Authorizing the President of the Senate to Certify the Report of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate Regarding the Refusal of Dr. Ralph De La Torre to Appear and Testify Before the Committee
Floor Speech
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Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, over 4 months ago, Steward Health Care and the more than 30 hospitals it owns in 8 States declared bankruptcy, with some $9 billion in debt. This bankruptcy has caused devastating harm to patients, healthcare workers, and entire communities from Massachusetts to Arizona.
In July, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which I chair, voted to authorize a bipartisan investigation into the financial mismanagement of Steward Health Care. On that same day, the HELP Committee also voted to subpoena Dr. Ralph de la Torre, the CEO of Steward Health Care, to testify at a hearing on this very important issue on September 12.
Sadly, Dr. de la Torre made the unfortunate and unacceptable decision not to show up at this hearing in defiance of a congressional subpoena. So last week, the HELP Committee voted 20 to 0 on two resolutions to hold Dr. de la Torre accountable for his failure to appear at this hearing.
The first resolution instructs Senate legal counsel to bring a civil suit in the District Court for the District of Columbia to require Dr. de la Torre's compliance with the subpoena and his testimony before the HELP Committee.
The second resolution would refer this matter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to criminally prosecute Dr. de la Torre for failing to comply with the subpoena.
In a few moments, I will be asking unanimous consent to pass the second resolution, which seeks to hold Dr. de la Torre in criminal contempt for failing to comply with the congressional subpoena.
But before I do that, let me take a moment to briefly explain why the HELP Committee believed it was so important for Dr. de la Torre to testify before Congress.
First, we wanted Dr. de la Torre to explain to us how it could happen that at least 15 patients at hospitals owned by his company died-- died--as a result of a lack of medical equipment or staffing shortages, and why at least 2,000 other patients were put in immediate peril, according to Federal regulators.
That is something that the American people deserve to know. But perhaps most importantly, we wanted to know how it could happen that while thousands of patients and healthcare workers suffered and communities around the country have been devastated as a result of Steward Health Care's financial mismanagement, Dr. de la Torre and the companies he owned were able to receive at least $250 million in total compensation over the past 4 years.
For months, Senator Cassidy, the ranking member of the HELP Committee; Senator Markey, the chair of our healthcare subcommittee; and I have asked Dr. de la Torre to testify before our committee to answer these questions. And time after time, he has arrogantly refused, and that is simply not acceptable.
So, today, I will ask the Senate to unanimously adopt this resolution seeking to hold Dr. de la Torre in contempt of Congress.
Let me take this opportunity to thank Ranking Member Cassidy and his staff for working with me and my staff on this very important issue. The passage of this resolution by the full Senate will make clear that, even though Dr. de la Torre may be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, even though he may be able to buy fancy yachts and private jets and luxurious accommodations throughout the world, even though he may be able to afford some of the most expensive lawyers in America, no, Dr. de la Torre is not above the law. If you defy a congressional subpoena, you will be held accountable no matter who you are or how well connected you may be.
The goal of the HELP Committee throughout this entire process has been to make sure not only that we have a complete understanding of the financial chicanery surrounding Steward Health Care but to do everything that we can to make sure that such a travesty never occurs again.
Re Senate HELP Committee Subpoena to Dr. Ralph de la Torre. Hon. Bernie Sanders, Chairman, Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Sanders: We write to follow up on our September 4, 2024 letter (``Letter'') to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (the ``Committee'') and the Committee's recent announcement that it intends to vote this week on two contempt resolutions regarding the July 25, 2024 subpoena issued to Dr. de la Torre, in his capacity as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Steward Health Care System LLC (``Steward''), for testimony at the Committee's September 12, 2024 hearing titled ``Examining the Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care: How Management Decisions Have Impacted Patient Care'' (the ``Hearing'').
As we underscored in our Letter, Dr. de la Torre lacks the authority to speak on behalf of Steward with respect to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and he is prohibited by a federal court order from doing so. Despite these valid objections, however, the Committee moved forward with the Hearing without meaningfully considering the issues that Dr. de la Torre raised and without attempting to reschedule the Hearing. What is more, the Committee's disregard for Dr. de la Torre's request to reschedule the Hearing in light of these legal restrictions substantiated our concern that the true purpose of the Hearing was not to gather facts within the Committee's constitutional and congressional remit, but instead a pseudo-criminal proceeding with the goal of convicting Dr. de la Torre in a court of public opinion.
Our concerns that the Hearing would be used to ambush Dr. de la Torre in a pseudo-criminal proceeding were on full display last week, with the Committee soliciting testimony from witnesses calling Dr. de la Torre and Steward executives ``health care terrorists'' and advocating for Dr. de la Torre's imprisonment, all while the Committee refused to even acknowledge or aid the bankruptcy settlement that would ensure continuity of services in all but two Steward hospitals across the nation.
Dr. de la Torre cannot be permitted to provide sworn testimony at this time, given that the Hearing was seemingly designed as a vehicle to violate Dr. de la Torre's constitutional rights, including his Fifth Amendment rights. The U.S. Constitution affords Dr. de la Torre inalienable rights against being compelled by the government to provide sworn testimony that is specifically (yet baselessly) sought to frame Dr. de la Torre as a criminal scapegoat for the systemic failures in Massachusetts' health care system. Accordingly, on the advice of counsel, Dr. de la Torre invokes his procedural and substantive rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, including the privilege to refrain from testifying at the Committee's Hearing. See Quinn v. United States. 349 U.S. 155, 161 (1955). (``Still further limitations on [Congress's] power to investigate are found in the specific individual guarantees of the Bill of Rights, such as the Fifth Amendment's privilege . . .'').
If the Committee had any concern for the hospitals affected by Steward's bankruptcy proceedings it would, consistent with Dr. de la Torre's request to postpone the hearing for a more appropriate time, permit the bankruptcy resolution to move forward and focus its actions on tackling legitimate questions in the best interests of Steward patients, hospitals, and communities. Sincerely, Alexander J. Merton. ____ September 25, 2024. Alexander J. Merton, Partner, Quinn Emanual, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Merton: We write in response to your letter of September 18, 2024. As explained in our letter of September 5, 2024, your client, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, had a legal duty to attend the hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on September 12, 2024, as commanded by the duly authorized Committee testimonial subpoena issued to him on July 25, 2024, for which you accepted service on his behalf and indicated his availability.
As further explained in our September 5, 2024, letter, had Dr. de la Torre appeared to testify, he would have had a full opportunity to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self- incrimination in response to questions posed to him by members of the Committee that implicated that right. Having elected not to appear, Dr. de la Torre willfully placed himself in default of the Committee's subpoena. Your effort to assert the Fifth Amendment, on your client's behalf, after the fact, and generally rather than in response to specific questions, is untimely and inadequate and does not cure your client's default.
In response to Dr. de la Torre's failure to appear, the Committee convened an executive session on September 19, 2024, and voted to report two resolutions to the Senate for further consideration. The first directs Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil action to enforce the Committee's subpoena and the second authorizes the President of the Senate to certify a Committee report regarding the refusal of Dr. Ralph de la Torre to appear and testify before the Committee to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for criminal prosecution. Both resolutions were agreed to and favorably reported by the Committee. Sincerely, Bernard Sanders, hairman, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Bill Cassidy, M.D, Ranking Member,
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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Mr. SANDERS. With that, Madam President, I would be happy to yield to the ranking member of the committee who has done an excellent job on this issue, Senator Cassidy.
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Mr. SANDERS. Senator Markey has played a leadership role in the investigation of this whole process. I would like to yield to Senator Markey.
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Mr. SANDERS. Senator Markey, thank you for your leadership on this.
Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 522, S. Res. 837.
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Mr. SANDERS. I know of no further debate on the resolution.
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