[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S935-S936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NOMINATION OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, unfortunately and sadly, we are 
witnessing an alarming abdication of duty from Republicans here in the 
Senate. The job of the Senate when it comes to nominees is very simple: 
When a nominee is obviously qualified and experienced, we should 
consider them seriously even if we don't agree with their political 
views or ultimately vote for them. But when a nominee comes before the 
Senate who is obviously unqualified, who is obviously fringe, whose 
views are obviously detrimental to the well-being of the American 
people, well, Senators have a duty to reject them and to tell the 
President to send someone better.
  We were faced with one such nominee earlier today in Tulsi Gabbard, 
and now we are faced with another such nominee right now.
  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is not remotely qualified to become the next 
Secretary of Health and Human Services. In fact, I might go further. 
Robert F. Kennedy might be one of the least qualified people the 
President could have chosen for the job. It is almost as if Mr. 
Kennedy's beliefs, history, and background were tailor-made to be the 
exact opposite of what the job demands.
  A few weeks ago, it seemed like maybe Senate Republicans would have 
drawn the line on nominees like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Tulsi 
Gabbard, but the past few days have been a stunning capitulation by 
Senate Republicans. At this point, they are just rubberstamping people 
no matter how fringe they are.
  If the Senate had a secret ballot, I will bet you that Robert F. 
Kennedy, Jr., would never have come close to confirmation. His 
unfitness for the job is simply too obvious and too glaring.
  HHS is an Agency that depends on science, on evidence, and on 
impartiality to ensure the well-being of over 330 million Americans. 
HHS ensures we eat safe food, purchase reliable medications, oversees 
Medicare benefits, and approves the use of lifesaving vaccines. Most 
importantly, a good HHS Secretary makes sure the American people have 
access to affordable, high-quality healthcare.
  Mr. Kennedy, unfortunately, is not qualified to oversee any of these 
things. He is neither a doctor nor a scientist nor a public health 
expert nor a policy expert of any kind.
  If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed given that lack of background, it is my 
deep fear that he will rubberstamp Donald Trump's war against 
healthcare, meaning we will see more of the disastrous funding cuts of 
the past few weeks, meaning that more people will lose health coverage, 
meaning that the interests of for-profit corporations and Big Pharma 
will come before the needs of working Americans.
  When I saw Mr. Kennedy and asked him certain views, like on abortion, 
he said: Well, I am going to defer to the President.
  On something as personal, as heartfelt, as talked over within 
ourselves, even, as abortion, he will follow the whims and the wishes 
of the President? Well, then, how do we know he won't do it on 
everything else? Even in the places where he might try to tell someone 
in an interview that he is different than the President, how do we know 
he won't just follow the President given that he said that on one of 
the most fundamental views a person can hold?
  I am so troubled by this nomination. Already, as we have seen, 
community health centers across the country have been locked out of the 
funding they need to serve patients, and I fear it will get worse under 
RFK, Jr.'s watch. Already, the CDC has gutted valuable public health 
care data from its websites before the courts stepped in. As we speak, 
DOGE has basically hacked into the payment data of the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services, which tens of millions of people rely 
on for secure benefits. I fear all

[[Page S936]]

of that will get worse--worse--under RFK, Jr.'s watch.
  Now, it would be bad enough that a vote to confirm RFK, Jr., would be 
a vote to weaken America's healthcare system, but it gets even worse 
when you remember that a vote for RFK, Jr., is also a vote to elevate a 
conspiracy theorist to the top healthcare job in the country.
  Mr. Kennedy has made a living not by promoting public health but, in 
his later years, by actively fighting it. RFK is the face of the modern 
anti-vax movement. He has spent decades profiting off vaccine 
misinformation, undermining public trust in a medical practice that has 
saved tens of millions of lives, if not hundreds of millions or more, 
for more than a century.
  We need to take a moment to truly reckon with the dangers of putting 
a vaccine skeptic in charge of HHS.
  Simply put, weakening vaccine standards could mean more people will 
die--more people will die. A vaccine skeptic in charge of HHS could 
defund vaccine awareness campaigns that are led by organizations like 
the CDC. A vaccine skeptic in charge of HHS could reshape the CDC's 
vaccine advisory board and alter which kinds of vaccines are required 
to be covered by insurance companies.
  A vaccine skeptic in charge of HHS would make our schools less safe. 
If fewer kids are required to be vaccinated against things like 
measles, the results will be sicker classrooms across America.
  A vaccine skeptic in charge of HHS could weaken protections for 
vaccine and drugmakers from frivolous lawsuits.
  These are just some of the dangers that come with putting a vaccine 
skeptic in charge of America's healthcare policy. It will set American 
healthcare back dramatically.
  Of course, during his hearings, RFK, Jr., tried to run away from his 
fringe views. We heard the usual excuses you might expect from a 
nominee forced to answer for a terrible record. He suggested perhaps he 
was misquoted here and there or that he had been misunderstood or that 
he never meant to come across as anti-vaccine at all, and that, of 
course, he would follow the science. Well, give me a break. Are 
Senators supposed to believe that someone who has spent decades writing 
books and giving speeches and making trips around the world undermining 
vaccines has suddenly had this epiphany and come around on vaccines; 
that, suddenly, now that he has been nominated to lead HHS, he is fully 
on board with vaccines, and that we have nothing to worry about when it 
comes to his views? How convenient. Again, give me a break.
  We should look less at RFK, Jr.'s eleventh-hour conversion and, 
instead, examine the things he has said again and again, going back 
decades. We should look at the way RFK, Jr., has used his powerful 
platform to spread misinformation for years, like in 2023--not very 
long ago--when Mr. Kennedy went on FOX News and said:

       I do believe autism does come from vaccines.

  Or when Mr. Kennedy gave his speech at a conference linking the CDC 
vaccines division to ``fascism.''
  Or like in 2021, when he said on a podcast:

       Our job is to resist and to talk about vaccines to 
     everyone. If I see someone on a hiking trail carrying a 
     little baby and I say to him, ``Better not get vaccinated.''

  And, of course, you could try reading Mr. Kennedy's numerous books 
against vaccines, like the one claiming parents have been misled on the 
measles vaccine. Or you could go to the online store of one of his 
anti-vaccine groups and check out the merchandise they sell for kids, 
like the onesie that says ``Unvaxxed and Unafraid''--a onesie for a 
little one, putting this propaganda on him or her.
  This last example is pretty revealing because it is not just that Mr. 
Kennedy embraces pseudoscience and conspiracy theories but that he has, 
in fact, profited off spreading misinformation. He has been involved 
with no fewer than five lawsuits filed by anti-vaccine groups against 
drug companies. In fact, his primary source of income from the last 
year came from the fees he collected by referring clients to a civil 
lawsuit against vaccines.
  And, by the way, he didn't originally disclose those connections to 
ethics officials. Worse, he refused to give up his financial stake in 
any settlement agreement that comes from one of these lawsuits. That is 
stunning.
  That means, right now, Republicans are on the brink of confirming a 
nominee to HHS who will be in charge of vaccine regulations in America 
and who at the same time stands to benefit from lawsuits against 
vaccines, financially benefit.
  Well, Donald Trump says he wants to get rid of the swamp. This is a 
textbook definition of ``the swamp''--to benefit from lawsuits against 
vaccines while you are HHS Secretary and have power over which vaccines 
are needed and how they are distributed and talked about to the 
American people.
  Now, let me repeat what I said a few weeks earlier. It fills me with 
such sadness, as well as a great deal of frustration and even anger. A 
few weeks ago, it seemed like Senate Republicans would have drawn the 
line on nominees like Robert Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard. A few weeks 
ago, yes, indeed, it did seem like Senate Republicans, maybe, would 
have drawn the line on RF Kennedy, Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard. But, 
unfortunately, and, again, sadly, the past few days have been a 
stunning capitulation by Senate Republicans.
  If the Senate had a secret ballot, I will bet you that Tulsi Gabbard 
would have gotten fewer than 10 votes and Robert Kennedy would not have 
come close to confirmation. My guess is a majority of the party on the 
other side would have voted against him as well, as are all of us.
  But, instead, Donald Trump is tightening his vice grip even further 
on Senate Republicans. What we are witnessing is leadership from one 
branch of government, withering under pressure from another, even to 
the point of confirming dangerously unfit individuals to positions of 
immense responsibility.
  My Republican colleagues should think very carefully before they roll 
the dice on Mr. Kennedy. There is a very serious risk that, if 
confirmed, Mr. Kennedy will take steps that severely undermine public 
health, and then sooner or later public backlash is going to build, and 
Republicans will have wished they didn't sign their names to this 
troubling nominee.
  So I implore my Republican colleagues, reject the nomination of 
Robert F. Kennedy to be Secretary of HHS. There are certainly better 
individuals for the job, even if many on our side may not agree with 
them politically.
  But a vote to confirm Mr. Kennedy is a vote to make America sicker. A 
vote to confirm Mr. Kennedy is a vote to make America sicker. It is a 
vote to let pseudoscience dictate healthcare policy. It is a vote that 
will endanger the lives of the American people. And it is a vote, I 
truly believe, many, many Republicans will eventually deeply regret.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

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