to be with you tonight and i look forward to coming back and watching some more buildings going up and everything else that are you doing here at a level that few people can even think about. and i thank you for helping with the iran situation because it's a terrible situation and we want to do the right thing. we want to do something that's going to save millions of lives. i've seen it over and over again. they go to war and things get out of control and we're not going to let that happen so i want to thank you and the prime minister if prime minister if everybody else for the help you've given us and we'll do things for you that i think you'll be very, very happy about. that's more important than anything else. leading a great and prosperous life and fantastic country. thank you very much, everybody.

i appreciate it, thank you. [applause] >> please rise. >> we take you back live now to capitol hill when health and human services secretary robert f. kennedy jr. is testifying on his agency's 2026 budget request. we join this in blog on c-span 3. sen. kennedy: the policy change changes will ultimately go through the white house, through president trump. >> on that different subject, talking to be advertising directly done by pharmaceutical companies. you've been a long-time crick of pharmaceutical advertising. you wrote in the "wall street journal" i believe a year ago about the need to address that. is that still your plan? sen. kennedy: yes,

pharmaceutical advertising is particularly insidious. it has some level of first amendment protection. doesn't have the kind of strict scrutiny applied to political speech. it still has a lot of protection. but if a company is advertising, for example, coca-cola, a consumer has a choice on whether to way it and spend his own money on it in pharmaceutical advertising, the consumer is purchasing it and it's usually the most expensive form of the drug. they want to. buster: the eligibility of the generic form which is usually cheaper and just as effective. furthermore, the pharmaceutical ad is getting tax reductions so we are funding it.

>> under pharma law, pharmaceutical companies can use their advertising as a business suspense. ungirting time to change that? -- you thinkst-time to change that? today i'm introducing legislation to repeal the tax deductibility of these advertisements. it is a barnett bill with senator shaheen, a bicameral bill and in my view it's time to get rid of these tax breaks and end these practices. can you support that? sen. kennedy: 100%, i support that. >> fantastic. i look forward to working with you on that. sen. kennedy: i assume senator sanders will also support that. sen. sanders: absolutely and i'll go forward. >> this is coming out of your time, john.

>> the answer is yes. >> senator sanders can finish your thought, please. >> i think only new zealand, we're the only countries on earth that allow for pharmaceutical advertising. i think it's time we end that. >> thank you. i'm not going to try and play goffa but it is an opportunity to spend a little philosophical time. do you think our country spends too much on scientific research? sen. kennedy: no. >> obviously you know the usid is the highest -- sen. kennedy: 70% of the world. >> exactly and i guess when you look at the level of cuts that we're facing over there and i recognize that a lot of these cutts are imposed upon you but there's a gap in basic fundamental research that's going to have to be filled

somehow. have you got any ideas of how we can do that given the scale, the dimension of the loss we're facing? sen. kennedy: first, my job is to support the president on this and support o. missouri b. but the reality is, no agency wants to see cuts to his agency. i love scientific research so i want to do as much as possible. but i think because of the -- we are very, very aggressively implementing a.i. and i think we're going to do it faster and better than any other agency in government. we brought very, very high caliber, quality people from sill coon valley. we can short earn clinical trials, get rid of animal trials. >> i'm in support of all that. we've been talking about that for years. the research i'm talking about is not that so much as the

fundamental basic science research. sen. kennedy: like bench science or studies. i think we can do a lot of that stuff quicker. i'll take as much money as you give me and spend it well. >> i want to urge you to be a fighter for more of that research because there's a questioning of science right now within many in the white house that really needs to be pushed back. senator hawley, i'll sign on to that bill as well. second question i've got, we have a lot of issues around wildfires in colorado right now and this is back to the niosh. the that's national independents stewart of occupational safety health. you mentioned they kept them in cleveland and i think somewhere in pennsylvania.

pretty much everyone is laid off in colorado. sen. kennedy: in morganstown. >> everyone is laid off in colorado. i think a couple have ordered to be reinstated but all the west is dealing with these thousands, tens of thousandses, probably hundreds of people out fighting fires. these people risking their lives, walking away from their families every day and the basic research that needs to be done, i don't think the replacements are going to be -- in many cases they're knew to the job, they're not going to be sufficient to address and make sure the specific health needs of these outdoor workers are addressed. how can we, how can you make sure people like the firefighter in colorado are able to do their job safely? sen. kennedy: i think a lot of the cut they're implementing now are painful cuts. they're cuts that are going to

be difficult. and i think the if the's position is that we're spending $2 trillion that we don't have, that we are taking from our children and we've got to protect their rights to prosperity, to enrichment, to dignity, to choice and, you know -- >> i've heard that argument and i-appreciate it and i'm a great frugal -- a voice of frugality, at least in my office and trying to push around the senate where it's allowed but we're looking that a budget that's going to increase the deficit by who knows how much, $4 trillion to $5 trillion. take things like that that we know are special we're cutting, saving such a small amount of money for something that's so important. i hope you can push back on that

a little bit. someone has to take a stand on these things that are minor fast ball benefits but significant safeties to workers and our citizens. sen. kennedy: i'm happy to work with you on that, senator. >> i yield back to the chair. >> the committee will be adjourned for fivements subject to the call of the chair.

[all chatting amongst

themselves]

>> we're joined by steven moore, founder of the committee to unleash prosperity and a senior visiting fellow in economics at the heritage foundation. steve, thanks for coming to the program.

>> hi, i love being on c-span. i love the opportunity to come out. >> the reconciliation bill is being considered. what are your initial thoughts on that g.o.p. bill? >> polls show only half of americans are even aware of this. there's no room for failure here and we have to pass this bill. if we don't pass this bill by december 31, on january 1, the american people are going to be hit with the biggest tax increase probably in history. all of the trump tax cuts from 2016, that will mostly expire. almost all of them dealing with average americans and small businesses would expire and we estimate that the average family in america will see about a $2,500 increase in their tax burden earn to the i.r.s. next

year so we have to get that done. by the way, almost every small business in america got a tax adult from that bill. we know that small businesses are the spinal cord of the american economy. we did a lot of things in that bill i'm very proud of it i helped write the very first version of that bill with donald trump in 2016. we want to keep the rates low ask keep american competitive. this week, as you know, the house members are trying to put together a bill that they can send to the senate, get this thing pass ed. i don't know why it's taking so long. we should have gotten in done weeks ago. virtually no american is for higher taxes. no tax on tips and other versions of the bill.

>> one of the committees is still meeting as we speak. they've been going all night and are continuing. the big fight, of course, is over medicaid in that committee. they need to find about $880 billion in savings. sen. kennedy: i want to clarify an issue that we talked about before. senator murray had raised the issue of an con stitch went of hers who she said had been denied a place in a clinical trial in washington due to the rif. we've been able to run down that case. the patient was medically ineligible for that trial. nothing to do with the rif. n.i.h. had been trying to get her into another clinical trial but none of our clinical trials were shut down because of the rif. that was a cunard.

>> thank you for the clarification. senator banks? >> compassion for americans with autism and their families. there's still so much that we don't know about the conditions and there are many questions to be answered and that's why i was glad that you recently announced an autism research database similar to a registry that you created. the n.i.h. has more than 80 registries for different diseases and they're a criminal tool to understand disease progression and you were immediately attacked for previousy violations and accused of security motives. is this an on the-in or an opt-out database? sen. kennedy: thank you, senator, for asking. the database, as you say, there are actually 190 disease databases at my agency. almost every important disease

has a registry. arthritis, heart disease, various kinds of cance. it's entirely voluntary. patient privacy is protected. the data is digitalizedded and depersonalized so that people cannot find out who that patient is and patient have the absolute right to opt out of it. so it's entirely voluntary but it's a very important use for scientist's use in understand how to treat diseases. for example, kelation therapies, you can loot look at that and see what the outcomes was on various kinds of therapies.

break ro biome treatments. these treatments nurses and doctors are using across the country to address disease, find out which wins work and which ones don't. >> you've been accused of assuming an environmental cause of many diseases. can we say that your critics are misrepresenting what you believe? sen. kennedy: my critics are saying that i rent genetic cause, they're correct in the sense that autism is an epidemic and genes connot cause that it's like smoking and jets? was killing one out of every five of itself customers in the tobacco industry. that meant four out of five survived so there's a genetic opponent to

the ones who got cancer and died but that is a genetic vulnerability. you cannot have a sudden epidemic without an environmental exposure. >> have you redirected or halted funding away from any existing autism research? sen. kennedy: i am cold, and i have done this calculation myself but i'm told that there was a 20-1 research ratio for genetic cause of autism over past 20 years at n.i.h. and i believe that was because they're did not want to look at the environmental exposures because they were scared of what they found so i don't think we should be funding that gentlic work anymore. i think we know about the genes vulnerabilities. genes that control methalation.

all of those are involved and we know that. what we really need to do now is identify the environmental toxins. >> i appreciate your e. on that. s.e.c. kennedy, we're importing a third of our medicines from china. it's a public health risk as well as a national security risk and you and i discussed that in glory confirmation hearing. i asked you about that. i wonder if there are any updates on how that's happening. sen. kennedy: i think there are very exciting things happening and some of them as a direct result of president trump's policies. answering onshore production. they have nine facilities now that are breaking down and one

of them, the a.p.i. facility they're breaking ground on will be, i believe the biggest a.p.i. facility in the world. these are active pharmaceutical ingredients. china controls that market crown right now and this single facility could give us back dominance of that market. i'm very grateful about what's happened and very grateful to eli lilly, which hasn't always been a big ally of mine but we've been working closely with eli lilly to ensure they get what they need for onshore production. we cannot afford to have the ingredients offshored. >> thank you, secretary, i yield back. >> all i've been hearing today is your defense of an advocacy

fund. brutal cuts to medicaid, brutal cuts to h.i.n.i.h. research to find a cure for cancer, alzheimer's and other diseases. brutal cuts to the c.d.c., the early warning system for diseases and all to find the funding for tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires. that's all i've been hearing and it is shul unbelievable that the secretary of health and human services can sit before the health committee and make such an argument. so secretary kennedy, for months i've been hearing from people about the impact that you and donald trump have had on them and for months i've been sharing their stories and i've compiled them here and i'd like to include my make america sick

agenda. >> without objection. >> included in the record. thank you. this is a set of stories that are being told to me that i would like to relate. jennifer from massachusetts, a stage 4 cancer patient. there is no cure for her diagnosis. he life depends on federal investment in research and for clinical trials to continue uninterrupted to find a cure for jennifer. n.i.h. funding. she's right to be worried. i heard from henry in rhode island who wants a continued funding for cancer research where he works. he's worried about getting fired because the lab's n.i.h. grants under new leadership were cut. he wants to work on cancer research to find a cure for jennifer. you've already terminated $1.8 billion in n.i.h. funding. which for jennifer should really

stand for national institute of hope. she's losing hope. you're defenderring a 40% cut, mr. secretary, in research for alzheimer's, for cancer, for stroke, for diabetes, their meantal health. they're being slowed and slashed. and i understand streamlining but this is knot freedomlining, it is a blue jayening of our scientific future and it will be people like jennifer whole pay the prize. lou from massachusetts said his son zach was "a loving and loved family member who had the illness of addiction. he wants research to cure this disease. funding for treatment without stigma. support for health workers serving people with addiction to prevent any other family member from suffering from the same fate." can you honestly tell us or tell

him, actually, that you can cut $1 billion on the substance abuse and mental health administration, including funding for programs to each teach first responders how to use -- to help to guarantee that other parents not lose their children? can you tell me the addiction cuts you've made across the country can make people healthier? how can you justify a $1 billion cut? sen. kennedy: you weren't here when i was talking earlier but the budget for any agency increased by 38% with the biden administration and americans got sicker and more americans overdosed and more americans died from cancer and we have now an epidemic of colorectal cansers in our children. the autism rate has dropped to

one in 31 children and all that money, none of it worked. all we need is new leadership and a vision and i'm bringing that to my agency. >> president trump is negotiating with the chinese about keeping fentanyl out of our country. sen. kennedy: that's a good thing, isn't it? >> in the meantime we can't be cutting the programs for the people who are already suffering from opioid-related diseases. yes, it would be great if we could cut it, reduce. while we're waiting for that to happen, why would we cut $1 billion in the programs that go to the families that the substance abuse issues right now? child we cut it before we get a solution to the program? we need it right now.

sen. kennedy: most of the programs that support addiction, we operate 500 rehabs that give people access under medicaid. we are keeping those intact. president trump, because of his leadership, has dropped the fentanyl imports in there country because of his leadership at the border by 40%. we're actually doing more with less and we are going to continue to do that and what i'm doing at my agency is realigning all these -- that have driven up costs and driven down costst. i'm realigning so that people can make money in this country -- >> look it, 80,000 people died last year. this is not about efficient issue, this is about cruelty. these people are already addicted and already need help. >> senator marky?

>> thank you. >> senator moody? >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you for being here. i think it is wonderful that we are doing this hearing. thank you, mr. chairman and i believe this is the committee's first h.h.s. meeting in manier than four decades. i don't think this has been easy on you and we're braille that you're willing to answer the hard questions and have the difficult discussions. sen. kennedy: thank you, senator moody. sen. moody: if i heard you correctly, the increased funding resulted in people getting sicker and for people dying. we have to do more than just think that throwing money at something is going to solve a problem and i am grateful for everyone that's stepping up in the cabinet and saying i want to

do this job in a deliberate way that's going to deliver to the people that means more than throwing money at problems and spending taxpayer moneys without giving a lot of forethought to result. and i appreciate you tackling this because not many people would want to brave this job, certainly in this moment in time and as our nation is spiraling out of control, and more and more department and more and more spending, we have got to be responsible for the future stability and success of this country so thank you. i start there. i also note in some of the numbers we saw in this proposal, there wasn't much information in terms of asking for more money. i'm assuming that you're note asking for more money specifically related to the f.d.a. and i wanted to focus on a few things and i believe your approach is probably going to be how can we use the resources we

have to do more for the american people. and one of those in the f.d.a. would be to tackle chinese elicit vapes. 60% of their market that are not regulated, we have no idea what's in them. chemical vapes all over the united states being bought by all of our kids. i would ask that you you dig into that and look into that. i know the f.d.a has been backlogged and excuses on why they weren't mcing these things. would you look at that with your department using the resources that you're asking for today? sen. kennedy: absolutely. we are looking at it right now and during the biden administration, the pham slow walked the approvals for u.s. vaping companies and the u.s. vaping companies, in my view,

were acting very responsibly. they were putting chips in their vapes that would make sure that young people could not use them. they were giving good information about addiction and they were -- they had very extensive labels. they went out of their way not to make it attractive to children. they were slow walked so they're off the market and in order to fill the vacuum, hundreds of ofn with this beautiful, colorful -- >> watermelon. grape -- sen. kennedy: they have more kids addicted and we're going to wipe them out. sen. moody: thank you for that commitment. on behalf of all mothers of teenagers, i know that vaping was going on in some of our elementary and middle schools,

we thank you. if we're just more deliberate and aggressive within the agency i think we can make a huge difference and one of the things that drives me crazy is when nonsense regulations are on the books and they have no benefit what receiver but yet they're on the books and businesses are trying to comply with them. in our citrus industry, an orange juice producers, there is a regulation that require ascertain shoeing content. the brick standard. doesn't affect quality or nutrition at all. in fact, our oranges produced in florida now have less sugar. but because of that, producers in florida have had to start importing from foreign nations and countries to mix with our products to deliver orange juice. sen. kennedy: raise the sugar content in the orange juice? >> we want to lower the sugar

content in this regulation. would you look into that to say the orange juice industry domestically? sen. kennedy: yeah, why don't you call heather flick this weekend and we'll act on that as soon as weeing. >> using the funds we have, being smarter, we can do a lot to save the industry. thank you. >> i wanted to relay i had a town hall, a fire captain showed up to this town hall, somebody who worked at ground deepo and he is somebody who said he was diagnosed with cancer. he said he's on borrowed time and he was livid, absolutely livid about what he said the administration gutting the world trade center health program. we've talked about some of these cuts that have happened before. some health cuts.

i just need to hear from you. i promised this fire captain i'd ask you about this. what in the world happened? why was the staff cut for this program? what are we to expect going toward? sen. kennedy: i restored the staff to the program. >> why was it cut to start with? sen. kennedy: it was, you know, it was part of the overall budget cuts. our agency was asked to make very, very serious budget cults that were going to be painful and some of them should not have been made and that was one that should not have and i reversed it. >> were you unaware or were you aware that the decision to cut niosh statue would cut that world trade center health program? sen. kennedy: my agency is the

biggest in government. represents about 20% of the economy. have hundreds of institutes and subagent issues. we tried to be careful. we made a couple of mistakes. >> i don't think that works. that's the problem we've seen by rushing these decisions. this was, i know, early in your time there. sen. kennedy: senator, i understand. if you looked at this from a distance, why didn't you just do this surgically and cut one person at a time. in agency has grown so big so fast and everybody who comes in says i'm going to cut it down and nobody's been able to do it. there was an understanding that the longer that you wait, the more the inertia kicks in and we had to act quakily so that we could do something for the american people that is lasting and we understood that there

would be some mistakes made and that we would go back and reverse them when they were made but it was more important to do decisive action quickly that could eliminate the ma tassiesing of this agency which was growing and growing as our health care declined. >> so is the program back to where it was before you started? >> that program will continue. >> continue >> , but as full strength buzz before you were secretary? rece: the program will continue. >> the fire captain also raisedded this issue about the national cancer center fire republican industry. why was that shut down? sen. kennedy: i don't know about that. i'm happy to work with you on it, though.

>> there's a national firefighter cancer registry and this is something that's part of niosh and because of the cuts, when i go too the website, as i am right now, it says the information on this page is not currently being updated and access to tool is limited. firefighters can no longer enroll in the national firefighter registry for cancer. this is incredibly important not just for those at ground stereo but across our nation with firefighters. can you promise me you'll work on this and try to get it up and running as fast as possible? sen. kennedy: i will work on this with you, senator. >> i understand what you're saying but it is sending a disastrous measure to our firefighters. on the list of these things that we think are bipartisan or unanimous, it should be about supporting our heroes at the world trade center, especially

because we had more firefighters die since ninth because of medical issues from that from firefighters that dialed on september 11. if that is not a high enough priority to try to protect then i'm worried about everything else that is less controversial. has less anonymity. i will work with you. and with that i'll yield back. sen. kennedy: thank you, senator. >> senator murray has returned. asked for a request of 30 seconds to responds to what the secretary had responded to her. >> take me gown to 4:30? >> yes, sir. >> 3:30, if you want. >> even better. thank you. >> mr. chairman, thank you for accommodating and letting me speak here because secretary

kennedy came back and said that my con stitch went that i spoke about earlier was not delayed by staffing cuts. first off, she's already enrolled in that clinical trial. it's not a question of ineligibility. the issue was the delay in care that she got and what you said is not true. i spoke with natalie last night. she asked her n.i.h. doctor directly why when she was informed of the they and her doctor said plainly twice, her care was delayed because of staffing cuts. i think it's important for the record to show my staff has put in inquiries with h.s.s. leadership and they've been unresponsive so far. this is just one case of many but those are the facts. >> thank you. senator scott? >> through, mr. chairman, thank you, secretary kennedy for being

with us today. i often hear you say happy to work with you. when you say happy to work with you, you've actually been a man of your word and i truly appreciate that. we talked about the importance of sickle cell anemia and you cam down to south carolina last month to talk about it. i appreciate you discussing this. and as a guy who is thankful to we are working to eliminate directorsity, inequity and inclusion in the federal government, i don't want people to think that somehow all things racial are an d.e.i. it's just a basic fact that african-americans, 99.99% of the

time are the folks that are suffering through cycle cell anemia and also, there are diseases that have a persistent presence in minority communities and to that end i think it's continue we work together on issues impacting ethnic and other communities. i would love as you move through this reorganization that you are currently going through. i would like you to ask you to answer the question when will you commit that programs affecting those will continue? sen. kennedy: absolutely. we'll continue. i think that one of the minority health programs has been terminated. it was one that was deeply embedded with the d.e.i. ideology but there are seven others that are going to continue. i want to thank you for inviting me down to south carolina.

that was a wonderful trip. i got to witness a microcomessic template for how medical ought to be working. you have brought together hospitals and bello tech companies that have developed this new trolling for treating sickle cell so south carolina has an extraordinary program where if you have it in south carolina you can get 100% funding where i think there's a 100% cure or very close to it. >> thank you, very close it to. for all the parents and children where can you have awe i assure them that the administration will help on addressing sickle cell issues, a simple yes or no

and will it reflect funding for both sickle cell and others that used to be housed in c.d.c.? sen. kennedy: absolutely. there's a new technology that seems as effective and may be even more economical and i'm very excited and excited to show it to you. if it makes it through the traps at f.d.a. but absolutely, i'm going to continue to make that a priority of this agency. >> great. let me change topics with my 1:45 left. i appreciate what you're doing in addressing how our food supply affect health. i'm encouraged by the f.d.a.'s announcement including three new

natural color additive additions. i share your passion for shaking up the food industry and you are truly doing just what you said you were going too do as relates to food additives. ball your bold actions at h.s.s., the food industry responded by getting rid of these dyes in favor of natural alternatives. thank you for your work in bringing healthier food options for our kids. can you talk about how you will use your position to continue to build on your work eliminating artificial food dyes to further improve the quality of foods served to americans in our quest to make americans healthier? sen. kennedy: one of the big areas of neglect has been linking specific food additives and food processes to the chronic disease epidemic.

n.i.h. has neglected had in area of study. it is now the central focus of n.i.h. and f.d.a, looking at ultra processed foods, sugarings and the 10,000 additives that are in our food that are in noble's food in the world and looking at the impacts so that we can put accurate laborling on and when they're really dangerous we can revoke their outizations. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you, chairman cassidy, ranking member sanders and welcome, mr. secretary. i have nothing personal against you. i don't even know you but what i do know as the former deputy secretary of health and social services in delaware is how important your agency is to the lives of so many people in our country. during the confirmation, your

confusion of medicaid versus medicare did not instill a lot of confidence. but today as you talk about this -- these budget cuts being painful, i am reminded of delawareans who have come up to me and cried and said please don't let folks take away my medicaid. individuals with disabilities. while you talk about cutting this large, large department, there are talks about including more things in the department from the department of education. and so, i'm concerned about that and when we met in january, you committed to radical transparency and responding to all congressional inquiries within 30 days. since then we've sent dozens of letters and to my knowledge, i haven't received any responses and given your stated commitment

to transparency and your focus on efficiency and responsiveness in your opening comments, i think this is a great opportunity to get your commitment that you will respond to the letters from this committee and also an opportunity to maybe talk about a few of the things that i wrote to you about. so let's begin with this letter. in march, i wrote to you expressing my concern about the delayed meeting to have federal voyages experts. this is a key step of getting vaccines to millions of people? babies to seniors and delays can have negative impacts on accessibility and affordability. we're quickly reaching flu season and the committee still hasn't given the recommendations. so in the spirit of radical transparency, who is the acting

c.d.c. director? sen. kennedy: the acting director was susan minares but she is now up for permanent director so she's been replaced by matt ma zollie. >> does this person have a medical background or public health expertise? sen. kennedy: he's a public health expert. >> public health expert, so the fact that the recommendations are kind of stuck and the fact that you kind of had -- 1 sen. kennedy: can i clarify something? asip does not go the flu shot. the flu shot was -- >> my question was more about do we have a c.d.c. director and

then i want to enter into the record information about what harms could be caused until we get one. sen. kennedy: -- >> but this was my question. sen. kennedy: i'm the director. >> we are senators so i don't want to have the same change that happened before with other people. i just want to ask my questions. your proposed compassionate budget would cut funding for most maternal if child care health programs. the n.i.h. safe to sleep campaign you shuttered. after implementing this campaign, the sudden infant deaths dropped by 50%. many parents in this room may remember getting their children's hearing checked for rare diseases.

that has been shuttered. mortal health, infant mortality have been cut ewell while president trump is calling himself the fertilization president. none of these cuts are based in passion and my only concern following up on senator kim's question is understanding what goes into a program that has increased, the efficacy of parents and being able to take care of their children. i will -- my time has expired but i will just say, again, a budget is a reflection of priorities and to me, the wasn't, the cutts to medicaid that are talked about right now across in the house of representatives are going to have real, like you said, painful impacts on people's lives and i hope there's some real compassion in the end and i hope that you hear from our

constituents as we are hearing from them as well and we will continue to try to fight for them so i yield back. sen. kennedy: let me try to respond. i can assure you that i-will act with compassion. >> senator? >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. mr. secretary. i'm talking, i'm over here. i've been sitting through this hearing all day today and have noted you've been unable in most instances to answer any specific questions related to your agency. sen. kennedy: because i haven't been given time. >> no, you've been given touchdown but the point is you've been unable to answer specific questions, sir, you are the wrong person for this job and you've had in this hearing today the unmitigated fall to say at the beginning of your testimony to say that china is ahead of the united states in health care because china does not have d.e.i. sen. kennedy: i-didn't say

that. >> we can roll back the tape. sen. kennedy: you'll find i didn't say that. >> that is absolutely what you you said. sen. kennedy: i was talking about science, certainly not in health care. >> we can roll back the tape. i'll ask you this. you just heard about the safe to sleep campaign and you have made cuts, you made it clear today you have no knowledge whatsoever of the amazing scientists and researchers who you have callously fired. sen. kennedy: i didn't fire any working scientist, senator. >> that, sir is, not true either. >> it is true. sen. kennedy: -- it is not true. sen. kennedy: it is true. >> can you tell us which office the safe to sleep campaign operates out of? a 30-year program inside your

agency. sen. kennedy: i think it's part of hersa of a.c.f. >> no, actually headlines in health and human services. sen. kennedy: they're all within health and houston services but the subdivision is a.c.f. >> no, it's the national institute of child health and human involvement. the one that your aunt, eunice end receiver is the person whom it's named after. although this is a very important agency, prevents babies from dying. this is the one you fired every single person in this office. sen. kennedy: as i said, there were no working scientists fired because of the rif. >> we can bring you that information later because what you said is not true. in addition to firing

individuals who make sure babies don't die in their sleep. why did you cut the department which supports the special olympics. was that also a mistake? sen. kennedy: we switched those programs to the administration for healthy america. they have not been cut. >> well, the funding has been cult and this is one that oversaw the special olympics. are you aware of that? sen. kennedy: we have not you also dismantled the division of reproductive health and women's health and fertility, you are aware of that, right? sec. kennedy: right now we have 42 divisions that do maternal health and we are consolidating them. mainstream media has portrayed those as cuts. they not cuts, their consolidations. it is ridiculous that 42

divisions that are all supposed to be doing the same thing -- >> so it doesn't exist right now, it's been dismantled, that is a fact. sec. kennedy: there's 42 divisions on maternal health, we consolidated them. >> let me finish what i'm saying here. the fact of the matter is you have dismantled it as we speak. are you aware -- what does the assisted reproductive technology mean to you? are you familiar with that? sec. kennedy: are you talking about ivf? >> it's assisted reproductive technology, it's a division. do you know what it does? sec. kennedy: is it part of nih? >> no, it's actually part of my -- part of your agency. >> the cdc is where it is. sec. kennedy: ok, then it is cdc. >> let me just ask you -- and again, these are all things you

seem unfamiliar with. sec. kennedy: these agencies are part of nhs. >> i absolutely know where nih is, sir, and don't need any help from you on that. i see the time, thank you. >> senator, did you have something you wanted in the record? you mention something but didn't formally ask. >> yes, mr. chairman, i like to introduce this into the record, the cdc has no acting director. >> without objection it's entered into the record. sen. sanders: for the record, 21 letters raising questions about the budget rifs, i has unanimous

consent to enter two articles into the record. >> for any senator wishing to ask additional questions, question for the record will be due in 10 business days on may 28 at 5:00 p.m. thank you again, secretary kennedy, for being here. the committee stands adjourned. sec. kennedy: thank you very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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