ICYMI: Senator Murray Issues Statement on Launch of West Coast Health Alliance in Response to Trump and RFK Jr. Attacks on CDC
ICYMI: Senator Murray Calls for Immediate Firing of RFK Jr., Commends CDC Director Monarez’s Stand for Science and Public Health
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full floor speech***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, took to the Senate floor to reiterate her call for the firing of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. for his increasingly dangerous attacks on lifesaving vaccines and America’s public health infrastructure and his efforts to discard evidence, manipulate outcomes to fit his conspiracy-addled ideology, and force out anyone—including former Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez—who dares to stand up for basic science. The CDC Director is a Senate-confirmed position for the first time this year thanks to the bipartisan PREVENT Pandemics Act Senator Murray negotiated and passed into law as HELP Chair in 2022.
Senator Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care who has led hearings on addressing vaccine hesitancy, has been a leader in raising the alarm over RFK Jr.’s nomination since the beginning—speaking out on the Senate floor, holding numerous events, raising the alarm after meeting with him, and hammering the threat he poses to Americans’ health nonstop. She led the opposition to the Trump administration’s disastrous plan to dismantle HHS and fire tens of thousands of staff in critical positions across CDC, NIH, FDA, and other agencies, and spoke out forcefully against RFK Jr.’s ousting of the entire CDC vaccine advisory board, including one ACIP member from Washington state. Senator Murray has held countless events across Washington state and in Washington, D.C. with doctors, patients, and former HHS officials to lift up how Trump and Republicans’ attacks on health care will be devastating for families.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered on the Senate floor today, are below:
“Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today with a pretty simple message: Fire RFK Jr. This man is burning down our public health system from the inside. We have got to take away his matches and his keys away, and we need to do it now.
“We need to make his latest attack on public health, firing a CDC Director—why? Because she stood up for science.
“The stakes are sky-high. Our medical research, our public health, our pandemic preparedness, our food safety—RFK Jr. is putting all of that in jeopardy, and putting communities across this country in danger. We cannot put our heads into the sand.
“We absolutely need a Secretary of Health and Human Services, not a Secretary of Conspiracies, not a Secretary of Measles and Food Poisoning, certainly not a Secretary of Cancelled Research and Chemtrail Nonsense.
“It does not take a shred of imagination to see how dangerous RFK Jr.’s leadership has been. It just takes two eyes and two seconds, if that!
“I mean, one of the first things he did, right off the bat, was fan the flames of a measles outbreak by ignoring the science, peddling quack treatments, and spreading falsehoods about vaccines.
“The result, no surprise, was the largest measles outbreak we have seen in decades, one that tragically took the lives of two children.
“Did that spark one iota of reflection from RFK Jr.? Of course not. The largest measles outbreak since 1992—and do you know how RFK Jr. described the response this week? ‘Effective.’ Effective! Are you kidding me?
“I shudder to think what it would take for a man like that to admit failure. We should all hope that we never find out. Instead of learning even a single lesson, all he has done now is double down on doing as much damage as possible.
“When it comes to vaccines, he has not only spouted off nonsense and falsehoods to families who looking to him for reliable guidance, he fired every single member of CDC’s vaccine advisory board—down to the last one.
“And then, he started replacing them with a who’s-who of anti-vax alarmists, who have already started shaping federal policy to fit their anti-science conspiracies.
“And when the new CDC Director, nominated by Trump, endorsed by RFK Jr. himself, confirmed by the Senate, dared to stand up and say—you know, I think we should follow science instead of nonsense, RFK Jr. pushed to fire her too. This is unbelievable!
“Meanwhile, when it comes to medical research, he is tossing promising work and potential breakthroughs into the garbage. One example: mRNA research is on the cutting edge of medical innovation—not just for lifesaving vaccines by the way, but for lifesaving cancer treatments.
“And you don’t have to just take my word for it: President Trump’s own health leaders champion mRNA research as a groundbreaking scientific advancement.
“But with all the lives hanging in the balance, RFK Jr. pulled the plug on all federal funding for mRNA research.
“Not only is this a massive blow to our researchers and to our patients, but it is a massive win by the way for China, who we just handed a huge opening to now take the lead on biomedical innovation. And mRNA technology isn’t the only cancer research RFK Jr. has upended.
“He and Trump are cutting research grants across the board, across the country, and cutting patients off from clinical trials that were their last, best chance at beating a deadly disease.
“They are now condemning some of these patients to death. They are killing their hope for a cure. And some of these patients are kids. Children.
“Last month, the National Cancer Institute’s Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium stopped enrolling kids with brain cancer in clinical trials that could save their lives. All after Trump and RFK Jr. ended federal funding for that work. What do my colleagues want to say to these parents? I don’t even know what there is to say.
“Yes, we can fight to restore funding. Yes, we will fight here to restore funding, especially as so many of Trump’s cuts are, in fact, outright illegal.
“But we can’t restore lost time, invaluable time, for kids fighting an incredibly deadly disease. For some of them it may be too late. That is heartbreaking. And it’s a direct result of RFK Jr.’s disastrous leadership at HHS.
“To my colleagues: Sorry does not cut it, especially if you aren’t sorry enough to demand the person who is responsible be fired.
“What happened to the accountability Republicans pretend to care so much about?
“And that’s not all. RFK Jr. is sabotaging food safety. I’m glad that some companies are choosing to remove artificial dyes from some of their products, but when it comes to bedrock regulations that keep all Americans safe and prevent foodborne illnesses, RFK Jr. may as well be pro-food poisoning.
“Because on his watch, CDC is throwing in the towel on food safety monitoring.
“This summer, our food surveillance network stopped monitoring requirements for all but two dangerous pathogens.
“I know RFK Jr. doesn’t like listening to public health experts, but I don’t think it takes an expert to understand that listeria will not go away just because states don’t have to track it. It will not go away just because no one is looking. Shigella outbreaks will not disappear if you ignore them.
“Foodborne diseases will sicken people. They will actually kill people.
“This isn’t about following the science—that’s as plain as day. You don’t follow the science by defunding it. You don’t follow the science by shutting it down. You don’t follow the science by firing the scientists!
“That is exactly how RFK Jr. has been operating.
“And as I mentioned, last week we saw one of the most egregious examples yet when he fired the CDC Director, all because she chose to listen to science instead of falsehoods, all because she insisted on protecting lives instead of pandering to anti-vax conspiracies.
“And as we now continue to see the damaging aftershocks of RFK Jr.’s reckless decision to steamroll a CDC Director that refused to bow to his will. Several other experienced, respected, trusted public health experts resigned from CDC in protest.
“Some are now also shared alarming allegations of the widespread culture of conspiracy, and incompetence, and willful ignorance of science—that is now defining RFK Jr.’s leadership. And just this week, a thousand, one thousand, HHS workers demanded he resign because of how his actions are compromising the health of the nation.
“And it’s clear RFK Jr. has no intention of changing gears. Earlier today, he had a Senate hearing, and he continued to flaunt his ignorance like a badge of honor, not even knowing the COVID death toll. Outright lying about established science. Refusing to take any accountability for his actions.
“Mr. President, great leaders leave behind a track record of accomplishments. But it is painfully clear that RFK Jr. will leave behind a body count. How high will it go?
“That all depends on how long will Republicans let him go around setting fires? How much damage will my colleagues let him do? How many children will die before they finally take action?
“We should not let him have one more day in power.
“I know some of my colleagues understand the grave reality of the situation. What I don’t know is how long they are going to be willing to stay silent? You can talk about oversight—but what are you actually doing?
“You can talk about the need to follow the science—but that’s not the path you have put us down. If you want to show you are serious, if you want to save lives, you need to join us in talking about how important it is President Trump fire RFK Jr.
“Anything less is lying to yourself, while RFK Jr. lies to the American people, about things as basic, as established, and as lifesaving as vaccine safety.”
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