. Mr. Kennedy plans to lead this
effort and even to expand on it.
Mr. Kennedy is not who my constituents in New Mexico want to see
leading our Nation's health Agency. In fact, New Mexicans have raised
their concerns in letters and emails and phone calls day in and day
out, and I am going to take a few minutes to read to you from some of
these New Mexicans who are terrified about the danger that Mr. Kennedy
would pose as our Nation's healthcare Agency leader.
Melissa from Albuquerque is concerned that Mr. Kennedy's past of
promoting misinformation about vaccines and his lack of experience will
endanger Americans.
Melissa said:
This role demands a leader who relies on evidence-based
decision-making, upholds public trust, and prioritizes the
health and safety of all Americans. RFK Jr.'s history of
promoting conspiracy theories makes him fundamentally unfit
for this critical position. If RFK Jr. were confirmed to head
HHS, millions of American lives would be put at risk. His
policies would jeopardize public health and undermine efforts
to protect our communities from preventable diseases and
health crises.
William from Albuquerque, a retired University of New Mexico health
communications professor and longtime NIH principal investigator, knows
that Mr. Kennedy's harmful rhetoric and lies will hurt public health
efforts and lead to unnecessary deaths.
William said:
My research team and I have had to continually battle anti-
vax misinformation. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is often at the
center of that misinformation. I urge you in the strongest
possible terms to oppose his nomination as Secretary of HHS.
The damage he would do will take decades to undo and will
lead undoubtedly to US morbidity and mortality increasing due
to infectious diseases.
Jane from Albuquerque is concerned that Mr. Kennedy's lack of
experience will negatively impact the health of New Mexicans.
She said:
The administration has nominated manifestly unqualified
individuals and those openly hostile to evidence to head the
Department of Health and Human Services and the individual
agencies that are charged with protecting the health of
everyone in the U.S. This abdication of responsibility will
undoubtedly impact vulnerable populations most profoundly,
including those living in New Mexico.
Mark from Albuquerque, a survivor of polio, knows that the polio
vaccine effectively eradicated this relentless and deadly disease. He
is worried that Mr. Kennedy's confirmation could stifle future
vaccinations like the one that saved his life.
Mark said:
I am a polio survivor. I know that I was very fortunate in
my recovery and I also know that the vaccines effectively
eradicated this relentless and deadly disease. So, I ask that
you do whatever you can to prevent RFK Jr. from overseeing
the healthcare of all Americans!
Lori from Las Cruces is also worried that Mr. Kennedy's history of
spreading misinformation could harm Americans.
Lori said:
If the Senate confirms RFK Jr. to lead the Department of
Health and Human Services, Americans' health care will be put
at risk and we'll be ill-prepared for another public health
catastrophe. We need to push for a qualified, trustworthy
nominee to lead America's health policy.
Meghan from Albuquerque, a primary care physician, is worried that
Mr. Kennedy's lack of experience and disregard for evidence-based
medicine pose a danger to Americans.
Meghan said:
As a primary care physician in New Mexico, I am also very
worried about the possibility of RFK Jr. being confirmed as
HHS Secretary. His past actions have shown that he has little
regard for research, evidence based medicine or the expertise
of scientists and physicians. He is dangerous to the American
people.
I agree with these New Mexicans that Mr. Kennedy is unprepared, he is
unqualified, and he is dangerously unfit to be confirmed as our next
Health Secretary--unfit to protect our kids' health from debunked
conspiracy theories, unfit to defend women's reproductive rights, unfit
to safeguard the future of Medicare and Medicaid, and unfit to continue
lifesaving medical research and medical care in my State and across the
country.
For all of these reasons, I would urge all of my colleagues to join
me in voting no on confirming Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. KELLY. Mr. President, I really care about science. I spent my
career as an engineer, as a Navy pilot and a test pilot, and as an
astronaut--three jobs where facts matter, where you make decisions
based on science, not superstition, because when you are launching off
of an aircraft carrier or orbiting the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour,
there is no room for conspiracy theories; you have to deal in reality.
In my career, relying on science literally meant the difference
between life and death. The same is true for the person who is
responsible for our Nation's health. The Secretary of Health and Human
Services is responsible for making sure that the best science guides
our healthcare, from developing lifesaving medicines to preventing
deadly diseases.
This job requires a commitment to science, facts, and to public
health, but the nominee before us today, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has
spent much of his career doing the exact opposite--rejecting science,
spreading conspiracy theories, and putting public health at risk. That
is not someone that I want in charge of keeping Arizonans healthy.
That would be his job, by the way--responding to disease outbreaks,
approving new medicines and treatments, overseeing healthcare coverage
for millions of Arizonans and millions of Americans. So this isn't just
some bureaucratic decision that we are about to make; this is about
whether the next HHS Secretary will protect public health or undermine
it with dangerous misinformation.
Let's be clear about Mr. Kennedy's record. This is not someone who is
simply asking questions about vaccines. Healthy skepticism is one
thing, and I always told my space shuttle crew members to tell me when
they thought I was wrong, to constantly question the way we were doing
things. We should be doing the same thing here in the Senate.
But what Mr. Kennedy has engaged in goes far beyond that--far beyond
that. Even when presented with definitive science, he has doubled down
on conspiracy theories because, for him, that is what paid the bills.
He was the chairman of the most well-funded anti-vaccine organization
in the country. The group he led has spread false claims that vaccines
cause autism, that vaccines cause cancer, and that they cause
autoimmune disease. This organization has filed lawsuits to block
children from getting vaccinated.
What happens when people believe that? We get outbreaks of disease
that we thought was long gone in the rearview mirror.
In America Samoa, he spread misinformation about vaccines during a
measles outbreak that killed 83 people. Instead of helping families get
lifesaving care, Mr. Kennedy sowed fear and doubt, and then he had the
audacity to question whether measles was really the cause of those 83
deaths.
In Texas, right now--right now, today--there is a measles outbreak.
It is in a county that has low vaccination rates. So far, all of the
cases are in unvaccinated people. Now, we know exactly what causes
these outbreaks. It is not science; it is misinformation. It is people
like Mr. Kennedy telling parents they can't trust their doctors.
I am thinking about this nomination not as a Senator but as a father
and a grandparent. I know how much Arizona families care about their
kids' health. All they want us to do is do what is right for their
family and for their kids. And I know what it means to trust doctors,
to trust medicine, to trust science.
I want my granddaughter Sage to grow up in a world that is safer and
healthier than the one before her, where we don't have to worry about
diseases that we already know how to prevent. I think about my
daughter, her mom, who, like any first-time parent, is doing everything
she possibly
[[Page S890]]
can to make the best decisions for her child, and that is already hard
enough. The last thing parents need is one more loud voice--especially
one in a position of authority--pushing conspiracy theories that make
it harder to know what is true. It is bad for kids across Arizona and
across the country.
When he spreads these conspiracy theories about vaccines and autism,
it has cascading effects. Senator Hassan made this point, I think,
better than anybody else could. Just last week or the week before,
after speaking about her son, who has cerebral palsy, Senator Hassan
said:
The problem with this witness' response on the autism cause
and the relationship to vaccines is because he's relitigating
and churning settled science. So we can't go forward and find
out what the cause of autism is and treat these kids and help
these families.
She continued. She went on and said:
Sometimes science is wrong . . . but we make progress, and
we build on the work, and we become more successful. But when
you continue to sow doubt about settled science, it makes it
impossible for us to move forward . . . and it freezes us in
place.
So, you see, the job of HHS Secretary isn't about chasing conspiracy
theories; it is about making sure families get the best care possible
based on the best science available so we can make progress and live
healthy lives.
Folks, here is what makes this even worse--like, a lot worse: Mr.
Kennedy--get this--Mr. Kennedy vaccinated his own kids while telling
other parents not to. His own cousin, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy,
called him a predator for what he has done. That is not leadership,
folks; that is hypocrisy.
Here is what Ambassador Kennedy wrote:
Bobby prays on the desperation of parents of sick
children--vaccinating his own children while building a
following by hypocritically discouraging other parents from
vaccinating theirs.
She went on:
Even before he fills this job, his constant denigration of
our health care system and the conspiratorial half-truths he
has told about vaccines, including in connection with Samoa's
deadly 2019 measles outbreak, have cost lives.
She continued:
And now we know that Bobby's crusade against vaccination
has benefited him in other ways, too.
His ethics report makes clear that he will keep his
financial stake in a lawsuit against [the] HPV vaccine.
In other words--
This is Ambassador Kennedy's words.
In other words, he is willing to enrich himself by denying
access to a vaccine that can prevent almost all forms of
cervical cancer and which has been safely administered to
millions of boys and girls.
That was a quote from his own cousin.
The Senate cannot ignore this massive conflict of interest. Mr.
Kennedy has personally made millions of dollars from lawsuits attacking
vaccines, including the HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer.
And, if confirmed, he would oversee the FDA, the very Agency that
regulates the vaccines that he is suing over. That is a direct
financial incentive to undermine vaccines, even if it puts people's
lives at risk. And he wouldn't commit to removing himself from this
equation.
And it is not just vaccines. Mr. Kennedy has made a career of
embracing conspiracy theories over facts. He claims--it would be funny
in another context. But Mr. Kennedy--get this--claims Wi-Fi and 5G
cause cancer. He thinks the COVID vaccine is part of a government plot.
He suggested that vaccines are a holocaust.
But, of course, when he was confronted about that, he said he didn't
recall saying it. He believes that the people who are running our
vaccine programs should be in jail. And when asked about 9/11, one of
the most defining moments in our Nation's history, he refused to say
who was responsible. And his response? He said:
It's hard to tell what's a conspiracy theory and what
isn't.
Well, Mr. President, we cannot put somebody in charge of our Nation's
healthcare who doesn't know how to separate fact from fiction. No one
in the Senate should be comfortable with that.
But the dangerous misinformation doesn't stop with vaccines. Mr.
Kennedy claimed that anti-depressants, not guns, are to blame for
school shootings. Let's be clear, folks. There is zero--zero--evidence
to support that--none. What we do know and what the data tells us is
that in every other developed country, they also have anti-depressants.
What they don't have is America's level of gun violence. The difference
is not mental health treatment. It is easy access to guns for kids, for
criminals, and for dangerous people who shouldn't have them.
Mr. President, my family and I have lived with the consequences of
gun violence. My wife Gabby Giffords was nearly killed by a gunman when
meeting with her constituents outside a grocery store in 2011. Six
people died; 12 were injured. You won't find anyone at that grocery
store who believes that an excess of mental health treatment was
responsible for that tragedy--not one.
Gabby and I have sat in living rooms of parents who have lost their
children in mass shootings, and we have fought for real, commonsense
gun safety laws that can save lives.
Just like Senator Hassan, I will not stand here and let conspiracy
theories distract from real solutions. And this is the core of the
problem. Mr. Kennedy treats healthcare like it is a conspiracy theory.
Mr. Kennedy is not the person who should be running the Department of
Health and Human Services. It is very clear. If Mr. Kennedy was simply
a private citizen saying these things, that would be one thing. It
would still be a problem, by the way. But this is someone who wants to
be in charge of all of our healthcare.
And if his dangerous views weren't enough, he doesn't even understand
the weight of the job he is applying for. In his confirmation hearing,
he didn't know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. He didn't
understand the different parts of Medicare and what they provide for
seniors. He didn't know what a community health center was. He couldn't
articulate a basic managing plan for HHS's $2 trillion budget.
He wouldn't answer as to whether he will negotiate for lower drug
prices for seniors. And that means, if you are a senior, with him in
charge you might see higher drug prices.
Mr. Kennedy does not have a medical degree, and he has no
experience--zero experience--in healthcare policy. So this isn't just
about bad ideas; it is about dangerous ideas and the fact that he is
completely unprepared to do this job.
We also learned at his confirmation hearing that Mr. Kennedy won't
make decisions based on science, data, and facts or what is best for
our public health. Instead, he will do whatever President Trump tells
him to do. Over and over again, when asked about his policies, he
didn't give answers based on what he believes is right. He said:
President Trump has not told me what his policy is.
On reproductive health:
Trump has told me to look into it, but I don't know what
his policy is.
This is a nominee who traffics in conspiracies, who doesn't know much
about the Agency he is nominated to lead, and who has said he will just
do whatever he is told which, considering what we heard all along, that
President Trump has a ``concept'' of a healthcare plan--it is not a
real plan. But we still don't know what that is. Now, that, to me,
feels like a big problem.
Mr. President, we need an HHS Secretary who will lead with facts, not
fear; who will lower the price of prescription drugs or fight to do
that; and fight to reduce healthcare costs and not to go along with
efforts to take health insurance away from kids and people with
disabilities; who will build trust in our healthcare system, not
undermine it.
Mr. Kennedy has built a career out of rejecting science, spreading
misinformation, and profited off of fear. He has compared vaccine
scientists to Nazis. He has refused to say if 9/11 was a conspiracy
theory. And when it comes to leading this Nation's healthcare system,
he has no plan, no knowledge, and no independence; and he says he will
do whatever President Trump tells him to do.
So my colleagues, we all have to ask ourselves: Are we really willing
to put the health of American families in his hands; are we? I know my
answer, and I urge everyone in this Chamber to think very hard about
theirs.
[[Page S891]]
Mr. President, I yield 30 minutes of postcloture debate time to the
Democratic leader.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right.
The Senator from Illinois.
Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, if you go back exactly 20 years ago
today, I could tell you exactly where I was. I was a patient at Walter
Reed Army Medical Center.
I was staring at the beige-colored walls. And amidst the pain in
every inch of my body, I was trying to muster the strength to sit up or
to take a step or even just to breathe. I spent months and months and
months in that hospital room, hooked up to machines, getting wheeled in
and out of surgeries, learning how to live again in my new post-shoot-
down world.
But despite it all, looking back, I consider every one of those days
in that hospital room lucky days because, when the worst happened to
me--when that RPG exploded in my lap in Iraq and I needed serious,
sustained medical attention to survive the hour, the day, the year, I
had healthcare I could rely on.
The same cannot be said for countless of Americans--Americans whose
health costs have already been too high and whose access to care is at
even greater danger if this Chamber is foolish enough to confirm Robert
F. Kennedy, Jr., as our next Secretary of HHS. Put simply, Mr. Kennedy
cannot be trusted with the grave, grave responsibility that comes with
this job. He cannot be trusted with our lives. He is focused on pushing
his agenda, regardless of the cost to middle-class Americans. And if
this man is confirmed, more Americans will die preventable deaths
because of his policies.
Next month will mark the 5-year anniversary of when COVID shut down
our Nation. In this moment, it is dangerous, reckless, and heartless to
everyone who lost a loved one in the pandemic to even consider
nominating a guy who has stated that ``no vaccine is safe and
effective.''
And if our Health and Human Services Secretary refuses to ensure
children are protected against ``preventable yet deadly'' diseases like
measles, RSV, whooping cough, or polio, it will be our kids, not Mr.
Kennedy, who pay the price.
I have gotten letter after letter from my constituents, begging me to
try to reason with my colleagues, to do whatever I can to prevent a man
so ignorant of all things science and medicine from holding a position
of such power over our children's next breath.
One pediatrician in Illinois wrote to me:
I will always remember the 9-month-old infant with whooping
cough who could not be saved despite every high-tech
ventilator and medication we had available.
Another said:
I recall a father screaming and punching a hole in the wall
when his 4-year-old son died of chicken pox.
The stories, the letters of avoidable tragedies go on and on. Imagine
how much worse the heartbreak will become under a guy who acts like the
term ``vaccine'' is a swear word.
The only reason that Kennedy is even up for confirmation is because
he, like Elon Musk, decided to throw his dignity to the wind and bow
down at Trump's altar. And because of that, he gets to be yet another
rich guy with too few qualifications and too much power, somehow now
charged with leading our government.
Trump is running this country like the mob: Kiss his ring. Pledge
your unyielding loyalty. Get made.
It is just that, this time, you get made into a Cabinet Secretary.
Well, Kennedy has given Trump his fealty. So why would any of us ever
think he would have the courage to stand up to Trump if the President
issues an order that actively harms everyday Americans? How could any
of us actually believe that Kennedy would fight back against Trump's
worst instincts when Kennedy himself has proven, time and again, that
he believes more sycophancy than science?
Now, Americans are going to be the ones to suffer because, now, with
Kennedy's confirmation, even programs as popular, effective, and vital
as Medicaid will be in even greater danger.
The Republicans told us in Project 2025 that they would come for
Medicaid, and this is the rare case when the GOP has actually kept its
word--putting at risk roughly 80 million Americans who rely on
Medicaid, Americans in red States and blue, in big cities and small
towns, and folks who may have never heard of RFK, Jr., but who will
certainly feel the effect when he rips away the healthcare their family
so desperately needs.
Medicaid is a lifeline for kids, for pregnant women, for people in
nursing homes, for Americans with disabilities. The Republicans don't
seem to care about any of that. It is obvious that Donald Trump has
never stayed up late at night, hunched over the kitchen table with a
calculator in one hand and a medical bill in the other, praying to
figure out a way to afford his child's insulin. No, of course not.
With every passing day, it becomes clearer and clearer that
Republicans care more about tax breaks for the billionaires they pal
around with on the golf course than prescriptions for the middle-class
folks who actually work at Mar-a-Lago. While that teacher in Peoria
lies awake at night trying to work out how she can afford her father's
home care now that he can no longer get those services through
Medicaid, while that new mom in Chicago who has just learned she has
stage 3 cancer and is trying to find a second job so she can afford
both diapers for her newborn and her own chemotherapy, Donald Trump and
Elon Musk will be too busy lining their already full pockets to care.
To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I am sure many of
you have faced health crises of your own. I am sure many of you have
had a parent who has been sick or a nephew who has been in a car crash
or a spouse who has been in need of an emergency C-section or a child
who has relied on an autoimmune injector. Imagine if your loved ones
hadn't had care they could rely on in the moment, and then ask yourself
how you can sleep soundly tonight if you vote to further the agenda of
a couple of rich guys who so clearly don't care about making America
healthy. They only care about tipping it even more in favor of the
wealthy. They are not bringing back the good old days of Reagan; they
are just bringing back the days of dying from the measles. And they are
certainly not making America great again; they are making America sick
again. That is the Trump-Kennedy promise.
I care about my constituents' ability to afford their prescription
medications, their ability to get the vaccines that will keep them
alive through the next pandemic, their ability to survive those worst-
case scenario health moments without going broke in the process.
So for all of those reasons and a thousand more, I will be voting no
on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s nomination. If my Republican colleagues
care about any one of those things, too, then they will have no choice
but to do the same.
Mr. President, I have received a number of messages from my
constituents describing what access to Medicaid means to them and their
families. I would like to close by asking unanimous consent that they
be printed in the Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Tom, age 60, Clinton County--Medicaid is keeping Tom alive.
After working in construction his whole life, Tom, age 60,
experienced a series of heart attacks. He cannot return to
work with his current disabilities, and Medicaid is the only
health insurance available to him. Medicaid covers his
cardiologist visits and the eight medications he needs to
stay alive. Tom has applied for Social Security disability
benefits, but has not been approved. If Medicaid work
requirements were implemented, Tom doesn't know how he would
prove that he is disabled and cannot work since his
disability application is still pending. The uncertainty of
whether his state would even approve an exemption adds to his
stress. He knows he cannot afford the care and treatment he
needs out-of-pocket.
Beth--Medicaid pays for my 25-year-old autistic son to
attend Community Day Services. Without this financial help my
son would not be able attend. It is CRUCIAL that he has a
routine. Without this his behavior would be terrible and it
would affect his and our family's live horribly. He is not
independent enough to work. Cutting off Medicaid would harm
him. I hope President Trump comes to realize the damage that
would be done if he cuts it off.
Brian and Janice--Alex genetic disability requires many
doctors' visits and tests and medication. She also requires
physical therapy and occupational therapy. Medicaid is her
health insurance for these things. Due to her disability she
can only work a little bit
[[Page S892]]
not enough to pay insurance costs or her bills. I am her mom
plus caregiver. She relies on me for help with basic needs
and she can't drive, so I have to get her to work and
appointments. She will never be able to live alone. She will
always require a caregiver. Medicaid provides caregivers. In
the future Medicaid will provide day programs, when I am not
physically able to care for her and her brother becomes her
guardian. Medicaid provides for needs now, so she can have a
good life and will provide for her needs in the future, as a
parent of a child with a disability this relieves our stress.
As a parent we won't live forever, and it gives us peace of
mind to know she has these services to live a fulfilling
life!
Diane and Erin--Medicaid helps me take care of my daughter
with a disability. It costs over $350,000 per person per year
in an institution. Medicaid provides a much better quality of
life for people in the community for 7% of that budget. My
daughter can work in the community because she lives in the
community. She is able to enjoy the hobbies she loves, attend
college to pursue a degree in dance, and maybe, thanks to
Medicaid's support, maybe even live independently.
Neomi--My son suffered a brain injury at birth. He is g-
tube dependent and teach/vent dependent. Medicaid covers the
copay costs and items necessary that aren't covered by
private insurance, Medicaid covers his in-home nursing that
allows him to attend school and access our community. The
Medicaid waiver program has granted him the means to enter
his home, family vehicle and a home generator to ensure his
life sustaining equipment can always run and to help maintain
his environment. With out Medicaid, my son would have to live
in a hospital.
Casandra--My medically complex son was born with Wolf
Hirschhorn Syndrome. He has required a tremendous amount of
medical care since birth that we were not planned for. We
were initially denied Medicaid and the final burden for
resources he needs were a lot for a family to handle with
only one parent being able to work while the other has to
provide care for him. As care became harder, we were approved
for Medicaid. Medicaid picks up the expenses our primary
insurance does not cover. It has also allowed us to have in
home nursing which is necessary for him to be able to attend
school and allow myself a little bit of a break. Cade has a
very serious case of seizures that can become deadly quickly
which is why he needs nonstop supervision. He also has stage
3 kidney disease, heart defects, cleft palate which causes
feeding issues therefore he is g-tube dependent, severe apnea
requiring CPAP and oxygen, immune deficiency requiring immune
therapy on a weekly basis, many hospital stays for seizures
and illness. He has around 15 specialty doctors at our
children's hospital. He is 7 years old, nonverbal and can not
walk alone. He works hard daily to continue his development
through therapies.
Debra--I adopted two medically fragile children from foster
care. Both have Medicaid as their primary and only insurance.
They both receive services through the Division of
Specialized Care for Children in Illinois. My daughter has a
MFTD waiver. They require 19 daily prescription medications.
My son requires a nightly injection that is $4,000 a month.
My daughter requires multiple pieces of expensive medical
equipment. I would never have been able to afford to adopt
them with all these needs without knowing they would be able
to receive Medicaid. I am so proud of how much they have
accomplished thanks to the therapies Medicaid has provided.
Medicaid is a vital, life saving program for thousands of
children like mine. We need to fight to keep Medicaid
accessible for all who need it.
Gayle and Kelly--Medicaid provides my supplemental health/
medical insurance. In addition, Medicaid funding provides
services and supports that help me reach my employment and
independence goals. With Medicaid, I have the opportunity to
live with dignity and purpose.
Tessa--Medicaid helps my son receive services that are
imperative to his daily living without interruption. It
allows our family to operate on a stable foundation to make
sure our sons care is fully supported while being a mother to
my other children as well.
Dyan--My daughter Caity was born with Down Syndrome. She
has a trache and vent to help her breathe and a g-button to
help her eat. We use Medicaid to cover the costs our
insurance doesn't cover for her medical needs. As well my
daughter needs nursing to go to school and help her live day
to day. Without Medicaid, Caity would not be living and would
not be able to go to school.
Tommi--Medicaid allows me to keep Amanda home. It also
provides a piece of mind knowing that we always have extra
help covering her astronomical medical costs. Amanda has
Spina Bifida and other anomalies and relies on life
sustaining equipment such as 24/7 oxygen, tube feeds and
ventilator to sleep; without Medicaid, the copay for these
items would be so costly our family would not be able to
afford to survive. Medicaid has not only allowed us to keep
Amanda home so we can care for her; I am sure, because of
this, Amanda is still alive. I am confident the care she
receives at home far surpasses the care she would receive at
a care facility, (if we could find one that could provide for
her high level of needs), or she would have to be
hospitalized, putting her at risk for major complications due
to infections and other ailments that are picked up in a
hospital base setting. I am paid as Amanda's caregiver thanks
to Medicaid; this allows me to provide the best care possible
for Amanda to give her the best quality of life possible.
Sarah--My son has a rare genetic syndrome, Ayme-Grippe,
with many medical complications. He has a tracheostomy tube,
a gastronomy tube, cochlear implants, contact lenses, and
seizures, to name a few. Medicaid supplements our private
insurance and allows us to keep nursing hours staffed, our
prescriptions filled, and all necessary tests and
interventions performed, which in turn, keeps Beau out of the
hospital or an institution, and home where he belongs. Along
with the host of medical features, Beau also has the warmest
smile, the best twinkle in his eyes, and the softest touch
when he holds your hand. He deserves everything this world
has to offer, and Medicaid helps us give it to him.
Rebekah--Care for my disabled child at home. If we did not
have Medicaid our daughter would be living in a hospital. We
use in home nursing services to help care for her. Medicaid
has also provided us with medical supplies and equipment to
ensure we give her adequate care and to keep her safe.
Miracle has a Trach, feeding tube, central line and is TPN
dependent. She is also type 1 diabetic and depends on her
medications and blood sugar monitoring devices and supplies.
Jane--Medicaid helps me send my son to an adult day program
that helps be an active member in our community It supplies a
safe place for him.
Jill--It allows me to work while my adult son attends a day
program where he gets social interaction and life skills.
Ally--Keep my son with complex medical needs at home (with
home nursing) and out of the hospital/long term care.
Lindsay--Keeping my son at home. Medicaid provides nursing
care to give us a mental break and prevent caregiver burnout.
They also help us get him to his many appointments and
therapies. If we lose Medicaid, we would have to put my son
(14 years old) in a hospital or turn him over to the state to
be put in a nursing home. We can't afford monthly feeding
enteral supplies. That alone is $8,500 a month. We would have
to file bankruptcy. Most private insurance companies won't
pay for feeding supplies. There is already a nursing
shortage, and he needs someone by his side 24/7, which can't
happen in a hospital or nursing home.
Mary--My child has Septo Optic Dysplasia and cognitive
delay. He has a tracheotomy tube to breathe and a feeding
tube to eat. He is Nonmobile and requires 24/7 care. Medicaid
provides in home nursing for his care; otherwise, he would
need to live in a long-term facility. Medicaid is vital to
our family staying together as a family.
Maximilian--Participate in day programs and activities that
give me meaningful life and community experiences.
Erika--Care for my medically complex child at home.
Medicaid helps me acquire critical supplies my son requires
to stay healthy such as tracheostomy, g-tube, and daily care
supplies. It also helps us receive medications such as
antiepileptic medications. This is just a fraction on ways
Medicaid supports the quality of life for my child.
Tara--Medicaid has been a lifeline for our family for the
past two years. My daughter has a rare condition called
Aicardi Syndrome. She suffers from a whole slew of medical
issues. Two years ago, her health took a nosedive, and we
were faced with an incredibly hard decision. Due to her being
in the hospital frequently and needing 24/7 medical care, we
were forced to have me quit my job as a nurse to become her
nurse at home. We barely made it by with two incomes, let
alone one. I found the MFTD waiver through DSCC, and we found
a way to care for our daughter like she deserves. Medicaid
pays for nursing that our primary insurance does not cover.
The state allows me to be paid as her nurse so we are able to
financial pay for our daily needs, home, and wheelchair van
to transport our daughter. It helps to pay for all the
supplies and monthly fees associated with her equipment she
needs to help her eat and breathe. With Medicaid funding we
were able to get a generator for our home, so when the
electricity is out (we are rural and it can take many hours
to restore), we do not have to take her to the hospital
immediately to get the equipment she needs to live. We were
able to fund a wheelchair accessible van to transport her
safely. Without Medicaid, we would not have access to
medications, equipment, supplies, and nursing. These are the
things that keep my daughter alive.
Christina and Emma--I have a trach and a g-tube. I am
nonmobile and nonverbal. I use an eye-gaze device to
communicate. Home Nursing makes it possible for me to go to
school!
Jenni--Give support to my child so we can work and earn a
living to care for our family. Medicaid's also allows her to
attend a day program when she exits school in 2 years so we
can work and earn a living. Selena has severe epilepsy and
intellectual abilities that prohibit her from being able to
work, speak or care for herself.
Alaina and Ayla--Get all of the supplies I need to help me
eat and breathe at home. It also helps me get the equipment I
need to make me stronger and work on my standing. Medicaid
pays for my therapists that I love that teach me new ways to
move around in my own way and interact with my siblings and
friends.
[[Page S893]]
Yvonne--Medicaid helps me keep my loved one at home, as
healthy and connected to his family and community as he can
be. Medicaid helps me provide him with the doctors,
therapists, and medical equipment that he needs to grow and
develop. Without Medicaid, my son would not be here.
Tifanny--My daughter was born with several congenital
abnormalities and has no unifying diagnosis. She is a rare
medical case; we still have no understanding for. Without
Medicaid programs and grants, she would not be able to
receive her at home nursing or care from her many physicians.
Graylinn would not be alive today or live in her home with
her family if it wasn't for her Medicaid programs providing
her with in-home nursing services. She would be living in the
hospital. She would not be able to have life experiences such
as attending her older sisters sporting events and family
holidays.
Sarah--Take care of my child. My child is on seizure
medications to help control seizures. A ventilator to help
with breathing and keeping lungs inflated. A feeding tube and
formulas and has many health issues. Medicaid helps with all
of those things and in-home nursing so that my child does not
have to be in an institution. Many of the things needed are
very costly. If it wasn't for the help, our family would not
be able to provide these things, and our child would no
longer exists. Please consider all that are affected by these
decisions.
Yanet--I'm the mother of a girl with special needs. With
the Medicaid, We Get to go to doctors' visits. We get
Medicine that my family needs. Without the help of Medicaid,
I would not be able to go to my doctor or get the medicine or
services that I need. Like psychological help for my
depression that has help the whole family. I won't be able to
Get the audiologist services or physical therapy my 9-year-
old son needs.
Andrea--Take care of my daughter, who is 11 years old and
medically fragile. Medicaid paid for her specialists,
hospital visits, and medical services so she doesn't live in
a hospital--which would be catastrophically more expensive.
Because of this, she thrives, and I'm able to work and serve
my community.
Denise--Our son Andrew, who goes by Drew, is 29 years old
and has Down syndrome. Medicaid is his health insurance
provider. He has a permanent pacemaker, and it work 80% of
the time, causing his battery to drain quickly. Without his
pacemaker, he would at best have a very poor, even more
disabled, quality of life; at worst, he would die. He has a
congenital heart defect that requires ongoing monitoring, as
well as thyroid disease also requires monitoring. He is
employed part time but would not qualify for health benefits,
nor would he be able to afford them. Our son was pulled from
the PUNS list at age 25, and that pays us as his parents and
legal guardians to provide his care at home, rather than
placing him in a group home. Taking away that would take away
\1/2\ of our income.
Lindsey--Provides nursing allows which allows me to live at
home and my parents to work. It also covers all my medical
appointments and therapies, and my gastronomy tube, formula
and other medical supplies.
Mary Anne--Pay for community day program services for my
23-year-old son, who has autism and intellectual disability.
Aidan loves his day program, and going there is fulfilling
and gives him purpose each day. At the day program, Aidan is
given the opportunity to learn, socialize, gain new skills
and be a meaningful part of his community. We are grateful
the Medicaid waiver funding exists to keep these programs
functioning for our most vulnerable loved ones like my son.
Loosing Medicaid funding would be devastating to Aidan and
many others like him.
Robin--Provide care for my son. So I can work and provide
for our family. So Colin has health care and the medication
he needs for his epilepsy. Provide personal support workers
that work with him daily. Behavioral therapy.
Suzanne--Without Medicaid funding, my day program would not
be able to operate, my tuition would be unobtainable, and my
family and I would be stuck at home with no options for my
current daily life or my future.
Drew--Medicaid is the reason that my husband and I are able
to care for our son at home. It provides his food. He is
nourished through a G-tube, it provides tracheotomy supplies.
It provides oxygen to help him breathe, a nebulizer, chest
therapy and other pieces of equipment that without these he
would have to be hospitalized. The cost of hospitalization is
very expensive. Medicaid helped to provide the vertical lift
to get my son in and out our house for his appointments. It
helps to cover nursing expenses to care and help my husband
and I care for him in our home. It covers the numerous
medications that are necessary to keep our son alive and out
of the hospital.
Jaclyn--Medicaid helps me to care for my daughter at home,
where she belongs. It provides the critical support Ava
needs--ventilator care, nursing, and medical supplies--so she
can grow, learn, and thrive with her family. Without Medicaid
and the MFTD waiver, keeping Ava home wouldn't be possible.
It allows us to give her every opportunity to reach her full
potential while keeping our family together. Medicaid isn't
just a program--it's a lifeline for families like ours.
Maria--I never imagined that I would become disabled,
especially at a young age. I had been working since my early
teens, believing that if I worked hard, I would always be
able to provide for myself and my family. But by 25, my body
was in complete flare-up, and I found myself unable to work
while raising two small children as a single parent. Then
came the life-changing diagnosis--a brain tumor. Without
Medicaid, I would not be here today. Medicaid has provided me
with the lifesaving medical care I need to survive and be
there for my children. It has allowed me to continue my
advocacy work, where I fight for disability rights and
support the most vulnerable in our communities. My life has
meaning, just like the lives of millions who rely on
Medicaid. Cutting Medicaid would be devastating--not just for
me, but for countless others whose survival depends on it.
Please, don't take away our lifeline. Our lives depend on it.
Todd--I am a Medically Fragile Technology Dependent person.
Medicaid is the only reason I can live with my parents and
not have to live in a hospital or institution. Medicaid pays
for me to have my ventilator, oxygen, suction machine and all
the supplies necessary for me to be able to live in my home
with my family. I have ROHHAD Syndrome, an extremely rare
medical condition that only about 100 or so children have
ever been diagnosed with. Medicaid also pays for my private
duty nursing so that I can go to school and work in the
community. Without Medicaid's support, I would have a
tragically horrible life in a cold and uncaring institution
somewhere, away from my family. I need Medicaid so that I can
live a life that I love, with the people I love.
Illinois Provider--I want to share the story of two young
clients, aged 3 and 5, who were diagnosed with spinal
muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a genetic condition that
causes progressive muscle weakness and atrophy due to the
loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord. These children were
born without any initial concerns, but as they grew older,
they began to lose their motor skills. Despite having typical
cognitive abilities, they became extremely fragile. They
could no longer attend school or leave their hospital beds on
the main floor of their home, as they were dependent on
machines to help them breathe and unable to move
independently.
Illinois Provider--Their mom was a single parent and could
not leave them even to go to the grocery store. They were
unable to find consistent nursing care due to nursing
shortages, so their mom became the expert. Due to their
needs, she was unable to work. I came into the home as the
speech-language pathologist with Early Intervention, which
allowed me to see the younger child until her third birthday.
However, her older sister no longer had care as there were no
providers who accepted Medicaid insurance in the area. I was
able to help the younger child learn how to use a speech-
generating device funded by Early Intervention. This allowed
her to communicate with her mom and sisters using her eyes to
activate words on her communication device. Not only was she
able to ask for suction to clear her airway when her
breathing was compromised, but she was also able to ask for
her mom to come and play with her when she was lonely or
bored--both of which are desperately important communication
needs.
Julie, Chicago--Medicaid has been fabulous--helped me
through breast cancer, and still helping me. We cannot afford
not to be able to take advantage of this benefit. I worked
and paid taxes for my entire life.
Susan, Chicago--Pre-ACA, I couldn't get healthcare at any
price for 5 years due to a pre-existing condition. In the
meantime, my body started failing me to the point where I
couldn't work and wound up on disability. After 6 months, I
became eligible for Medicare, which was life-changing. A few
years ago, I was able to get Medicaid, as well, after the
Medicaid Expansion. It enables me to have a caregiver twice a
week. I'm a Senior. I've often wondered if I had had access
to healthcare earlier, if it would've meant I could keep
working. I think that would have made a huge difference in my
life. I'm doing much better now, and I volunteer when I can.
It's my way of giving back.
Gail B., South Holland--Gail B., RN is a home health and
hospice staff educator and mother of three. She knew all
about Medicaid throughout her career, but never thought she'd
need it or qualify for it herself. When doctors removed a
lump in her breast, they discovered she had treatable breast
cancer. Privately insured through her employer, Gail, who had
previously survived cervical cancer, underwent a painful
radiation regimen, which left her with oozing underarm burns.
She could barely keep her eyes open when she got home after
her 50-mile roundtrip commute, let alone try to prepare a
meal for herself. Still, she felt fortunate to have
insurance. But near the end of her treatment, she was laid
off--losing her job and her insurance. Unemployed, uninsured,
and ill, Gail didn't know what to do or where to turn, until
a friend recommended she apply for the Illinois Breast and
Cervical Cancer Program, which provides treatment through
Medicaid. Sheepishly, Gail visited Mercy Hospital in Chicago,
where a staff `navigator' helped her enroll for Medicaid. Her
doctors quickly accepted her new insurance coverage, enabling
Gail to schedule follow-up appointments for that same week.
Gail finished her treatment as a Medicaid beneficiary and
returned to the workforce cancer-free just a few months
later. While she is no longer on Medicaid, she credits it
with saving her life and supporting her through her time of
crisis. These days, Gail also volunteers as an ambassador for
breast cancer survivors in her spare time.
[[Page S894]]
Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I yield 30 minutes of postcloture
debate time to the Democratic leader.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right.
The Senator from Nevada.
Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, today, we are here to discuss President
Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services,
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
If confirmed, Mr. Kennedy would be in charge of a Department with the
power to, well, regulate the food we eat, the medicines we take, and
the vaccinations we depend upon. He would oversee Agencies that provide
healthcare to almost 170 million Americans, including hundreds of
thousands of Nevadans who are on Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's
Health Insurance Program.
I am here today to oppose Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as our next
Secretary of Health and Human Services. Confirming him would have
disastrous consequences for our public health, for our seniors who rely
on Medicare, and for our families who get their healthcare through
Medicaid.
Let's start out with his lack of qualifications. Mr. Kennedy has
never worked in healthcare or the Federal Government. He is probably
best known for his skepticism of vaccines and spreading dangerous
conspiracies and outright lies. Mr. Kennedy's history of promoting
anti-vaccine misinformation is well-documented and deeply troubling.
Vaccines have saved millions of lives throughout history, and they
remain one of the most effective tools we have to protect public
health. Yet Mr. Kennedy has spent years promoting debunked claims
linking vaccines to autism, cancer, allergies, and autoimmune diseases.
He has spread lies about vaccine safety, making people fearful and
increasing rates of unvaccinated people, which put all of us--all of
us--at risk.
He has previously stated that ``no vaccine is safe and effective.''
He said that the polio vaccine ``killed many, many, many, many, many,
many, many more people than polio ever did.'' Mr. Kennedy has called
the COVID vaccine the ``deadliest vaccine ever made.'' This rhetoric
isn't just reckless; it is dangerous.
If Mr. Kennedy had been around during the first Trump administration,
he would have undermined President Trump's Operation Warp Speed and
efforts that helped us end the pandemic.
He doubled down during his confirmation hearing. Even though he was
asked multiple times, Mr. Kennedy refused to acknowledge that vaccines
don't cause autism.
He has also engaged in Holocaust distortion to push his dangerous
views. While attending an autism conference, he was asked why the CDC
wasn't acknowledging autism as an epidemic.
He said:
To me, this is like Nazi death camps, what happened to
these kids. . . . I can't tell you why somebody would do
something like that. I can't tell you why ordinary Germans
participated in the Holocaust.
Frankly, these aren't the words of someone you want to be in charge
of America's public health. These are not the words of someone you want
anywhere near the White House or anywhere near our healthcare, our
safety.
He has even gone so far as to falsely suggest that certain
antidepressants are behind the rise in school shootings and that
certain chemicals in the water might be part of why more young people
are identifying as transgender, neither of which is backed by any
science. We can't allow someone who spreads this kind of vitriol and
dangerous misinformation to lead the Department of Health and Human
Services, but his problematic views are just the start.
During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Kennedy was also asked about his
understanding of Medicare and Medicaid. He was just asked if he knew
about it. Well, he struggled--struggled, mind you--to remember which
program covered older and disabled Americans. He struggled to remember
which program provided for low-income people. This is Medicare and
Medicaid--not something that is so brand new. Even Robert F. Kennedy,
Jr., should know what it is because Medicare and Medicaid are not mere
government programs; they are a lifeline for millions of Americans,
including our seniors, our parents, our grandparents, people with
disabilities, families in need, including half of all children and
around 40 percent of all babies born in this country. Why would we
trust someone with the future of Medicare and Medicaid when he doesn't
even understand the basics of the system he would oversee? This makes
no sense.
We can't overlook the broader impact of Mr. Kennedy's and President
Trump's proposals on medical research, safety, and innovation. We are
already seeing devastating attempts to go after the National Institutes
of Health, or the NIH--the very institution that has pioneered
lifesaving research in areas like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
This is not just any research; this is lifesaving research. We are
talking about research and clinical trials in my home State, at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and at the University of Nevada, Reno,
to better understand Alzheimer's disease and improve care for patients.
We are talking about advancing breast cancer therapy at the University
of Nevada, Reno, and clinical trials on treating and preventing cancers
at the Southern Nevada Cancer Research Center.
You know, I lost my mother to cancer, and I lost my brother to
leukemia. I think it is shameful that this administration, enabled by
RFK, Jr., would target research into these deadly diseases which have
cost lives in my family. I don't want anyone to go through what I went
through. I want other people's families--their parents, their siblings,
their friends--to be able to live, and we know lives are saved every
day because of investments in research and those clinical trials and
what the NIH does. I want people to live because of the research. It
matters.
Mr. Kennedy has also proposed radical changes to the Food and Drug
Administration--the Agency in charge of the food we all eat and keeping
it safe. Just like many of the other reforms proposed by Mr. Kennedy,
his suggested changes to the FDA, while they are based largely on the
conspiracy theories he peddles, include clearing out entire
Departments, like the Food and Nutrition Center, which is responsible
for preventing foodborne illnesses and ensuring that chemicals in
food--the food we all eat, every single one of us all around this
country, every day, from young to old and everywhere in between--that
our food is safe. How does dismantling this keep any of us safe? How
does it keep any of us healthy?
Mr. Kennedy has an overarching plan to gut the funding for the FDA,
which will severely limit regulation and safe implementation of new
drug trials and medications. This could lead to dangerous drugs
flooding the market, putting countless lives at risk.
The role of the Health and Human Services Secretary is one of
profound responsibility, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has undermined the
very foundations of our public health system. Mr. Kennedy's vision for
the future of our healthcare system--well, it was to undermine Medicare
and Medicaid. He wants to slash cancer research funding. He wants to
push dangerous public health conspiracies. These are visions and these
are things that I cannot support and that no one should support.
We all want a healthier future for America, one that both prevents
diseases and where we can think about curing diseases, where we can do
preventive medicine, curative medicine, where we can have that hope for
folks whose mother gets lung cancer in the future, that she might live,
or leukemia in the future, that their brother might live. Mine didn't,
but I hope that they didn't die in vain because the research that goes
on will help others, and I want us to be able to cure diseases for the
ones we love.
So that is why I cannot in good conscience support Mr. Kennedy's
nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. The stakes
couldn't be higher. Our very lives and the lives of our loved ones may
just depend on it.
Mr. President, I yield 30 minutes of postcloture debate time to the
senior Senator from Oregon.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I stand here in strong opposition to the
nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to serve as the Secretary of
Health and Human Services for the United States of America.
[[Page S895]]
The American people know that our healthcare system is broken.
Families have to work through too much health insurance redtape, only
to be denied care or forced to pay out of pocket.
Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States.
Families are saddled with medical debt from prices that are too high
and burdened by quality of care that is too low. When they need to get
an appointment, they have to wait months, drive hours, or simply go
without the care which they need.
Pharmacies, hospitals, and community health centers struggle to keep
their doors open, and communities are watching health providers and
workers burn out under the strain of a healthcare system that is
increasingly being sold out to greedy investors and the billionaire
class.
The American people deserve a real healthcare system, not the current
sick care system. And they deserve leadership who will recognize all of
these problems and commit to solving them.
Instead, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are only making things worse.
To Elon Musk, ``move fast and break things'' is not in the U.S.
Constitution. That is why these Federal district court judges are
stopping your actions.
In Trump's first 3 weeks in office, he has taken illegal and
unconstitutional action that disrupted lifesaving health research, sent
Musk and his DOGE acolytes to make cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, cut
off Federal funding for community health centers, and used
discriminatory fearmongering to threaten Federal funding for hospitals
and health providers just trying to provide care for their patients.
Every chaotic decision, every cut, every illegal action are all to
make it easier for this administration to work alongside congressional
Republicans to slash and burn our core healthcare programs. They are
not doing this to make things better for everyday Americans. It is
Robin Hood in reverse. They are working to take from those who need it
the most just to give billions more in handouts for defense contractors
and their billionaire donors.
They want hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks for
billionaires. They want to increase defense spending by $150 billion--
more nuclear weapons, more. But then, in turn, they say: Where are we
going to get the money? They say: Ah, we are going to Medicaid. We are
going to the Affordable Care Act. We are going to community health
centers. We are going to go to the programs that actually do protect
people.
More nuclear weapons aren't going to protect people; it is having
access to the healthcare system that can help protect their families.
Trump and Musk and Republicans, they are going to call it
``efficiency'' or they will call it ``transparency'' or they will say
it is just adding basic requirements to Medicaid. This is all code--the
code for ``cuts.''
Efficiency, transparency are--just be honest about it, Elon; just be
honest about it, President Trump--cuts to programs.
They keep saying there are all kinds of waste in the system. Well,
point it out to us; we will cut it out for you. Give us the list of the
programs you want to have cut because there is waste, and we will do
it. But do you want to know what they don't want to say? They don't
want to say that they want to cut Medicaid. They don't want to say they
want to cut clean air, clean water--the programs that protect ordinary
people. They want to call it waste. We are going to call it out for
what it is.
Where are they going? They are going to the programs that help
provide the healthcare for ordinary Americans--cuts to healthcare that
ordinary Americans rely upon. And when Americans have to wait longer
for care, when they have to pay more, or watch the only hospital in
their community shut down, the blame for what will happen will lay at
the feet of the politicians who put self-interest above the interest of
the American people.
Rather than consider a nominee who would seriously protect and
preserve the health of the American people, Donald Trump nominated yet
another enabler to his Cabinet, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who, instead of
standing up to the Trump-Musk chaos, will only add fuel to Donald
Trump's ``Make America Sick Again'' campaign because that is what it
is, ``Make America Sick Again.''
Ralph Waldo Emerson from Massachusetts, he said: Health is the first
wealth. Well, that first wealth is going to get looted so billionaires
get even richer.
Serving as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
is an immense responsibility. The Agency oversees the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention; the Food and Drug Administration; the
National Institutes of Health, which is made up of 27 institutes and
centers. Each decision that a HHS Secretary makes would have a huge
impact on our healthcare system.
Run well, HHS ensures medications are safe and effective; keeps
workers and students and seniors safe; protects the public from global
pandemics or disease outbreaks; guarantees hospitals, doctors, and
community health centers provide safe quality care; and funds research
that will build the foundation to accurately diagnose patients, better
treat cancer, cure Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
That is what it is supposed to be all about, not freezing that funding,
not cutting that funding, but ensuring that the researchers have the
funding they need because researchers' medicines fields of dreams from
which we harvest the findings gives hope to families that we will find
a cure for those diseases that have run through their family's medical
history.
We know that HHS as Health and Human Services, but it also stands for
``human health security.'' The stakes of leadership are life and death.
But instead of nominating a serious and qualified candidate, Trump
selected a candidate who questioned the well-proven conclusion that HIV
causes AIDS, made millions by spreading lies about vaccines, compared
vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany, said Wi-Fi in cell phones caused
``leaky brains,'' threatened to remove fluoride from drinking water,
and made baseless claims about medication for depression, that it would
lead to mass shootings.
Mr. Kennedy's track record shows that he is a danger to the health of
America. He would make America sick again.
In June of 2019, he went to Samoa on a trip arranged by anti-vaccine
activists. He used that trip to spread lies about the measles vaccine
to the Samoan Prime Minister and Director General of Health. He and the
organization he led amplified activists who spread false information
about the measles vaccine. And after a measles outbreak broke out in
Samoa and 16 people died, rather than intervene and help, Mr. Kennedy
sent a letter to the Prime Minister to blame these deaths on the
vaccine rather than the absence of vaccines.
The death toll in Samoa grew to 83. Volunteers in New Zealand sent
tiny coffins to help bury the dozens of children who died. A New
Zealand vaccinologist later said the impact of Mr. Kennedy's role in
the outbreak was ``devastating.'' In a moment, when Robert F. Kennedy,
Jr., could have used his influence for good, he fueled disinformation
that cost lives.
When Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was asked about Medicare and Medicaid,
he could not answer questions in his confirmation hearing, the most
basic questions, demonstrating that he would be at HHS only to make
whatever cuts that Trump and Musk and DOGE dictate at the expense of
the healthcare of the American people. Now he is in line to be the No.
1 healthcare official in the United States. That would be a disaster.
Mr. Kennedy has reportedly given reassurances on his position on
vaccines or on his position on food and chronic disease.
To my colleagues, I would say this: We cannot address chronic disease
if we are slashing Medicare and Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act or
recklessly cutting off funding from hospitals and community health
centers.
If we are battling vaccine misinformation, it will make it much more
difficult to take on chronic disease, like heart disease or diabetes.
The long-term impact of food on children's health doesn't matter if
children are dying from preventable infectious diseases because their
families believed misinformation spread by the nominee for Secretary of
Health and Human Services.
[[Page S896]]
Even with the promises he has made on the vaccine misinformation,
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has not demonstrated that he will fulfill his
promises. He has used his position to lead people down the dangerous
path of vaccine misinformation. And when asked about his role in the
Samoa measles outbreak, he lied. The stakes are too high to take a risk
on this nominee.
I hear from people in Massachusetts who rely on our healthcare
system: single mothers of disabled children relying on Medicaid--also
called MassHealth in Massachusetts--to make sure their child gets care.
I hear from people living with cystic fibrosis or parents of children
on the autism spectrum or with Down syndrome who could only afford
their medication or coverage with MassHealth Medicaid coverage. For
them, Medicaid is the lifeline. And when that lifeline is cut, their
lives get harder. That is what this administration is aiming to do with
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in the lead.
The American people deserve more than what they have now. They should
be able to get healthcare when they need it, and they should not have
to worry that it is available. They should be able to go to their
doctor or to their pharmacy without running up their debt or being
forced to choose between paying their rent or a medical bill.
They should have health providers who aren't too overworked and
burned out to provide them quality care. They should have primary care,
mental health care, addiction care, dental care, and cancer treatment
more available to them without waiting months or traveling for hours or
being left to hope for an available clinical trial.
Americans should have unquestioned healthcare access and quality, and
I want to deliver on that for every single American. But Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., will only make this harder by embracing Donald Trump,
Elon Musk, and the spread of vaccine disinformation.
I am not alone in my concern. I have received over a thousand calls
and emails to my office opposing his nomination. I have also received
letters from over 20,000 physicians, including thousands of
pediatricians, internal medicine and emergency medicine doctors,
representing all fifty States and Puerto Rico, over 800 public health
officials; 75 Nobel Laureates oppose his confirmation. Chairs of
pediatric departments across the country; statements from the
Massachusetts Teachers Association, representing over 11,000 educators;
and the national nurses union, representing 225,000 nurses, all oppose
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Every single one of them expressed concern and
dismay about having a Secretary of Health and Human Services who
doesn't believe in vaccines that save lives.
We need to listen to the people on the frontlines: the health
providers who have dedicated their lives to serving their patients; the
researchers, who have committed to finding lifesaving treatments and
cures; and the educators who care for our Nation's children each and
every day. They are all saying no to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He is
unqualified, and his confirmation would be dangerous to the health of
our Nation.
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I come to the floor with sadness and
anger because we are here to consider the nomination of a person who,
very practically and unfortunately, is unworthy and unqualified and
unprepared for this position.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will, in fact, betray the trust and
credibility of the office he has been nominated to fill. He has already
shown that he lacks the trust in science and the adherence to the truth
that is so important because this office is, fundamentally, about
advocating for public health, informing the public, and speaking truth
to the American people when there is so much misinformation and
disinformation about what will keep Americans healthy and make them
healthier.
And he threatens, literally, to make America sick. Whether it is
``Make America Sick Again'' or just ``Make America Sicker,'' the fact
is he has supported conspiracy theories and distorted views of what is
important in public health that threaten the American people.
The Nobel laureates, the healthcare professionals, the members of his
own family--and, in a certain way, I would say, if you have any
question about Mr. Kennedy's qualifications, you should listen to
Caroline Kennedy and her very powerful comments on his nomination. The
fact is that her comments are an indictment. They are literally a
warning against his nomination, stating that he is ``addicted to
attention and power'' and that he has already denigrated our healthcare
system by championing beliefs that cost lives.
Ultimately, the confirmation process so far has confirmed what we
already know: that as a source of information, advocacy, and truth, he
is less than Americans deserve.
Americans deserve someone who believes in the Affordable Care Act and
its premium tax credits that reduce healthcare costs for millions of
Americans who otherwise would be left uninsured and unable to afford
healthcare. Americans deserve a Secretary who will advance research
into lifesaving medicines, treatments, and vaccination.
He is not that person.
Americans deserve a Secretary who will protect Medicaid, which
provides healthcare to nearly 1 million Connecticut residents,
including 350,000 children--at the very least, someone who knows the
difference between Medicaid and Medicare.
He is not that person.
And Americans deserve a Secretary who will protect the sensitive
health data of millions of people across the country. When the
Department of Government Efficiency, which is an unregulated and
potentially unsanctioned organization, gained access to millions of
seniors' records at Medicare, Mr. Kennedy purposefully said nothing.
And, at the very least, we need someone who will stand up to
President Trump when he spreads misinformation from the White House,
someone who will stand up to him when he asks that his Secretary of
Health and Human Services do something illegal or immoral. And,
clearly, Mr. Kennedy is not that person.
There is a reason that he lacks support from all of these
professional organizations and is actively opposed by them--by
healthcare professionals, Nobel laureates, and his own family--and that
is that he fails the basic test of what Americans deserve: a Secretary
that believes in science and advances in modern medicine; a Secretary
who won't profit off of the lies he tells about vaccines and science; a
Secretary who will not instigate fears of lifesaving vaccinations,
while, at the same time, ensuring that his own children are vaccinated
and protected; a Secretary who will protect women and reproductive
rights; and someone who knows the difference between Medicare and
Medicaid.
The kind of leadership that is required from the Secretary of Health
and Human Services has never been more important, and that truth-
telling advocacy, informing of the public, is more vital than ever.
Now, HHS is a massive Department. The management challenges alone are
fierce. He has no qualifications or experience that would justify his
appointment.
He would oversee health insurance for millions of people through
Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the
Affordable Care Act. He is responsible for promoting the economic and
social well-being of children and families, combating the opioid
epidemic, supporting people with disabilities, and strengthening the
Nation's public health system and emergency response.
The HHS Secretary is responsible for advancing innovative medical
research through the National Institutes of Health; the Food and Drug
Administration, responsible for ensuring our food and drugs and medical
devices are safe and effective; and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, which strengthens our public health system and responds to
disease outbreaks.
This Agency is a sprawling, massive, challenging management task, and
his nomination has spotlighted not only his lack of experience in
management but also his long history of dangerous, delusional, and
misguided beliefs that would be detrimental to the public and, in fact,
a betrayal of public health.
The focus has been on Mr. Kennedy's views on vaccinations and his
public denial of well-recognized science. His--
[[Page S897]]
really--frightening views, which he has used to make money and have
endangered the lives of countless children and families, ought to be
disqualifying on their own. He admits to vaccinating his own children.
Vaccines are safe and effective enough for his family but not others,
it seems.
The fact is, vaccines are safe and effective. To be clear, over the
last 50 years, vaccines have prevented 154 million deaths, including
146 million among children younger than 5 years old. They undergo
exhaustive tests and trials and independent review to determine whether
they are safe and effective, and they continue to undergo rigorous
review even after approval.
This system works, but Mr. Kennedy has a long history of weakening
and weaponizing parental instincts to protect their children and to
spread disingenuous and life-threatening misinformation. These lies are
attributable to his bad judgment as well as self-enrichment--exactly
the opposite of what a Secretary of HHS should exemplify.
He has supported the dangerous, unproven lie that African Americans
can use weaker vaccine schedules because Black people have stronger
immune systems. This disgusting, appalling claim has been disavowed by
the medical community and renounced by the authors of the studies that
Mr. Kennedy has incorrectly cited in espousing these lies. But these
lies exacerbate racism, and it is a weakness in our public health
system that this racism may continue to exist. To exacerbate it
threatens people's lives.
The anti-vaccine group he founded has maintained that the measles,
mumps, and rubella vaccine is linked to higher rates of autism in Black
children--again, a flat-out lie, racialized comments that are intended
to stoke fear in the public health system and exploit the very caution
that many communities of color approach the healthcare system with. His
lies will, again, exacerbate the clear disparities that exist in
healthcare for different racial groups, and the inequity of those
disparities is a glaring weakness in our current healthcare system.
But he will be spouting those kinds of disinformation--spouting on
podcasts, espousing in the media as the highest ranking health official
in our country. The notion that the public health of the Nation--
credibility, trust, truth-telling--would be put in the hands of this
man is truly frightening.
Now, he has attempted to backtrack since his nomination. He is
claiming he is not anti-vaccine. But when he was asked point-blank,
under oath, during confirmation hearings, in effect, he ducked and
dodged.
Some of my colleagues have claimed that Mr. Kennedy privately told
them he will work with existing vaccine approvals and safety networks
and that he won't undermine vaccines in his role overseeing them. In
private, that is what he said. Why wouldn't he make these commitments
during public confirmation hearings? Why couldn't he make them when he
was under oath?
The threat is that he will do exactly the contrary.
The American people deserve more than back-door, private,
confidential conversations and quiet promises about what the HHS
Secretary will do. And the fact is, he has pushed these kinds of
debunked theories linking childhood vaccinations to autism, claiming
that COVID-19 vaccines were weaponized against specific ethnic and
socioeconomic groups, and profiting off lawsuits against lifesaving
vaccines that prevent deadly diseases like cervical cancer, measles,
tetanus, and chickenpox.
There is no argument from me that there needs to be testing and
review and clinical trials for vaccines to be proven safe and
effective. But once those tests and trials and independent review take
place and are judged to be sufficient to show a vaccine is safe and
effective, undermining them is simply contrary to public health.
Now, Mr. Kennedy would also threaten reproductive care and
reproductive freedom. During his 2024 Presidential campaign, he
consistently downplayed the importance of reproductive health, claiming
that abortion was ``just a little issue.''
Abortion was hardly ``a little issue'' for women across the country,
especially women who have literally died or come close to death as a
result of denial of this essential healthcare and freedom.
The Americans deserve a Secretary of Health and Human Services who
respects women and who works against politicians telling women what
they can do with their bodies and trusts women to make decisions about
what is right for them.
The HHS Secretary, as a matter of fact, oversees the Emergency
Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a Federal law that mandates that women
who need emergency care are entitled to it, whether that emergency care
be an abortion or some other treatment.
When he was asked if a woman bleeding out in an emergency room is
entitled to emergency care under this law, Mr. Kennedy responded, ``I
don't know.'' He should know. Whether sheer incompetence, utter
confusion, or just an unwillingness to agree to uphold Federal laws
protecting women, that comment and response alone should be
disqualifying. It is dangerous, and confirming him in this position
could be deadly to women who depend on that program.
He has refused to say that he will protect access to medication
abortion. Instead, he has said he would reevaluate the drug. Now, this
drug has been safely and effectively used by millions of women for
decades. His response is code for making it harder to access or ban it
altogether.
He won't commit to protecting women who need emergency medical care.
He will not commit to keeping safe and effective abortion medication
available. He will limit access to abortion services. His confirmation
poses the danger of catastrophic consequences for women.
How can women trust him to protect their interests and safeguard
their health? The women of America deserve better.
Mr. Kennedy has a long history of making baseless and damaging claims
about the LGBTQ+ community, including the absurd lie that environmental
chemical exposure somehow causes children to become gay or transgender.
Boggles the mind. Incredibly dangerous to the health and safety of
LGBTQ+ youth, but it is his stated belief or has been at various times
in the past, and adding to those harmful ideas is his belief that HIV
does not cause AIDS.
He has supported bans on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender
individuals and spread misinformation about what gender-affirming care
actually looks like in the real world. If he continues to spread this
unscientific rhetoric as Secretary of HHS, he will cost people their
lives.
Members of the LGBTQ community already experience significant health
disparities, and Mr. Kennedy's false views on health, sexual
orientation, and gender identity would make these disparities--like
racial disparity--even worse.
To serve in this position, Mr. Kennedy need not be the world's
greatest scientist or the most erudite professor or the most astute
researcher, but he needs to have a respect for science and medical
professionals. He lacks it.
He made it abundantly clear during his confirmation hearing that he
has none of those qualities and, in fact, demonstrated an inadequate
understanding of the very programs he is supposed to be administering
if he is confirmed, like Medicare and Medicaid.
You know, we have reviewed a lot of nominees as Senators, and we know
that they are prepared--they are extensively ``murder-boarded,'' as
they say--asked questions in preparation.
You would expect that the nominee to be HHS Secretary would
understand the difference between two of the most important and largest
health insurance programs in the country that serve millions of
Americans every day. He didn't.
The American people deserve better. His decisions, if he is
confirmed, will have long-lasting impacts, and he lacks the expertise
to lead this Agency and lead America as an advocate, as an informer, as
a truth-teller.
Lest you think he will rely on good people who will help him in
administering this Agency, he has pledged to fire hundreds of National
Institutes of Health employees. He told the Food and Drug
Administration workers to ``pack their bags.'' He would like to clear
entire Departments of the Federal Government, including the nutrition
department at the FDA. He is in
[[Page S898]]
no way going to rely on career professionals who truly understand the
policies behind the programs that he knows so little about.
Mr. Kennedy claims to support improving nutrition and combatting
chronic diseases, and many of us support those programs to eliminate
additives, for example, or provide better nutritional information,
front-of-package labels showing nutritional content, and enabling
Americans to be healthier by eating better and by being better
informed. But instead of surrounding himself with experts, his
potential top advisers include people who want to change or abolish the
nutrition guidelines, like the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which
will bolster industry profits, not health.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provides science-based advice on
what to drink and eat to meet nutrient needs. They promote health. They
reduce the risk of chronic disease. This dietary guidance is critically
important because three in five adults live with chronic disease. Let
me repeat. Three in five adults live with chronic disease that could be
improved with better nutrition.
It informs all Federal nutrition programs, meaning that these dietary
guidelines impact one in four Americans through programs like the
National School Lunch Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program, known as SNAP, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
These programs follow those dietary guidelines because they are based
on science. But Mr. Kennedy lacks respect for science. The fact that he
espouses better nutrition isn't translated into real-world support for
actions that benefit Americans. His opposition to those guidelines
benefits the food industry.
Having a science denier surrounded by potentially lobbyists at the
helm of this Agency is not going to make Americans healthy again; it is
going to make them sicker. It is going to potentially sell them out for
profit.
I am disappointed that we are here, as I said at the outset, to be
considering someone who is so deeply unqualified and unprepared for a
position that is an enormous potential opportunity to improve the
health of America. His advocacy could spread the truth, could hold the
food industry or pharmaceutical drug industry to higher standards to
provide more medicine and treatments and cures at lower prices. He
could support research through the NIH instead of advocating that it be
cut. He could enable women to have reproductive care instead of dodging
or diminishing its importance. He could help eliminate racism and bias
against LBGTQ+ people in our healthcare system. There is so much
opportunity squandered in this nomination.
I will vote no on Robert Kennedy, Jr. I urge my colleagues to heed
the warnings from Americans much better qualified than I am to make
this judgment--those Nobel laureates; the professional organizations;
the healthcare experts; and, of course, his family, who knows him
best--Caroline Kennedy, who spoke with such eloquence and insight. Her
incisive and heartbreaking video should be watched by everyone who is
about to vote on this nomination.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, in Hawaii, thousands of our keiki--
children--attend Head Start, setting them up for lifetimes of success.
After the devastating wildfires on Maui in 2023, the U.S. Public Health
Service was on the ground within days, providing care to survivors and
first responders. On Oahu, the University of Hawaii's Cancer Center is
leading on critical NIH-funded research on breast, liver, and lung
cancer, studying diseases that disproportionately impact the Native
Hawaiian and Asian-American communities. All of these programs are
vital for people in Hawaii, and they are all made possible by the
Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS.
HHS does critical work across our country keeping communities healthy
and researching deadly diseases, from cancer to COVID and so much more.
Americans trust HHS because their mission has historically been
guided not by politics but by science and data. But already Donald
Trump is taking a sledgehammer to HHS and the essential work it does.
For weeks, HHS employees have been prohibited from making any
external communications and have been directed to withhold grant
disbursements--illegal, by the way--halting critical updates on
emerging public health threats and delaying or denying funding for
community health centers without explanation.
These edicts are already forcing clinics to consider reducing
services and staff or, worse, closing these services, endangering
healthcare access for our most vulnerable populations. And just last
Friday, the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, announced it would
slash indirect cost rates nationwide--funds that keep the lights on and
the bills paid at America's medical schools, hospitals, and research
institutions, enabling our country to lead globally on biomedical
research.
This is lifesaving research. These across-the-board cuts aren't
hypothetical. They will harm real people in need of help.
Just yesterday, I spoke with the University of Hawaii John A. Burns
School of Medicine, who explained the catastrophic consequences this
cap would have. This illegal action, as I mentioned, would compromise
plans for the U.H. Cancer Center to begin offering phase 1 clinical
trials in Hawaii for the first time.
What does this mean for the people of Hawaii? For the first time,
people in Hawaii will not have to go to the mainland to participate in
these trials. But with the help of this NIH funding--now being
slashed--for the first time, people of Hawaii would be able to stay in
Hawaii to participate in these very important clinical trials.
If allowed to stand, these actions will be catastrophic for our
country and for global efforts to combat the spread of diseases, and
all of these actions have been taken without a confirmed Secretary in
place at HHS.
One would hope the President's nominee to lead such an important
Department would be a level-headed individual guided by science and
data. Instead, Donald Trump has nominated the total opposite: Robert
Kennedy, Jr.
Mr. Kennedy is an anti-vaccine activist who peddles and profits from
conspiracy theories and has a troubling history of misconduct. In his
confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy appeared not to know the difference
between Medicare and Medicaid, essential programs that 66 million and
72 million people, respectively, rely on for access to healthcare.
Mr. Kennedy purports to be a proponent of bodily autonomy when it
comes to vaccines, as if we know better than scientists about the
efficacy and safety of medical treatments.
But Mr. Kennedy's commitment to bodily autonomy suddenly flies out
the window when it comes to women's rights to control our own bodies.
He has shown he will do Donald Trump's bidding in his war on women and
our freedom--where is our bodily autonomy?--as they work to reverse the
FDA's approval of mifepristone, which has been used safely for
medication abortion for more than 20 years--so much for bodily
autonomy.
And it is clear Mr. Kennedy will be guided not by science but by the
conspiracy theories he has pursued for decades on vaccines, raw milk,
stem cell treatment, and much more.
Vaccines are a modern miracle that have saved an estimated 154
million lives and enabled us to all but eradicate diseases like polio
and small pox. But due to the activism of conspiracy theorists like Mr.
Kennedy, public trust in vaccines have eroded, endangering countless
lives and threatening the herd immunity that protects us all.
I grew up in rural Japan, where we didn't have widespread access to
most vaccines. As a child, I remember getting measles, mumps, whooping
cough. When one kid in our village got sick, it just spread like
wildfire in our village, and all the kids got sick. I know what it
means to be vaccinated. To willingly submit our children to such a fate
like what happened to us--to me in Japan--would be cruel,
counterproductive, and deadly, but Mr. Kennedy seems not to care about
those impacts.
We all agree there are things we can do to make our country
healthier, and I stand ready to work with my colleagues to do that
important work. But eliminating access to healthcare, promoting
conspiracy theories, firing researchers, and undermining evidence-
[[Page S899]]
based policymaking will do nothing to make us healthier. It will,
instead, unleash chaos on patients, providers, and countless other
Americans who rely on the services, funding, and research emanating
from HHS.
Mr. Kennedy will not ``Make America Healthy Again''--yet another
empty slogan. He will, in fact, instead make us less healthy, less
safe, and less prosperous. We know this because it is exactly what
happened in Samoa after misinformation about vaccines, pushed in part
by Mr. Kennedy, led to a deadly measles outbreak there.
Hawaii's Governor, Josh Green, is also a physician, and he traveled
to Samoa at the invitation of the country's Health Minister to help
stem the consequences of this deadly misinformation. He recently wrote
about his experiences in an op-ed in the New York Times, and I would
like to read portions of that op-ed now.
Our Governor wrote:
[W]hen vaccination rates fall, preventable diseases can regain a
foothold and pose a new danger. And that's precisely what happened in
Samoa, after misinformation spread by anti-vaccine activists eroded
trust in vaccines and led to the 2019 outbreak. Thousands of
preventable cases of measles sprang up, leading to the deaths of 83
people, mostly children. One of the most prominent voices behind the
anti-vaccine campaign was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Governor Green goes on to say that:
[W]e also witnessed the deadly consequences of the anti-
vaccine campaign. We arrived at one home just minutes after a
toddler girl had died from measles, her mother bursting into
tears as we approached. The child was lying on a makeshift
bed in the middle of the family's one-room house, her face
still red from fever. I put my hands on her face and could
feel the warmth in her skin, but her eyes were fixed and
glazed over. My stethoscope confirmed she was no longer
breathing.
Governor Green went on to write:
Mr. Kennedy and others fanned the flames of this fear with
misinformation. The people of Samoa shared with me that they
got very little news from outside their community but that in
the months before the 2019 epidemic they were bombarded with
social media posts claiming that vaccinations were unsafe and
would harm or even kill their children. Activists from other
countries, including Mr. Kennedy, claimed vaccines were
dangerous. Many Samoans were afraid to vaccinate their
children, and by late 2019, the epidemic was raging,
overwhelming Samoa's national health care system.
Governor Green concluded by saying:
As we look to the future, the possibility of his being
confirmed--
He is talking about Robert Kennedy--
as the secretary of health and human services is cause for
grave concern. I worry he would jeopardize half a century of
progress and success gained by the United States as a result
of vaccination programs. Too much depends on our commitment
to truth and the lifesaving power of vaccines to entrust Mr.
Kennedy with the direction of these programs. Our children's
lives depend on it.
I thank the Governor for his service to the people of Samoa and for
so eloquently describing what is at stake with Mr. Kennedy's
nomination.
Our Governor was so concerned that he recently traveled all the way
from Hawaii to Washington, DC, to speak to as many Senators that he
could directly about what is at stake. Governor Green was that
concerned about what this nominee could do to HHS.
During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Kennedy had the opportunity to
take responsibility for his role in Samoa's measles outbreak. Instead,
he stuck to his old tricks, blaming vaccines and spreading
misinformation.
Governor Green is correct. Our children's lives depend on our
commitment to vaccinations, and all of our lives depend on the science
and research done by HHS. Mr. Kennedy poses a dire threat to that
science and, indeed, to the American people.
For those reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote no on his forthcoming
nomination.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schmitt). The Senator from Hawaii.
Ms. HIRONO. I yield 30 minutes of postcloture debate time to the
junior Senator from Oregon.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has that right.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues, to
join the many Granite Staters who have written my office and expressed
their grave alarm in opposing the nomination of Mr. Kennedy as the next
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is without experience or qualification for
this post. He is uninformed and apparently uninterested in the most
basic elements of healthcare policy. He entertains and spreads
conspiracy theories that virtually everyone in this body knows to be
dishonest and dangerous.
In a different time, in a different political moment, with a
different President, Members of this Chamber would have joined together
to resoundingly reject Mr. Kennedy's nomination. In fact, in a
different time, where qualifications and character mattered, Mr.
Kennedy's nomination would never have made it to the floor. But here we
are.
Today, it appears that Mr. Kennedy will be confirmed and that Members
of the U.S. Senate--the so-called world's greatest deliberative body--
will sacrifice the health of our fellow Americans by failing to stand
up for science and for the truth.
For even the most skilled and experienced person, running the
Department of Health and Human Services is a really daunting task. We
expect and trust the HHS Secretary to direct the administration of
critical programs like Medicare or Medicaid; to direct research so that
we can find cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, and other diseases; to help
bring new lifesaving medications to market; to find ways to make
medicine and care more affordable; to help ensure that our children
grow up healthy and that our parents age with dignity.
When a crisis hits, we look to the Secretary of Health and Human
Services for leadership, to help lead the fight against fentanyl or to
protect our communities from a pandemic.
There is, perhaps, no aspect of public policy as complicated as
healthcare, and there are few aspects of life as fundamental as being
healthy.
And to be sure, there are grave healthcare challenges facing our
country. The cost of healthcare is too high; the cost of prescriptions,
too steep. While we have made extraordinary progress in recent
generations, we know that too many diseases still cry out to be cured,
and too many people struggle to get the care that they need where and
when they need it.
The challenges are real, but progress is possible.
When I was Governor of New Hampshire, I worked with Republicans and
Democrats in the legislature to help our State adopt Medicaid
expansion. And during the first Trump administration, we came together
to end surprise medical billing with a new bipartisan law. Of course,
there is much more work to do. The point is that when we work together,
embrace commonsense solutions, and have the right leadership, we can
forge progress. But it takes hard work. It takes seriousness to tackle
a challenge as daunting as healthcare. It takes experience, talent, and
ability. We are talking about the health of our country and of our
children.
This is a job that requires us to search far and wide across our
country to find the right person; someone who is informed, capable, and
forthright; someone who has a proven track record of leadership; and
someone willing to tell the truth in service to the goal of helping
every American to be healthy.
Instead, the President of the United States offered us Mr. Kennedy.
It is entirely unclear to me what qualifications Mr. Kennedy brings to
this office. He has never run an organization or a business even one-
hundredth of the size of the Department of Health and Human Services.
He has no background in medicine, science, health policy, or
government. Most concerning, though, is his complete and utter lack of
even the most basic knowledge of the Department he is supposed to lead
or the health policy debates and challenges that our country has been
grappling with over the last several decades.
It is not simply that we have been asked to hope that Mr. Kennedy
learns on the job. It is not simply that we are being asked to grade
Mr. Kennedy on a curve. It is worse than that because even for his
confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy couldn't be bothered to even do his
homework.
During his confirmation hearing, I asked Mr. Kennedy some fairly
basic
[[Page S900]]
questions about Medicare and Medicaid, the most well-known health
programs overseen by the Department he seeks to lead, programs which
tens of millions of Americans count on for their care. He couldn't
accurately identify a single part of Medicare. He got every question I
asked wrong.
When it comes to Medicaid, which, among other things, provides
coverage for about half of the births in the United States, he wrongly
said it was fully, federally funded, which it isn't.
Let me be clear: The administration is asking the American people to
place these critical health programs in the hands of a man who has no
idea what they even are. That is a big ask. And it is an ask we
wouldn't make of our own constituents. No one in this body would hire
even an entry-level healthcare staffer who did not understand the
basics of Medicaid and Medicare. Why should we exercise a different,
weaker standard for the person who is supposed to be in charge of both?
Why, with this administration, does the bar go even lower when the
office becomes even higher?
If Mr. Kennedy cannot be bothered to learn the basics about Medicare
and Medicaid, he will certainly not bother to stand up for them. This
administration has made clear that it is willing to gut Medicaid in
order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires.
The President's new Director of the Office of Management and Budget
has, in fact, proposed that the administration cut Medicaid--a program
that provides health insurance coverage for approximately 80 million
Americans--by more than one-third. Does anyone think that Mr. Kennedy
will be a voice of reason; that he will speak out on behalf of American
families and make the case for saving Medicare or Medicaid? He can't
even describe what they are.
Mr. Kennedy is an intelligent and educated man. But education and
intelligence aren't a substitute for taking the job seriously. If Mr.
Kennedy were in the running for a different post, his failure to
understand the basics of our healthcare system might not be relevant.
But it so happens to be the American people's great misfortune that he
is, in fact, being called to serve as the highest public health
official in our land.
Mr. Kennedy's lack of qualifications and knowledge about healthcare
have real consequences. If confirmed, his lack of preparation,
experience, and interest in America's healthcare will leave our country
worse off. Our people will be less healthy.
And nobody will feel Mr. Kennedy's careless disregard for the
magnitude of his position more than America's women. When I was
initially considering Mr. Kennedy's nomination, one mark in his favor
was his long record of advocacy on behalf of a woman's fundamental
freedom to make her own health decisions. When Mr. Kennedy was in New
Hampshire campaigning for President, he told Granite Staters:
I am pro-choice. I don't think the government has any
business telling people what to do with their bodies.
But since he came out in support of President Trump, Mr. Kennedy has
made a remarkable discovery. He decided at the age of 71 that his long-
held belief in reproductive freedom for women was wrong. All of his
principles about women making their own choices were suddenly no longer
true.
Instead, as the Nation's leading public health official, he has said
that he will faithfully and enthusiastically carry out the anti-choice
policies of an administration that continues to dedicate itself to
undermining and taking away a woman's fundamental freedom.
This isn't a hypothetical issue. In his confirmation hearing, Mr.
Kennedy said that he and the Trump administration would be examining
the safety of the drug mifepristone, which is used for abortions and in
miscarriage care. During the hearing, I showed Mr. Kennedy study after
study--stacks--hundreds of pages of research done over the course of
decades, all of which demonstrate the safety of this medication. Let me
be clear, the safety has been proven. If Mr. Kennedy and the Trump
administration continue to persist in studying a drug that is proven to
be safe, it is clear that their objection is not with a lack of
research; their objection is to the result of that research. So they
want to sow doubt about it. They want to sow confusion. And once they
do, they will hide behind the very doubt that they have created as a
reason for denying women the most basic of human freedoms: body
autonomy.
Mr. Kennedy, having sold out his pro-choice principles, will surely
help in that effort. He certainly will not stand in the way of it. The
debate about reproductive freedom is fundamentally a debate about
whether one believes in the basic promise of our Declaration of
Independence that all of us are free and equal. The question for Mr.
Kennedy and all those who would deny women this basic freedom is
whether they believe that women have the capacity and judgment to make
their own healthcare and reproductive decisions just as men do.
Make no mistake, Mr. Kennedy did not have a miraculous conversion
something like the Apostle Paul's on the road to Damascus on this
issue. He just made a cold-blooded, expedient choice to cut a path to
power. He decided that the freedom of women was a small price to pay in
order to be able to call himself a Cabinet Secretary. I have had good-
faith disagreements with friends and colleagues on the issue of
abortion, but Mr. Kennedy is different.
Mr. Kennedy has spent his lifetime arguing for a woman's reproductive
freedom. But he now abandons what he used to refer to as a core value
for a title and for what he, apparently, thinks is more important than
freedom--being in Donald Trump's orbit.
Americans have a particular disdain for those who sell out the
freedom of their fellow citizens in pursuit of power. We call such
people many things. We seldom call them ``Mr. Secretary.'' Even if Mr.
Kennedy was not inexperienced, even if Mr. Kennedy had basic knowledge
regarding our health system, even if Mr. Kennedy was not willing to
imperil freedom for women, members of both political parties should
reject his nomination because Mr. Kennedy, who has forged a career of
peddling cynicism and conspiracy regarding vaccines, is, perhaps, the
most uniquely dangerous man ever nominated to head America's Department
of Health and Human Services.
Vaccines are among the greatest achievements in human history, and
America has been at the center of that success. Our doctors and
scientists were instrumental in helping vanquish smallpox and banish
polio. Because of vaccines, more than 20 million people walk today who
otherwise would have been stricken with polio. Hundreds of millions of
people are alive today because of vaccines. I am reminded of the words
of a previous HHS Secretary:
Vaccines are some of the most thoroughly tested medical
products we have. Vaccines are safe, effective, and
lifesaving.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who was appointed by President Trump, said
those words during his first term. He was right when he said this 6
years ago. But today, Mr. Kennedy asserts that this statement is wrong.
Mr. Kennedy has a long history of dealing in both outright lies and
clever half-truths to sow cynicism, mistrust, and confusion regarding
vaccines. He has, at various times, discouraged people from getting
vaccines for measles and polio.
Mr. Kennedy has led litigation to discredit the HPV vaccine, a
vaccine which has led to a dramatic decrease in cervical cancers among
young women.
When the pandemic hit, President Trump helped marshal America's
scientific resources in Operation Warp Speed to produce a COVID vaccine
in record time. This was, in my mind, one of the greatest public health
achievements in decades and a real credit to President Trump. But Mr.
Kennedy helped lead efforts that attempted to revoke President Trump's
COVID vaccine's authorization.
And for more than 25 years, Mr. Kennedy has helped perpetuate the
dangerous lie that vaccines cause autism. During his confirmation
hearings, my colleagues virtually begged Mr. Kennedy to recant these
views. But Mr. Kennedy would not, insisting that if he somehow saw more
evidence--only then, perhaps--he might reverse course and tell people
he was wrong.
This is a dangerous game that Mr. Kennedy plays. He hides his anti-
vaccine conspiracies under a cloak of deniability. Sometimes he
outright lies. But most of the time, he insists that he is merely
raising questions and that he is simply a man looking for answers. But
to borrow from Benjamin Franklin:
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Half the truth is often a great lie.
When Mr. Kennedy is presented with facts, he ignores them. He ignored
the conclusive data that my colleagues showed him proving that vaccines
do not cause autism. He, instead, continued to rely on one tiny,
outdated, faulty, disproven study from way back in 1998; a study that
the Journal that originally published it has since withdrawn to support
his claim, instead of relying on the exhaustive studies that have been
conducted since then that prove there is no link between vaccines and
autism.
It is fine to ask questions. It is often urgently important. But it
is not doctors and scientists who are ignoring Mr. Kennedy's questions;
it is Mr. Kennedy who is ignoring their answers. Mr. Kennedy's vaccine
conspiracies are not a quirky personality or harmless eccentricity, but
especially with the authority and megaphone he will have if he is
confirmed, it will be a grave danger to the health of our people.
Mr. Kennedy has already spent much of his career taking legal action
against safe and effective vaccines. With the full power of the
Department of Health and Human Services, it stands to reason that he
will use his post to limit access to certain vaccines, pull FDA
approval of others, or change guidelines and recommendations concerning
what vaccines children should receive.
But more than that, with the platform of HHS Secretary, Mr. Kennedy
will undermine public trust in vaccines and will discourage a growing
number of parents from getting their children vaccinated. As for Mr.
Kennedy's insistence that is simply raising doubts about the safety of
vaccines doesn't mean that he is urging people not to get their
children vaccinated--well, Mr. Kennedy may be unqualified, but he is
not naive. He knows full well that millions of people listen to his
words. Millions more will listen should he be confirmed to this office.
And so what happens? How much, Mr. President, does a lie about
vaccines truly cost? Let us say that a greater number of Americans
become wary of vaccines due to Mr. Kennedy's musings from the seat of
the most powerful public health perch in the world. A greater number of
families decide that their kids don't need vaccines. Sometimes that
will mean just skipping one vaccine. Sometimes it will mean skipping
all of them. These parents aren't necessarily conspiracy theorists
themselves, but they have read some scary, if untrue, stories online,
and as they try to figure out what to do, the most important public
health authority in the land chooses to give credence to the lies
rather than reassure parents with the truth.
Maybe, as is true with every parent, these parents are worried about
their child developing a disability, and now they hear Mr. Kennedy
suggest that vaccines maybe cause autism, so they hesitate. They don't
return to the pediatrician's office for the next dose of a vaccine that
will prevent their child from getting a deadly disease.
As more and more children become unprotected and as Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., fails to advocate for safe, effective, lifesaving
vaccines, children get sick, they spread the disease, and all of a
sudden, we are back to the kind of deadly disease outbreaks that
doctors used to witness in the early decades of the 20th century--a
time long enough ago wherein many Americans don't realize what it was
like to lose a loved one to an illness like measles. There will be more
measles outbreaks like the one going on right now in West Texas, or
maybe, instead of measles, it will be polio. People will get sick, and
people will die. Take a look in a museum at a rusting iron lung. Go to
the graves of the unvaccinated measles victims in American Samoa. That
is the cost. That is the price of this particular lie.
I also take issue with the notion that Mr. Kennedy's anti-vax
cynicism is somehow advancing scientific progress or healthy debate.
The truth is that Mr. Kennedy's conspiracies are not particularly new.
They are old theories that have been disproven but that Mr. Kennedy
keeps alive by continuing to recycle them long after the debate has
been concluded. So, no, I don't object to engaging in new debates on
unproven science; I object to rehashing old debates on proven science.
Remarkably, during the hearings, Mr. Kennedy and some of my
colleagues sought to place Mr. Kennedy in the tradition of great
scientific minds like Galileo and Newton, who dared challenge the
scientific status quo with their own provocative questions. There is,
of course, a key difference. The difference is that Galileo and Newton
were right, and Mr. Kennedy is wrong. The evidence vindicated Galileo.
The evidence refutes Mr. Kennedy. That difference is what separated
Galileo from the village crank. That difference is what separates a
witch doctor from a real one.
This never-ending cycle of cynicism--of relitigating old debates
about whether vaccines cause autism--doesn't further scientific
progress. It doesn't unlock new truths or cures. It keeps us stuck in
the past, stuck having the same debates over and over and over again.
All that changes is that the mound of evidence disproving Mr. Kennedy
grows higher and higher.
In his hearing, Mr. Kennedy said that he wouldn't apologize for
asking what he called uncomfortable questions because ``we have massive
health problems in this country that we must face honestly.''
The problem is not that Mr. Kennedy is asking uncomfortable
questions; the problem is that Mr. Kennedy himself is not willing to
accept the answers to them. The problem is that Mr. Kennedy is wasting
our time and our money with dishonest and already settled debates,
debates that distract us from the task at hand--the task of tackling
the real and significant health problems that are facing our country--
because in his lifetime of fearmongering, what good has Mr. Kennedy
actually contributed to the mission of public health?
Mr. Kennedy says he wishes to make America healthy again, but when
Mr. Kennedy suggested that the polio vaccine gave people cancer, what
child did he make healthier? Mr. Kennedy says he is trying to promote
vigorous scientific debate. When Mr. Kennedy suggested that the United
States of America develop Lyme disease as a bioweapon, what medical
breakthrough did that yield? What disease did he help cure then? Mr.
Kennedy's vaccine fears garner him headlines, but have they made
healthcare more affordable for a single American family?
Think about the hours and resources that Mr. Kennedy has urged his
followers to invest in relitigating proven science and what progress
could instead have been made if that money were invested in finding
treatments and cures to diseases. That is the price of Mr. Kennedy's
insistence that we remain frozen in time in our understanding of
science.
Mr. Kennedy has not made America healthier in his career thus far,
nor will he if he is confirmed. He will make America less healthy, more
doubtful, more divided, more cynical, and further away from finding
cures and making scientific progress.
We have real healthcare challenges in this country. The American
people need healthcare costs to come down. They want to stop having to
make impossible choices between making ends meet and getting their
children the medications they need. They want it to be easier to get a
prompt appointment with a good doctor in their neighborhood who talks
with them and doesn't rush them out the door. They want better mental
health care in our schools. They want cures. They want their loved ones
to stop being held back by chronic diseases. They want to say fewer
early goodbyes because of cancer, Alzheimer's, and other diseases. They
want to be able to age at home with dignity and high-quality home care.
Making our country more healthy is no small task, but we can do it.
We live in a great country. The American people are talented and
imaginative. When we work together, we have the capacity to do
extraordinary things. We can make our country better. We can save more
lives. But we cannot move forward if we confirm a Cabinet Secretary who
engages in the same, tired debates over and over again, if we confirm a
Cabinet Secretary who goads us into fighting each other rather than
fighting for cures or for lower healthcare costs.
If this body confirms Mr. Kennedy, it will, in effect, be declaring
that experience doesn't matter and qualifications do not count. It will
be ignoring plain truths and suspending our capacity for
[[Page S902]]
reasoning--all because a President demanded that the majority of this
body do so.
If this body confirms Mr. Kennedy, it will be betraying who we are as
Americans. It will be sacrificing a better future for the sake of
needlessly relitigating the past. It will be confusing a charlatan with
a prophet and cynicism with wisdom.
In the end, if this body confirms Mr. Kennedy, more parents will
reject vaccinations for their children, more people will get sick, and
a growing number of children will likely die.
The exact impact of Mr. Kennedy's confirmation in terms of lives lost
or progress thwarted will, of course, be hard to quantify. Regardless,
what we do know for certain is that Senators on both sides of the aisle
are willing to denounce the lies that Mr. Kennedy has spread, and we
saw that in our hearings. But, colleagues, the issue in this moment
isn't whether you will stand up against lies; the issue is whether you
will stand up to the man who tells them. And in this moment, in this
Chamber, it appears that not enough of my Republican colleagues are
willing to do that. I hope I am wrong.
I urge my colleagues to reject Mr. Kennedy's nomination.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I, too, rise to oppose the nomination of
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to serve as Secretary of Health and Human
Services.
I can only hope that I am half as eloquent and moving as Senator
Hassan has been not just here on the floor today but in committee
during the confirmation hearing.
I oppose this nomination for his wildly misinformed beliefs and his
utter lack of experience. I believe he is fundamentally unfit and
unprepared, and Americans will be less healthy if he is confirmed.
Let's begin with, for years, he has made conspiracy theories and
anti-vaccine misinformation his calling card, from false accusations
that vaccines cause autism to lies that the COVID-19 virus targets
specific racial groups. He has founded his own anti-vax organization,
authored several books pushing public health conspiracies, and has made
millions off anti-vax lawsuits. It all points to a dangerous principle
at the core of Mr. Kennedy's beliefs: ``There's no vaccine that is safe
and effective.''
As the Presiding Officer knows, my background is in engineering. I am
not a scientist, but I am an engineer. As an engineer, I trust the
experts who have spent their lives researching, conducting clinical
trials, and collecting data.
Through the decades of life-changing discoveries and scientific
breakthroughs, one thing has become increasingly, undeniably clear: The
single best way to protect the Nation from viral disease is to get
vaccinated. It is the reason why, today, hundreds of millions of
Americans can live freely without having serious concerns of
contracting polio, of contracting smallpox, or of contracting
hepatitis.
That used to be a source of pride for the Nation, but in the face of
all of the proven science--proven again and again science--Mr. Kennedy
has chosen to profit off of fear, and countless parents are being
misled into making dangerous decisions for their children.
Look, I get the fear. I am proud to represent California in the
Senate, and I am proud to have an engineering background, but I, too,
am a parent of three boys. I remember what it was like to hold a baby
in your arms and to worry every time there was a sniffle and a cough. I
would do anything to protect my children, just as you would do anything
to protect yours. But where families have reasonable questions on
everything from doctors to diets, Mr. Kennedy simply sees dollar signs.
Now, today, we find ourselves in yet another viral outbreak. A bird
flu has shown some early signs of transmission to humans.
I can't think of a worse idea than to install an anti-vaxxer as
Secretary of Health and Human Services. His beliefs alone make him
unfit to lead HHS, but in addition to that, he is simply unprepared to
lead.
Nearly 16 months ago, I was proud to cofound the bipartisan Senate
Mental Health Caucus.
Thank you, Senator Tillis; thank you, Senator Ernst; and thank you,
Senator Smith, for being cofounders of this caucus.
In the time since then, we have made some significant strides. But
before Americans can ever reach out for help in a time of crisis, they
have to know that they can access help. So that is on us to make sure
that the support, the services, the programs are there for Americans
when they need them. We know that Medicaid is the single largest payer
of behavioral health services in the Nation.
So at a time when Republicans are looking to cut funding for
lifesaving services, I would rather see a fierce defender of Medicaid
at HHS. Yet, during his confirmation hearing, Mr. Kennedy failed to
show even a basic understanding of Medicaid--not the sources of
funding, not the benefits. At one point, he even seemed to confuse
Medicaid and Medicare.
Colleagues, I shouldn't have to say this: This is not a ``learn on
the job'' nomination.
Well, President Trump knows just how unprepared Mr. Kennedy is for
this job. Reporting from Semafor just a few days ago tells us that
during Mr. Kennedy's confirmation hearing, President Trump was
watching. He saw just how poorly the confirmation hearing was going for
Mr. Kennedy. So what did President Trump do? He does what he does best.
He leapt into action to distract and divide. He held a press conference
simply to throw out the latest controversy to reporters, and it took
the attention off and the pressure off of this dangerous nominee.
That is what we are up against, colleagues. Over the next several
months, our Nation will face a critical test for some of the most
important public health systems in our country.
In the House, Republicans are already floating cuts to Medicaid to
pay for even more tax breaks for the rich.
In the White House, President Trump and his shadow president Musk
have proven they will shutter any Agency that stands in their way.
Today, we are left wondering who will speak up to protect the health
of millions of Americans? Unfortunately, Mr. Kennedy has already shown
he is not up to the task.
So, colleagues, I urge you to join me in fighting to protect the
health of our constituents and oppose the confirmation of Mr. Kennedy.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I join my last two colleagues, the Senator
from New Hampshire and the Senator from California, in echoing some of
their concerns, because I also rise today to oppose President Trump's
nomination of Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., to be Secretary of Health
and Human Services.
It has been less than a month since Donald Trump was inaugurated. It
feels a bit longer for some of us. Yet already, we have seen this
administration attack nonpartisan civil servants, illegally freeze
Federal funding, and gut the independent oversight bodies that crack
down and protect Americans from corruption.
That would mean, now more than ever, the Senate needs to confirm
nominees who want to make the government more efficient, yes, but who
are also willing to work in good faith to advance their missions,
regardless of political ideology.
Unfortunately, I don't believe that Mr. Kennedy is that nominee, and
I fear that he will serve as a rubberstamp to the chaos and disruption
that the Trump-Musk administration brings.
The past couple of weeks have made it clear that Elon Musk and his
DOGE bros have a disturbing scheme to undermine the government's
ability to operate, all in the name of efficiency.
We have seen Musk take a hatchet to USAID, ceding soft power and,
frankly, 70 years of bipartisan leadership in that domain, to China.
We have seen that same attack to limit our ability to fight
terrorists and, unfortunately, turn our back--which we have never done,
even with Presidents of Democrat or Republican affiliation--turn our
back entirely on the international community.
We have seen Mr. Musk take a hatchet to the CFPB and leave consumers
to fend for themselves, giving a pass to
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scammers and institutions that defraud Americans.
We are starting to see Musk take aim at the Department of Education.
We cannot allow this pattern to continue at the Agency tasked with
keeping people healthy and safe.
As folks in my State may remember, earlier this month, the President
issued an illegal order to freeze all Federal spending. Fortunately,
the funding freeze order was rescinded after a major public outcry and
the threat of losing in court. Yet, even with the order rescinded, real
people's lives were fundamentally changed.
Across Virginia, for example, three community health centers had to
close during the funding freeze, and now they won't be reopening
because of uncertainty. They are not sure the money is even coming
back.
These health centers, which provide primary and preventive care for
the underserved populations, feel they can no longer rely on the
government contract or the government to keep its word or meet its
obligations.
In rural Buckingham County, a health center is having to put off
replacing the only machine in the county that provides breast cancer
screening.
Who suffers? Well, it is not Mr. Musk. He is the richest man in the
world. I imagine he and the young men who work with him get pretty good
and timely care.
But if we would just end it there, that wouldn't be all that we would
potentially be putting Mr. Kennedy into. We have already seen some of
the foreshadowing of what is to come if Mr. Kennedy is confirmed as the
HHS nominee.
Take the NIH for example--National Institutes of Health--something
broadly supported in a bipartisan way. NIH is one of the many important
Agencies that is tasked with advancing medical and public health
research in the United States. And, literally, in the years that I have
been here, it has been Republican Members who have often taken the lead
in championing existing and increasing funding. Unfortunately, many of
the medical achievements which started off as NIH grants, from cancer
immunotherapies to heart valve replacements to medications for many
health conditions, all started at NIH. Yet earlier this week, the Trump
administration put forward a plan to cut $4 billion in Federal funding
for research at hospital and universities, like those in Virginia which
conduct some of our Nation's top research. This basically cuts the legs
out of a lot of NIH funding.
This illegal and shortsighted maneuver could decrease the kind of
work that leads to medical cures and scientific breakthroughs. It could
devastate a major research ecosystem in Virginia, eliminate 21st
century jobs, and hurt countless American families who have been
touched by cancer and other devastating diseases.
I have no earthly idea why the President would choose to cede
American R&D leadership in bio at this moment to China. But what I do
know is that Mr. Kennedy will do nothing to stop it.
What we need at HHS is a nominee who is willing to go in with a
scalpel, not a hatchet, to make our healthcare system better. We need
someone with the preparedness and experience necessary to safeguard a
woman's right to reproductive care; to support healthcare systems in
their fight against cyber attacks; that would protect both Medicare and
Medicaid, and ensure that American families can count on good health
insurance.
Rather than focusing on any of these things, Mr. Kennedy, as you have
heard from my colleagues, has expressed that he would like to gut our
Nation's top health Agency. Specifically, he said he would like to oust
2,200 nonpartisan health experts at HHS.
At his hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, I asked him a
very simple question: Which ones? Which of these nonpartisan health
officials have you got slated for the chopping block? I wondered, was
it the folks who keep our food safe from salmonella? The individuals
who examine medications we give our kids? He couldn't even answer the
question who he wanted to cut.
Now, I do appreciate Mr. Kennedy's concern with chronic illnesses and
the obesity epidemic. I also agree that not enough Americans have
access to healthy food. However, having met with Mr. Kennedy in private
and having questioned him in the hearing, I don't believe he is the
right person to tackle these complicated issues.
I don't have the confidence that he will be willing to consider the
science or consult nonpartisan health experts when necessary. I
certainly don't have the confidence that he would ever be willing to
stand up to Donald Trump or Elon Musk.
Frankly, at least in Virginia, I am not the only one who feels that
way. Let me take a moment to share some concerns I have heard from
Virginians.
Katherine, an ICU nurse in Charlottesville wrote:
I cared for critically-ill and dying patients during the
COVID-19 pandemic, while public health conspiracies were
spread by figures like RFK, Jr., with no scientific or
medical training. I have seen the potentially deadly
consequences of spreading misleading health and safety
information.
Take Talia, an Alexandria resident who suffers chronic illnesses. She
wrote:
My ability to access effective treatments relies on
accurate research and development of medicine.
She fears, if nominated, Mr. Kennedy will cut progress in science and
medical research.
Another constituent from Nokesville wrote:
My mother contracted polio at age 2. . . . She is now 92
and has spent her life dealing with the pain of post-polio
symptoms. RFK, Jr.'s stance on vaccines is dangerous to
people of all ages.
A doctor from my hometown of Alexandria wrote:
As a pediatrician for almost 50 years, I have seen many
diseases nearly eradicated, thanks to vaccines. Mr. Kennedy
would reverse that trend. In my care, I have seen children
become profoundly impaired--unable to talk or care for
themselves as adults--due to preventable infections. I have
seen three children die from ``harmless'' childhood diseases
like measles and chickenpox. I never wish to see that again.
A cancer survivor from Virginia Beach wrote:
Cancer survivors like myself count on public health
initiatives and scientific research to ensure the effective
long-term treatment and prevention of serious diseases. I do
not believe Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.--a man who lacks any
credentials and credibility in this field--will have those
interests in mind.
The writing is on the wall. This nominee does not have the right
experience, credibility, or motivations to be running a government
Agency of this size and importance. That is why I will be voting no on
Mr. Kennedy's nomination to be Secretary and urge my colleagues to do
the same.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Curtis). The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I would ask unanimous consent to be able
to use a prop during my speech.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.