Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, berated Secretary of Health and Human Services-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday morning, arguing that Kennedy’s “life’s work” has been to “sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids lifesaving vaccines.”
Here’s what Wyden had to say in his opening statement after being handed the floor by Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID):
The question before the Finance Committee this morning is whether Robert F. Kennedy should be trusted with the health and well-being of the American people. Committee staff have examined thousands of pages of statements, books, and podcast transcripts in a review of his record. The receipts show that Mr. Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He has made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids lifesaving vaccines. It has been lucrative for him and put him on the verge of immense power.This is the profile of someone who chases money and influence wherever they lead, even if that may mean the tragic deaths of children and other vulnerable people. Now, Mr. Kennedy is fond of saying he’s not making recommendations about whether parents should vaccinate their children, He’s just asking questions and giving people choices. It’s a slippery tactic
to dodge any real responsibility for his words and actions. And it is, in my view, absurd coming from somebody who’s trying to win confirmation for a job that is entirely about making recommendations.These recommendations are going to have life or death consequences for the American people. Mr. Kennedy, if you are confirmed, your recommendations determine which vaccines senior citizens get for free through Medicare. Your recommendation will determine which vaccines are given to millions of kids. Peddling these anti-vaccine conspiracy theories as our chief health officer is going to endanger the lives of kids and seniors across the nation. Just look at what happened when Mr. Kennedy inserted himself into an anti-vaccination crisis in the island nation of Samoa. He traveled there himself to push his views and poured fuel on the fire of a measles outbreak that began due to low vaccination rates. In the end, 83 Samoans died, mostly kids, from a disease that is easily preventable.Americans cannot afford to import this experiment to our great nation. On other health care mattered from abortion to universal health care, Mr. Kennedy has changed his views so often, it is nearly impossible to know where he stands on so many of the basic issues that impact Americans’ daily lives. In a gobsmacking statement of irresponsibility in November 2023, Mr. Kennedy said that he wanted to pause infectious disease research for eight years. Mr. Kennedy has indicated he’s open to restrictingaccess to abortion medication mifepristone, which remains a primary target of the Republican crusade against reproductive freedom. I took this on back in 1990 when I chaired the first congressional hearing on the topic. The science was clear then, it’s even clearer today. Mifepristone is safe. The only reason it’s under question in 2025 is because people with a political agenda have been out lying about it. Women deserve to know if Mr. Kennedy will abuse his power as our country’s chief health officer to essentially implement a national abortion ban by restricting access to the safe and legal medication.Meanwhile, as the Trump Budget Office threw the Medicaid program into chaos yesterday, Republicans in Congress are proposing deep cuts to the program that will rip away health care for millions of Americans who count on this vital lifeline. Cuts to Medicaid at this magnitude are going to jack up the cost of health insurance. It will shutter nursing homes and rural hospitals, deprive seniors and Americans with disabilities of home based care. That approach amounts to handing over our nation’s financial system to for-profit insurance companies who’ve made a fortune delaying and denying care.Mr. Kennedy has virtually no knowledge or experience in handling these issues. It leaves him unprepared to take on a crisis like the nation witnessed yesterday when the Trump Budget Office shut down the federal Medicaid payment portal. After a careful review of RobertF. Kennedy Jr.’s statements, actions and views, materials that I have reviewed personally and closely, I’ve reached the conclusion that he should not be entrusted with the health and well-being of the American people.When he’s taken every side of every issue, how can this committee and the American people believe he has anything to say? Let me close by saying I believe more strongly than ever, and I have specialized in health care during my time in public service, that we’re at a turning point with regard to health care in America. If there’s one word to describe Americans’ feelings towards the health care system, it’s disillusioned. At every single turn, people feel like they’re rolling a load of dice, loaded dice, when they try to get health care. Americans are justifiably angry, fed up and tired of a system that puts profits over patients.Instead of debating meaningful ways to improve Americans health care, now the committee is being forced to relitigate settled science about vaccines and whether or not the federal government should help Americans get affordable health care. I know where Democrats on this Finance Committee stand when it comes to an agenda to lower costs and improve care. I must say, I cannot say the same about the nominee sitting in front of me.
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