Skip to playerSkip to main content
Forbes Breaking News
  • 8 months ago
At Wednesday's Senate Health Committee hearing, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) questioned HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Transcript
00:00Chair, thank you, Mr. Secretary, for taking the time and for your willingness to come
00:03into the public sector. I'm not going to try and play gotcha, but it is an opportunity
00:08to spend a little bit of philosophical time. And I guess one question is, do you think
00:12our country spends too much on scientific research?
00:15No. Okay. And so, obviously, you know the NIH
00:19is the largest, in terms of biomedical research, there's the Howard Hughes Institute, but the
00:2370% of the world. Exactly, 70% of the world.
00:26And I guess, when you look at the level of cuts that we're facing
00:31over there, and I recognize that a lot of these cuts are imposed upon you.
00:36But there's a gap in basic fundamental
00:40research that's going to have to be filled somehow. And have you got any
00:43ideas of how we can do that, given the scale,
00:48the dimension of the loss that we're facing? Well, you know,
00:51first of all, my job is to support the President on this, and
00:55support OMB. But, you know, like, the reality is that, as I've said,
01:00no agency head wants to see cuts to his agency. And I
01:03love scientific research, so I want to do as much as possible.
01:08But I think because of the,
01:11we are very, very aggressively
01:14implementing AI, and I think we're going to do it faster
01:17and better than anybody else in government, any other agency. We brought
01:21very, very high-quality caliber people from Silicon Valley.
01:26Yeah, yeah. I get that. And that will accelerate and help us do more research.
01:28That's right. If we can shorten clinical trials, we can
01:31get rid of animal trials, which we're already doing.
01:34I'm in support of all that. We've talked about that for years.
01:37And we can do, and we can now digitize...
01:39The research I'm talking about is not that so much as the
01:42fundamental scientific, basic science research.
01:45Like bench science or epidemiological studies or whatever.
01:48And I think we can do a lot of that stuff quicker.
01:52You know, I'll take as much money as you give me, and I'll spend it well.
01:55Well, I just want to make sure to urge you to be a fighter
01:57for more of that research, because there's
02:00a questioning of science right now
02:03within many in the White House. Not everyone,
02:07but many in the White House. It really needs to be pushed back.
02:12And Senator Hawley, I'll sign on to that bill as well.
02:15The second question I've got, we have a lot of issues around wildfires
02:23in Colorado right now, and this is back to the NIOSH,
02:28the National Institute of Occupational Safety Health.
02:34You mentioned that they kept them in Cleveland and I think somewhere
02:38in Pennsylvania. Pretty much everyone's laid off in Colorado.
02:42In Oregonstown, yeah.
02:43Yeah. Everyone's laid off in Colorado, and
02:46the question really, and I think a couple have been
02:50in order to be reinstated, but all the West is dealing with these,
02:54I mean, thousands, tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands
02:58of people out fighting fires. These are people risking their lives,
03:02you know, walking away from their families every day.
03:04The basic research that needs to be done, I don't think the replacements are
03:11going to be, in many cases, they're new onto the job.
03:14They're not going to be sufficient to address and really make sure the specific
03:19health needs of these workers, these outdoor workers, are addressed.
03:23So the question is, how can we, how can you make sure that folks in Colorado,
03:27like firefighters, are able to do their jobs safely?
03:30You know, there, I think a lot of the cuts that we're implementing now are painful cuts
03:37and that, that they, you know, there are cuts that are going to, are going to be difficult.
03:44But I think the president's position is that we're spending $2 trillion that we don't have,
03:52that we are taking from our children. And we've got to protect their rights to prosperity,
03:58to enrichment, to dignity, to choice. And, you know, so...
04:04I get, I've heard that argument and I appreciate it. And I'm a great frugal,
04:10a voice of frugality, at least in my office, and try to push it around the,
04:15the Senate where, where it's allowed.
04:18But we're looking at a budget that's going to increase the deficit by,
04:22who knows how much, $4 to $5 trillion.
04:26To take things like this that we know are successful, and not just for Colorado,
04:30but for most, almost every Western state essential, and we're cutting,
04:34you're saving such a small amount of money for something that's so important.
04:37I just hope that you can push back on that a little bit.
04:41And someone's got to take a stand for these things that are minor financial benefits,
04:46but significant losses to how we provide safety for workers and our citizens.
04:51I'm happy to work with you on that, Senator.
04:54Okay, great. I yield back to the chair.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment

Recommended

'So Which Is It?': Jack Reed Presses RFK Jr. For Answers On Childhood Lead Program
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
'Do You Continue To Stand By That?': Josh Hawley Questions RFK Jr. About Mifepristone Study
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
RFK Jr. Faces Fierce Grilling At Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
'Too Many Families Are Waiting For A Cure': Shelley Moore Capito Urges RFK Jr. To Fund Biomedical Research
Forbes Breaking News
7 months ago
'They Found Prisoners Getting The Grants, Didn't They?': John Kennedy Brings Receipts To Question RFK Jr.
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
RFK Jr. Fires Back At Warnock: 'Are You Complicit In The Assassination Attempt On President Trump?'
Forbes Breaking News
4 months ago
GOP Senator Todd Young Presses RFK Jr. Over Slow Development Of Long Covid Therapeutics
Forbes Breaking News
4 months ago
RFK Jr. brings chaos, not science | Red Hot Take
New York Post
2 months ago
'I Just Read Them To You!': Dick Durbin Asks RFK Jr. Point Blank About Cuts To ALS Research Funding
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
RFK Jr. Directly Confronted About Delay In Clinical Trial From Woman Suffering From C
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
'But You Won't Commit To Preserving The State Opioid Response Grants?': Jeanne Shaheen Confronts RFK Jr.
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
These Are Some Of The Wildest Moments From RFK Jr.'s Senate Hearing
Forbes Breaking News
4 months ago
Shelley Moore Capito Asks RFK Jr. How Clinical Trails Will Be Impacted Through HHS Reorganization Efforts
Forbes Breaking News
7 months ago
'So If You And President Trump Are Serious...': Bernie Sanders Makes Direct Appeal To RFK Jr.
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
'Is It Being Investigated?': Rand Paul Questions RFK Jr. About Incident Involving Ebola At Fort Detrick
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
'I Know That It Violates Current Law': Susan Collins Confronts RFK Jr. Over 'Poorly Thought-Out' Cuts
Forbes Breaking News
8 months ago
‘That’s Rhetoric, Not Reality’: Jack Reed Rips Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For Medicaid Overhaul Rationale
Forbes Breaking News
7 months ago
RFK Jr. Directly Addresses Massive Shake-Up At CDC That Has Led To Many Calls For His Resignation
Forbes Breaking News
4 months ago
Sheldon Whitehouse And RFK Jr. Have Extremely Tense Exchange About End Of Life Policies
Forbes Breaking News
4 months ago
RFK Jr. Takes Epic Pause As Catherine Cortez Masto Stumps Him During Hearing
Forbes Breaking News
4 months ago
'You Don't Know That Data?': Mark Warner Shocked By RFK Jr. Statement On Vaccines
Forbes Breaking News
4 months ago
'Look, I'm Not Trying To Trick You...': John Kennedy Rapid-Fire Questions Judicial Nominees
Forbes Breaking News
7 months ago
RFK Jr. Praises Trump's Aesthetic Changes To Oval Office, Recalls Decor Of John & Jackie Kennedy
Forbes Breaking News
5 months ago
'The Real Elephant In The Room': Patty Murray Sounds Off On Sec. RFK Jr.'s Leadership At HHS
Forbes Breaking News
6 months ago
Burry Channels Buffett
Benzinga
12 hours ago