[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Healthcare Funding

  Mr. President, now, before I close, I want to respond briefly to the 
comments that we have heard today here on the floor and all day 
yesterday in a long, long Budget Committee hearing to set up the first 
reconciliation legislation to come before the Congress.
  It was said today that Republicans are going to take Medicaid away 
from children; they are going to take healthcare away from seniors. It 
was said yesterday that we were going to go after pretty much old 
people, young people, middle-aged people, and every other kind of 
people because we are going to destroy the support base that they have 
here in the Federal system.
  The fact is, this is the politics of fear, the politics of claiming 
things that are going to happen which are not going to happen.
  The reality is that yesterday's Budget Committee meeting was not on 
healthcare. There was nothing done in the meeting yesterday that would 
have done any of the things that you have heard on the floor today. 
What we did do yesterday was to set up a process so we can provide some 
significant extra spending authority to our government to close the 
border and deport the violent criminals who have come into our country 
in the millions in the last few years. We had another provision in it 
to give significant new resources to our national defense so that we 
can build back our Department of Defense and the ability of our armed 
services members to have the technology and the equipment and be 
capable of responding to threats to our Nation.
  And, finally, we restarted and charged up our use and engagement in 
producing America's energy in America so that we can get back into the 
business of being independent and not relying on other nations for our 
energy policy.
  Those are the three things that we focused on in the committee 
yesterday. And, by the way, each one of those was a little bit costly, 
and every one of those was offset so that there was no increase in 
Federal spending.
  Mr. President, I think we need to argue over facts when we get into 
these debates. We are going to have a tremendous number of debates. 
And, yes, we will debate on healthcare at some point, but yesterday and 
what we did yesterday was focused on the border, on national defense, 
and on reboosting our energy production in America.
  I encourage a strong ``yes'' vote for Robert F. Kennedy to be the 
next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 1 minute for an 
opportunity to respond to my colleague from Idaho.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I would only say to my friend from Idaho 
that he says this is not going to happen, that people are going to be 
safe and seniors on Medicaid and the like will be safe--I would just 
say to my colleague, it starts today--today--in the other body of 
Congress, I would say to my colleague. The process of setting in motion 
these cuts to essential healthcare services begins today. We can read 
about it in the publications about the congressional schedule.
  I look forward to working with my colleague when we can find common 
ground, but on this point that it is not going to happen and everybody 
is going to be safe, the efforts to cut these vital programs, including 
Medicaid, begins this morning in the other body.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have 30 seconds 
to just respond.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I would simply say that we hear this every 
time we look at trying to address the spending excesses in our 
government.
  And I will just say to my colleague and to everyone: We are not going 
to take healthcare away from children. We are not going to take 
healthcare away from adults, from seniors, or from middle-aged people. 
We are not going to attack the benefits that people get under Medicare.
  And, frankly, we will reform some of the spending, yes, but we will 
not do all of the terrible things that are being spun up to try to 
attack this effort to control the excessive spending in our government.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.


                  Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

  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.
  I yield the floor.