Watch Senator Rosen’s Full Remarks HERE.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) took to the Senate floor to oppose the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In her remarks, Senator Rosen highlighted Mr. Kennedy’s lack of qualifications and history of spreading dangerous public health conspiracies.
Below are excerpts of Senator Rosen’s floor remarks:
Today, we’re here to discuss President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
If confirmed, Mr. Kennedy would be in charge of a department with power to, well, regulate the food we eat, the medicines we take, and the vaccines we depend upon.
He would oversee agencies that provide health care to almost 170 million Americans – including hundreds of thousands of Nevadans who are on Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
I’m here today to oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as our next Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Confirming him would have disastrous consequences for our public health, for seniors who rely on Medicare, for our families who get their health care through Medicaid.
Well, let’s start out with his lack – his lack – of qualifications.
Well, Mr. Kennedy – he’s never worked in health care or federal government. He’s probably best known for his skepticism of vaccines and spreading dangerous conspiracies and outright lies.
Mr. Kennedy’s history of promoting anti-vaccine misinformation – it’s well-documented and deeply troubling.
Vaccines have saved millions of lives throughout history, and they remain one of the most effective tools we have to protect public health.
Yet, Mr. Kennedy has spent years promoting debunked claims linking vaccines to autism, cancer, allergies, and autoimmune diseases.
He’s spread lies about vaccine safety, making people fearful and increasing rates of unvaccinated people, which put all of us – all of us – at risk.
[…]
But his problematic views are just the start. During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Kennedy was also asked about his understanding of Medicare and Medicaid. Just asked if he knew about it.
Well, he struggled – struggled I mind you – to remember which program covered older and disabled Americans, struggled to remember which program provided for low-income people.
This is Medicare and Medicaid, not something that’s so brand new that even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shouldn’t know what it is. Because Medicare and Medicaid are not mere government programs.
They are a lifeline for millions of Americans, including our seniors, our parents, our grandparents, people with disabilities, families in need – including half of all children – and around forty percent of all babies born in this country.
Why would we trust someone with the future of Medicare and Medicaid when he doesn’t even understand the basics of the system he would oversee?
[…]
You know, Mr. President, the role of Secretary of Health and Human Services – it is one of profound responsibility.
And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has undermined the very foundations of our public health system.
Mr. Kennedy’s vision for the future of our health care system, well, he wants to undermine Medicare and Medicaid, he wants to slash cancer research funding, he wants to push dangerous public health conspiracies. These are visions and these are things I cannot support. No one should support.
We all want a healthier future for America — one that both prevents diseases and where we can think about curing diseases, where we can do preventative medicine, curative medicine, where we can have that hope for folks whose mother gets lung cancer in the future that she might live, or leukemia in the future, that their brother might live.
Mine didn’t, but I hope that they didn’t die in vain because research goes on and will help others. And I want us to be able to cure diseases for the ones that we love.
And so that is why I cannot in good conscience support Mr. Kennedy’s nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Our very lives — the lives of our loved ones — they may just depend on it.
###
