“I want a disrupter in the health care system, and the one leading it. I don’t want a destroyer.”
Vermont Business Magazine In the Senate Finance Committee today, Vermont Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch voted against advancing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Mr. Kennedy would be tasked with leading HHS’ ten public health service agencies and three human services agencies.
Sanders (I-Vermont) today released the following statement after voting no during a Senate Finance Committee mark-up on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services:
"There are a few issues that Mr. Kennedy and I agree on.
"We agree on the need to stop the ultra-processed food industry from getting our kids addicted to unhealthy and dangerous products that cause obesity, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.
"We agree on the need to lower the outrageous prices we pay for prescription drugs in this country.
"We agree that we should stop Big Pharma from being allowed to flood the airwaves with advertising.
"But, despite those agreements, I cannot in good conscience vote for someone who denies and will dilute our public health protections, sow distrust in science and oversee massive cuts to health care programs for low-income people, nursing home care for seniors and long-term care for people with disabilities.
"Despite what Mr. Kennedy believes, the overwhelming consensus within the scientific community is clear: Vaccines are safe and effective. Over the past 50 years, vaccines have saved the lives of over 150 million people throughout the world and reduced the infant mortality rate by 40%. Vaccines have not, as Mr. Kennedy has claimed, “poisoned an entire generation of American children.”
"Vaccines do not, as Mr. Kennedy has claimed, cause autism. More than a dozen rigorous scientific studies from around the world involving hundreds of thousands of children have proven that.
"The polio vaccine has not killed, as Mr. Kennedy has claimed, more people than polio ever did. The scientific community has found that the polio vaccine has saved 1.5 million lives and has prevented more than 20 million people from becoming paralyzed since 1988.
"The COVID vaccine was not, as Mr. Kennedy has claimed, “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” The scientific community has found that the COVID vaccine saved over three million lives and prevented over 18 million hospitalizations in the United States alone.
In my view, we should listen to nearly 20,000 doctors who have told us that Mr. Kennedy has “a well-documented history of spreading dangerous disinformation on vaccines and public health interventions, leaving vulnerable communities unprotected and placing millions of lives at risk. His appointment is a direct threat to the safety of our patients and the public at large.”
"We should listen to over 900 public health officials in 41 states who have urged us to prioritize science and reject Mr. Kennedy’s “dangerous” nomination.
"We should listen to 77 Nobel Laureates who have told us that putting Mr. Kennedy in charge of HHS would “put the public's health in jeopardy and undermine America's global leadership in the health sciences, in both the public and commercial sectors.”
"We must reject Mr. Kennedy’s nomination."
In remarks following his vote, Senator Welch (D-Vermont) cited concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s character, competence, and priorities, including his views on the efficacy of vaccines.
Welch: “After this hearing, I did not have confidence that Mr. Kennedy would be the one to lead us to a better future.”
Watch a video of his remarks.
“I want a disrupter in the health care system, and the one leading it. I don’t want a destroyer.
“There’s three issues before any nominee that we have to consider: one is character, another is competence, and the third is priorities.
“We did not have Caroline Kennedy here, but she gave a statement. And she said that Bobby was able to attract people through the strength of his personality, his willingness to take risks, and break the rules. Those might be desirable qualities if it was accompanied by sober judgment and behavior, because the person who leads a major organization has to have the confidence of the people that work for him. And, frankly, some of the things that he did that [he] never explained—a chainsaw taking off the head of a whale, dumping a bear in Central Park for his own amusement—these are just weird things. We never really got into the character issue of what is required for a person who runs such a major department.
“The competence question, this is all on a wing and a prayer and a hope. There’s no record of Mr. Kennedy having experience in managing a large organization, in medicine. No experience with science. And none of the prior experiences required not only to run a major organization—Health and Human Services, but also the CDC, the NIH—and all the other organizations that are under the umbrella of health care.
“By the way, on the competence issue, let's be candid. This was a deal where Mr. Kennedy was running for president as a Democrat. He lost. And he approached President Trump to make a deal, and for political reasons, the deal was made. And the appointment was going to be that he’s at Health and Human Services. The president has a right to make that deal and Mr. Kennedy can seek it, but it doesn't translate into competence.
“The third is priorities. The priority for Mr. Kennedy is about the vaccines and his theory of that. We need reliable vaccines and not a conspiracy theorist on that. But, you know, the health care system is not working for the American people. It is too costly. Our employers who care deeply about providing employer-sponsored health care can't afford these premiums. The folks who are getting their insurance on their own can’t afford it. Even Obamacare is getting so expensive because prices are escalating constantly with pharma expenses, with private equity getting into health care.
“Mr. Kennedy's priority was about his view of vaccines. It was not about making health care more affordable and accessible. And in response to, really, a very direct and easy, open-ended question from Senator Cassidy, Mr. Kennedy showed a woeful ignorance even between the difference between Medicare and Medicaid.
“We have a health care system that is not serving—as it should—the interests of American citizens, of American businesses, and American taxpayers. And I, after this hearing, did not have confidence that Mr. Kennedy would be the one to lead us to a better future.”
Watch Senator Welch’s questioning of Mr. Kennedy during his confirmation hearing.
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