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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the fact that we are here right now--that we are even here right now--voting on this wildly unqualified conspiracy theorist to trust with one of the most life-or-death jobs, HHS Secretary, charged with protecting the health of every single American should be an affront to every Senator and the millions of Americans that will be impacted by this horrific nomination.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I implore you, think one more time, one last time, about this vote. My colleagues on the Republican side, you know the consequences of what you are doing. My colleagues on the Republican side, you know how dangerous this is. My colleagues on the other side, you know you are not putting your constituents, their health, their families first when you vote yes.
To quote my colleague the junior Senator from Texas just a few years ago, he said:
We need an expert, we need a scientist, we need someone who knows something about healthcare leading the Health and Human Services Department.
Well, which is Robert Kennedy? An expert? A scientist?
Or what about the senior Senator from Louisiana, the chair of the HELP Committee and a well-respected medical professional himself? A few years ago, here is what he said:
Previous HHS Secretaries have had a pharmaceutical industry background, been a State health commissioner, run health systems, have been governors--somebody who has had a background in actually administering the programs that HHS administers.
I ask my colleagues: Which of these qualifications does RFK possess?
You know the answer: None of them.
The question in front of this body today--the question in front of this body--is not simply to confirm RFK to run the Nation's Health Department. The question before us is very simple: Which is more important to you--the health and well-being of your constituents or blindly obeying orders, knowing full well the dangerous impacts your vote will enable?
I plead with you one more time: Rethink this issue. This is dangerous. This is wrong--very wrong.
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