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Floor Speech
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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 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 Fortunately, the funding freeze order was rescinded after a major public outcry and the threat of losing in court. Yet, even with the order rescinded, real people's lives were fundamentally changed.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.
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