Ahead of Final Floor Vote, Wyden Opposes the Nomination of RFK Jr. to be HHS Secretary
As Prepared for Delivery
Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here
Late into the night, senators spoke on the Senate floor about why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the least qualified nominee to ever be tapped as America’s chief health care officer.
On issue after issue, Mr. Kennedy has demonstrated a profound lack of knowledge at best, and deeply dangerous views at worst.
Mr. Kennedy has refused to tell Americans how he would manage health care issues that they are deeply worried about: vaccine safety, women’s reproductive health, drug pricing, and affordable health care, to name a few.
This leaves millions of Americans alarmed about the future of health and science in America. Last week, two Oregon medical students approached me to talk about Mr. Kennedy’s nomination. They told me they were less concerned about the damage Mr. Kennedy would do as HHS Secretary in the weeks and months to come. These medical students are not only worried about the prospect of losing cures, treatments, and medical breakthroughs if Mr. Kennedy is confirmed. They told me that his unwillingness to take science and medical data seriously will harm science for decades to come.
I ask my colleagues to think about those medical students’ words. Is that a legacy you want to leave behind as a result of supporting Mr. Kennedy?
Senate Democrats have been making this very case. In his hearing before the Finance Committee, I asked Mr. Kennedy to square his anti-vaccine views with more recent statements designed to placate nervous senators. In his testimony, he used the fact that his own children were vaccinated to prove he was not anti-vaccine. But just a few years ago, he said he would “do anything” and “pay anything” to go back in time in order to prevent them from getting those vaccines.
Elsewhere in his testimony, Mr. Kennedy stated that he was not anti-vaccine, but rather “pro-safety.” But about 18 months ago, he said on a podcast that “no vaccine is safe and effective.”
In other words, we brought the receipts. And Mr. Kennedy said nothing to actually disavow his prior statements. He stuck by the timeworn tactics of a conspiracy theorist: always ask for more evidence, and never accept evidence that’s placed in front of him.
Even some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle were visibly disturbed by Mr. Kennedy’s refusal to entertain evidence that would require him to change his mind on vaccine safety. Nevertheless, it appears my Republican colleagues have bowed to pressure from Trump and are poised to hand Mr. Kennedy the platform he’s been seeking for two decades to push his fringe views.
So before the Senate votes, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the fight ahead. Republicans in the House are already pressing ahead this morning with their plan to kick millions of Americans off of their health insurance in order to help fund more tax cuts to billionaires. And as HHS Secretary, Mr. Kennedy will be a key player in their effort.
While senators were on the floor speaking yesterday, the Senate Budget Committee debated a budget resolution that unlocks the legislative tools Republicans need to make good on their go-it-alone plan. At the same time, the House Budget Committee released its own budget resolution that will be debated today. What is clear in both of these blueprints is that Medicaid cuts are at the top of the list.
Eighty-one million Americans rely on health care coverage under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Those people are mostly kids, people with disabilities, low-income families, and seniors. The damage and destruction to American families if Republicans go through with their plans to gut Medicaid can’t be overstated. Take nursing homes for example. Two out of three nursing home residents are currently covered by Medicaid.
Imagine you visit your mom in her nursing home in the months after the Republican bill makes steep cuts to Medicaid. Your mom complains that there are fewer and fewer staff. She had to wait more than an hour after calling for help to use the bathroom on several occasions. Next time you visit, she tells you some of the new staff aren’t very nice. You learn that the facility no longer has the resources to conduct background checks, and they are desperate for workers.
A few weeks later, the facility manager pulls you aside to deliver some bad news. Her nursing home can no longer accept patients with Medicaid after steep federal cuts to the program. Unless you can find another facility that accepts Medicaid, you’ll have to pay the high monthly cost out of your own pocket. Suddenly, and with no warning, you’re faced with two impossible options. Either you scramble to find the money to cover a new facility that costs thousands of dollars a month, or you bring your mom home with you. So between holding down a full time job and raising your young kids, suddenly you’re going to have to take on full-time care of your mom who requires nursing care around the clock. And unfortunately, you’re not alone. Many of your friends and neighbors with aging parents and grandparents in nursing homes are facing the same catastrophe.
Republicans will likely try to disguise their cuts to Medicaid using terminology they think plays well with people. For Republicans, every single child, senior, or family struggling to pay the bills that gets denied coverage is a win.
That brings us to Mr. Kennedy.
During his confirmation hearing, on everything from abortion, to vaccines, to Medicare and Medicaid, Mr. Kennedy was given ample opportunity to go on the record about how he plans to improve these programs, bring down costs, save taxpayer dollars, and improve care. Instead, he showed a complete lack of understanding of the basics of Medicaid and how it functions. It shouldn’t be asking too much for the future “CEO” of Medicaid to understand how important it is to providing affordable coverage for millions of families.
Republicans, with Donald Trump at the helm, are steering our country toward a health care cliff. Their ultimate objective is to take away Medicaid from as many people as they can. So much for making America healthy again. The American people are in need of a leader who will be the voice of reason in the room as Trump and his lackeys in Congress start slicing and cutting. Our country needs a leader at HHS who will work to improve care and lower costs. Defend our reproductive freedoms, and listen to facts and science. The American people have no reason to believe Mr. Kennedy will be that leader.
There’s no question the health care system is falling short. Americans are disillusioned by a system that puts profits over patients in too many circumstances. Nobody is arguing for the status quo. But the solution does not lie in Donald Trump’s “concept of a plan” to make our country less healthy, less safe, and less successful.
When kids are kicked off their Medicaid coverage and forced to go without basic medical care, and grow up with chronic illnesses that leave them in a lifetime of pain and suffering, Republicans will be to blame. When seniors are told they have to vacate their nursing home because it no longer accepts Medicaid, Republicans will be to blame. When families struggling to pay the bills are landed with a mountain of medical debt because their kid got sick and they were kicked off their insurance, Republicans will be to blame.
And Mr. Kennedy will no doubt be right alongside them, a willing participant, every single step of the way. I urge a ‘no’ vote.
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