- 4 months ago
This past July, Susan Monarez, President Trump's CDC director who was just fired, faced tough questioning in her Senate Health Committee confirmation hearing.
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00:00Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Menares, it was good to visit and in the office about public health data modernization of priority we share. Your written testimony interested me because when a witness prepares testimony and chooses to bold two lines, that tells me that these are the really important lines in the testimony. And the two lines that you bolded in your testimony were good public health saves lives and when public health is
00:30neglected, it costs lives. Those are the two bolded lines. Is smoking a public health issue? It is. And is ignoring smoking as a public health issue run risk to people's lives? Smoking prevention and mitigation is a very important public health strategy to mitigate the risk associated with topical use in cancer. Thank you for that. Mr. Chair, I'd like to introduce in the record an article from Stat News from
01:00April 14, quote, why CDC cuts are being called the greatest gift to tobacco industry in the last half century. Without objection. The article points out that on April 1st, the CDC's office on smoking and health was eliminated. There were 120 full-time employees. They were all laid off. Contractors into the office had been all laid off in February.
01:23If smoking is a public health issue and ignoring it as a public health challenge that could risk lives, how can we justify the complete elimination of the CDC office on smoking and health?
01:37So, as you know, I was not by law involved in any of the personnel decision making.
01:46I actually don't know that. So, let's focus on that. You were at the CDC from January until March 24th.
01:53All of the, and you were the deputy director and then acting director. All of the contractors who do work with this really important office that had been around for decades were all laid off in February when you were in that position.
02:05And the employees were all laid off on April 1st. So, let me just ask you, did you have anything to do with the decisions about eliminating all the contractors and then all the employees in the office on smoking and health?
02:18I am not aware of the layoffs to the contractors.
02:21Okay, but now, let me just, did you, so, so the answer is you did not have anything to do with the layoffs to the contractors, if you're not aware.
02:28I am not aware of that.
02:29Did you have anything to do with the layoff of all the employees of the office?
02:33I, I had no participation in the personnel decision making after I left.
02:38Right, but so, so you were not involved in any discussions about laying off the entire office before you left on March 24th?
02:46So, I'll tell you what I was involved in. So, we were given clear guidance from the secretary.
02:50But, but I only want to know about the Office on Smoking and Health, so don't talk to me about anything else.
02:54Were you involved in any discussions about laying off the entire staff of the Office of Smoking and Health before you left on March 24th?
03:03So, when, when we were given the tasking to return CDC to its core functions related to preventing, detecting, and responding to infectious diseases and emerging threats,
03:14I worked with the career staff there to make sure that we did both, made sure that we were reinforcing those core mission areas.
03:23And in those discussions at the Office on Smoking and Health, was that, that office discussed?
03:28I don't recall that specific office, but...
03:30Okay, well, if you don't recall the specific office, then I'm going to go, go to a next question.
03:36Just, you're a career public health professional.
03:39I mean, if, if public health saves lives, and this is an office that's been going for decades, that's shown real effectiveness in reducing smoking,
03:50isn't it a bad idea to completely shutter the Office on Smoking and Health and lay off all the employees and contractors?
03:58Look, these issues are still public health priorities.
04:03And...
04:04For, for, for who?
04:05They're public health priorities for the Secretary, they're public health...
04:08Okay, public health priorities for the Secretary.
04:10The article that I introduced in the record also points out that he's laid off almost all the smoking expertise at the FDA.
04:18So, so give me any evidence that this is a public health priority for the Secretary.
04:24So, so this is a public health priority for the Secretary.
04:27Tell me one thing he's done.
04:30You have laid off the entire office at the CDC.
04:34So I'm...
04:35All of the contractors, all of the employees, you've gutted the FDA.
04:39Let, let me read really quickly.
04:42The end of OSH comes along dramatic changes at the FDA, including the elimination of the Center's management and regulation divisions,
04:50and the ouster of top tobacco regulator Brian Kling and head scientist Matthew Farrelly.
04:56You didn't have anything to do with the FDA.
04:57You're not there.
04:58But give me one thing that this Secretary has done that would suggest he understands what you testified to,
05:05that smoking is a public health issue.
05:07So the Secretary has continued to support preventing chronic disease.
05:11Okay.
05:12Is smoking related disease a chronic disease?
05:14Uh, cancer related to tobacco use can turn into a chronic disease.
05:18Yeah, because it's what Senator Houston said, the things we put in our bodies.
05:21That's a chronic disease.
05:23It would seem like that would be something that would be a priority for the HHS Secretary.
05:27And yet, the CDC, complete elimination of this office and the FDA, dramatic curtailment of its office.
05:35I really have questions about, not about the statement that you made in your testimony, nor about your qualifications.
05:43I've got questions about your willingness to follow through on your values.
05:48I yield.
05:50Mr. Chairman, I'd be happy to yield to Senator Collins if she'd like to yield.
05:54Are you sure?
05:55Okay.
05:56Um, absolutely.
05:57Doctor, it's good to see you again.
05:59I enjoyed our conversation, uh, yesterday.
06:01Let me just ask you about the massive increase that we have seen in recent years, uh, when it comes to, uh, children and what we're seeing with chronic diseases, uh, autoimmune diseases, developmental disabilities.
06:15This is something that Secretary Kennedy has talked extensively about.
06:18I know that you share his concerns on this.
06:20What, what can CDC do to help reverse the spread of these kind of chronic conditions in our country?
06:25Yeah, this is a, this is a very important issue to me and it's a very important issue to the, to the Secretary as well.
06:31Um, I think, you know, as, as CDC refocuses its efforts, uh, specifically on communicable diseases to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases and emerging threats, uh, we'll be laser focused on that, that area.
06:43But I think, uh, we will continue and I will, uh, continue to make sure that we're supporting the Secretary's vision on overall making America healthier again.
06:52Um, making sure that we're supporting his initiatives to, uh, improve food sources for our children, making sure that we're, uh, supporting efforts to, to allow our children's to, um, to enjoy physical activity.
07:05Uh, making sure that we're supporting, uh, clean water that, that is, um, you know, uh, uh, available to them to really reduce all of these, um, uh, uh, conditions that are leading to exactly what you just talked about.
07:19Chronic diseases in our children, um, which, which ultimately, you know, is, is a public health threat that we just cannot continue to promulgate in this country.
07:28We have seen in Missouri, we've seen a significant increase in chronic health diseases in children, particularly in the St. Louis and St. Charles areas.
07:35That's on the eastern side of my state.
07:37One of the reasons for this is the presence of nuclear radiation and nuclear toxins in our soil, in our air, and in our water.
07:44Are you familiar with the Westlake Landfill Superfund site in Bridgeton, Missouri? Do you know what I'm talking about?
07:49I'm not familiar, but this is something that, again, these are very important issues to me, and I'm happy to work with you if I'm confirmed this.
07:56This, this Superfund site dates back to the Manhattan-era uranium enrichment project.
08:01Uh, St. Louis was a uranium enrichment site during the Manhattan Project, of which we're very proud.
08:07But after the site, after the uranium enrichment was shut down, the federal government did not dispose of the nuclear waste.
08:13What they did instead is they dumped it into a public landfill.
08:17They allowed it to sit out in barrels that were exposed to the elements for years.
08:22So, it was dumped into a landfill from which it ran into the groundwater.
08:27It sat out in barrels in another site for years, from which it then seeped into a nearby stream where there's now suburbs built.
08:33It started building in the 1950s. People have lived there ever since.
08:36And if you look at a heat map for childhood diseases linked to nuclear toxins, to breast cancer rates, and other forms of cancer, particularly in women,
08:46we have some of the highest rates in the nation right there, right around this area.
08:51And I'm asking you because, as CDC director, you've got jurisdiction over the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
08:58Back in 2015, this agency did a health study on this landfill, on the Bridgerton landfill, on the nuclear radiation that was in St. Louis.
09:09And what the ATSDR concluded was that there was not significant pollution, that there was no health risk, I want to quote this, no health risk to the surrounding community.
09:23Now, since that time, we have learned that, in fact, the ATSDR report relied on faulty data, it relied on faulty methods, and there have been multiple subsequent reports,
09:33including those done by the government and the Army Corps of Engineers, that have showed that there is, in fact, extensive contamination.
09:39And as we speak right now, the Army Corps of Engineers is moving people out of their homes in the St. Louis area, those who live adjacent to this creek where the toxins are.
09:49They're moving them out of their homes because of existing, continuing nuclear radiation in their homes, in their yards.
09:56We've had schools that have been closed because of the presence of nuclear toxins in the air, in the dust, in the soil.
10:03Here's my question to you. Will you work to ensure that ATSDR, if you're confirmed, that ATSDR reviews its methodology and does another thorough study
10:13that corrects its faulty methodology from the past and gets the facts to the people of Missouri that we deserve on this issue?
10:20If I'm confirmed as a CDC director, we will definitely look into this, and I'm happy to follow up with you.
10:25Good. I'll just point out that it's so significant, it's so bad, ATSDR study, that the Reuters news agency did an entire report that we will make sure that you see detailing the faulty data
10:38and, frankly, haphazard process that ATSDR used to issue this report that has been relied on, I might add, by corporate bad actors and other polluters to say,
10:48oh, see, there's nothing wrong, even as other agencies of the government are telling people, no, you have to leave your home because you've been exposed to nuclear radiation.
10:55We absolutely have to get this fixed and have to get it cleaned up. I look forward to working with you on that.
11:00I'll have other questions for you for the record. Thanks again for being here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
11:06Senator Also Brooks.
11:08Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Dr. Monterey, and thank you so much for being here this morning.
11:14I have to tell you, we have, over the last six months, watched this administration in horror, watched it dismantle our public health and research system,
11:24all while touting what they have called, quote, their effort to restore gold standard science.
11:31And I don't know what focus group came up with that title. It's untruthful.
11:36Because the fact is, cutting $12 billion from NIH research for critical cures is not gold standard science.
11:45Looking to cut $18 billion more will not deliver for us gold standard science.
11:51And firing 2,400 scientists and public health workers from the CDC will not make Americans safer from the threats of out-breaking and emerging diseases.
12:01Firing experts they have fired that provide recommendations for vaccines and sowing doubt about the science behind vaccines,
12:10I believe will lead to more Americans dying, shutting down rural hospitals, throwing them off their insurance.
12:17I mean, it's just one thing after the next, which I think will not only make us sicker, but also cause us to die.
12:23This past week, you expressed confidence in Secretary Kennedy's new picks for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices,
12:32known as ACIP, saying that they were all credentialed scientists and medical doctors.
12:37And that same day, the committee's own chairman called for the delay of the committee's Wednesday meeting,
12:43saying that the new appointees, quote, do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology.
12:52And so my first question for you is whether you believe that the 17 members that this administration fired from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in fact lacked qualifications.
13:07So look, part of the secretary's vision in restoring public trust is making sure that the American people can be confident in the way that the evidence and science are driving decision making.
13:22The secretary made a decision that resetting the ACIP from the 17 previous members to a new cohort of members was going to be on the path of restoring that public trust.
13:38So I respect that you you're not able to say yes, that they are qualified individuals.
13:43I'm going to ask you just one another question about it. Do you believe that the 17 individuals who the secretary, bless his heart, appointed have conflicts of interest that undermine their independence?
13:56The the the eight, the I'm sorry, the eight members that he appointed, the 17.
14:02The 17. Yep. Do you believe that they had conflicts of interest that undermine their independence?
14:07You're talking about the previous seven?
14:08You're talking about the previous seven?
14:09The new.
14:10The new. The new.
14:11Yes. OK.
14:12So so just just just a he's only appointed, I believe, eight.
14:18But now I understand that it's seven members to participate in the ACIP meeting.
14:24Those members will have needed to go through an ethics approval process and declare conflict of interest.
14:30And those those the Office of Government Ethics will evaluate whether or not those conflicts of interest are directly related to the information that they're going to be receiving and evaluating as they conduct their business at the ACIP members.
14:46If the Office of Government Ethics makes the determination that the conflict of interest are, in fact, directly related.
14:54And doctor, let me just ask you a specific question because I see the time tolling.
14:58Would you say that an ACIP member that made money as an expert witness, for example, in litigation against a major vaccine company would be considered a vax a conflict of interest?
15:09So that individual will have had to declare that during the vetting process by the Office of Government Ethics.
15:17And the Office of Government Ethics will make an evaluative judgment to determine whether or not that participation in that payment is directly in conflict with the ability of that ACIP members.
15:29Let me just say this. So I know that it is not allowed that generally these members are not allowed to serve as expert witnesses in vaccine litigation.
15:37Yet Mr. Koldorf, who was appointed, has he's a person who recently served as an expert witness for plaintiffs who accuse Merck of concealing the risks of an HPV vaccine.
15:51So that would be, I believe, a conflict. Let me just ask you something else really important.
15:55You're a scientist and I know that you believe I want to just ask you whether you believe that fluoride is a safe and is safe and effective when used appropriately.
16:05Fluoride is an important component to oral health and there are various aspects of using fluoride to improve oral health.
16:14A direct application can be very valuable.
16:18Valuable. So let me just say this. So I'm so glad to hear that because the secretary has directed the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation in communities.
16:27I'm very concerned about this. I know you are one of my constituents. I'm very happy about that.
16:32And your community has fluoridation. And so I just want to ask your last question.
16:35Do you believe that the water in Potomac, Maryland, for example, is safe for families?
16:40They have fluoridation there. Is it safe for families, the water in Potomac, Maryland?
16:44I believe the water in Potomac, Maryland is safe.
16:47Thank you so much, doctor.
16:49Yeah. Thank you, chairman. Thank you for coming on out here today.
16:53I guess I just wanted to start by asking you, do you know what the World Trade Center Health Program is?
16:59I do.
17:00What is it?
17:01It's a program that for individuals who were in the World Trade Center in the vicinity that may have been exposed to chemical compounds in the cleanup and the aftermath,
17:12they have the ability to get screening and care as appropriate.
17:16For those that were there, as well as the heroes that were at Ground Zero afterwards,
17:20you know, we saw a 20% cut in their staff in February.
17:24I asked the secretary about this.
17:26He said that he was unaware and did not realize that the funding cuts that he was making,
17:32that was authorizing, were cutting staff from programs such as this.
17:36I guess I just wanted to ask you, were you aware that programs like this would suffer,
17:41that this program would suffer from the staffing and budget cuts?
17:44I was not involved in that decision making and I am not aware of what has happened.
17:48So can you explain to me who was involved in that decision making?
17:51So you were the acting director at that time in February.
17:55How did, did you have any input into the budget process?
18:00I'm not aware of any of those staffing changes that transpired during that period of time or the budget processes.
18:08This is a critical vital function that the CDC performed.
18:12So in February you showed up at work one day and they told you that, you know,
18:17these are the cuts that are being made to your staff.
18:19Is that how it happened?
18:20Who told you that?
18:21Like how did that unfold?
18:23I'm not, I'm not familiar with the specific details that you're talking about.
18:27I am happy to look into it and follow up with you.
18:29So in February when there are cuts to CDC staff, especially for the World Trade Center Health Program,
18:35do you recall how you were made aware of those cuts to the staff?
18:39I'm not, I'm not aware of the specific details that you're asking about.
18:44I am happy to look into it and follow up with you if I am confirmed as a CDC director.
18:49Yeah, look, I mean, I guess I raise this because, you know, you said earlier that a lot of what you want to focus on
18:55is creating evidence-based, rapid decision-making.
18:58You want to make sure that your actions were being driven by the data, by the science.
19:03Yet, some of the most important decisions while you were acting director,
19:07it seems like they were made without your knowledge, without your inputs.
19:11Did you agree with those cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program?
19:15The World Trade Center Health Program is very important to this country.
19:21It is very important that we continue to support it.
19:23So you did not agree with the cuts?
19:25Again, I'm not aware of the specific details of what you're asking about.
19:29I'm happy to look into it and follow up with you.
19:32It was just a little odd because, you know, they cut the staff.
19:35Congress, in many ways, bipartisan way, pushed back on this.
19:40And the staff were reinstated.
19:42I just, I don't understand what the decision-making process is.
19:45And I guess that's something I wanted to get a sense of.
19:48What type of role would you play in terms of standing up against some of these cuts?
19:53If you disagree with them, what voice would you have?
19:56I guess I'll just switch gears a little bit here.
19:58Just ask you, what do you think of Secretary Kennedy's performance and record so far since he has come in on Secretary?
20:04How has he done in his job?
20:05I think the Secretary has laid out a very clear vision for making America healthier again.
20:10I think he has prioritized key public health activities for preventing chronic diseases,
20:15for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality.
20:18He has emphasized his support for the rural health areas, his support for Indian health services.
20:24Is there anything that he has, is there a decision that he's made so far that you disagree with?
20:30I think the Secretary is doing the important work of leading a very complex agency through a number of different transitions.
20:40He is supporting key priorities in preventing chronic diseases.
20:44Does anything come to mind though that you disagree with him on?
20:47The Secretary is doing the important work of leading a complex agency.
20:52He is supporting preventing chronic diseases.
20:55There's a third of the staff was cut at the injury center, incredibly important part of the CDC.
21:01Do you agree with that staffing cut?
21:03I have not been involved in the decision making.
21:06Well, I understand that, but do you agree with it?
21:09Look, the important work of public health is critical to all of the activities related to HHS.
21:21If I'm confirmed as the CDC director, I look forward to understanding what is happening within my own organization.
21:29I look forward to continuing to support these critical activities.
21:32If you don't mind me asking maybe a slightly different way.
21:34Do you know what the leading cause of death is for children in the United States?
21:38There are a number of areas that we have to be concerned about for pediatric morbidity and mortality.
21:44If they're within the purview of CDC in terms of preventing and detecting.
21:50And what are the leading causes of death for children?
21:54The leading causes of death for children?
21:56Look, this is a complicated issue, and we want to make sure that we're covering.
22:00It's just a numerical issue.
22:02I'm running out of time.
22:04Unintended injuries, homicides, and suicides under the purview of the injury center.
22:10And I would just ask you to keep that in mind if you're looking at further cuts.
22:15Dr. Menares, congratulations on your nomination.
22:19Francis Collins infamously emailed Anthony Fauci and told him to take down three prominent scientists.
22:28The implication was use whatever means, use the media, use reporters, but damage their reputations.
22:35One of these scientists is now the head of NIH, Jay Bhattacharya.
22:40Do you think that was an appropriate use of his office?
22:42So I'm not familiar with that particular encounter, but we need to make sure that we are open to letting the science...
22:51Is it an appropriate use of the office for Francis Collins to have emailed the head of NIH and say take down scientists that he disagreed with?
22:59We need to make sure that we are open...
23:01It's sort of a yes or no question.
23:03Is it an appropriate use of office?
23:05Because the question goes to you.
23:07Is it an appropriate use of the office to email other government scientists and say take them down?
23:13Take down these people that are disagreeing with us and have a different opinion?
23:16It is not something I would do.
23:18I welcome an open and honest debate and scientific discourse.
23:21I'm disappointed that we don't get a little better answer from that.
23:24You read OSTP 2015 to 2016.
23:29Was any of the research between Ralph Barrick and WIV, the Wuhan Institute of Virology,
23:35subject to the pause on gain of function during your period of time there?
23:39I don't know the specific details of that, but all federally funded research that met the standards of gain of function
23:45should have been paused under that gain of function pause.
23:49Right, but several were granted exemptions.
23:51Are you aware of an exemption that was granted to the Wuhan research?
23:54I am not aware of that.
23:56Do you believe that the research that was being done over that period of time and subsequently was gain of function research?
24:05I haven't had an opportunity to look at that research, but I share your concerns about gain of function research.
24:09There's about ten books written about it.
24:11I mean, we've been talking about it.
24:13Fifteen million people died.
24:14You're going to be in charge of infectious disease.
24:16You know, you'd think you might have an opinion on, you know, where this came from.
24:20And what happened.
24:22And, you know, even EcoHealth, which was funding the research in Wuhan, finally sends a letter back to NIH.
24:29And they say, thank you for releasing the pause on our gain of function research.
24:35With regard to royalties, recently Secretary Kennedy fired members of the CDC Vaccine Committee.
24:48One of the things we've been asking for for years is that they release their and reveal if they get royalties from pharma.
24:56I think this is a basic good government request.
24:58We've passed it unanimously in another Senate committee with Republican and Democrat support.
25:03Previous heads of the CDC and the Biden administration were adamantly opposed to revealing or any transparency.
25:11Will you support members, all members in decision making processes, revealing their royalties that they get from pharmaceutical companies?
25:20I believe that anyone who is serving in this type of a role that is so critically important to make independent conflict free decisions needs to be fully transparent on any funding that they're getting from any product developer.
25:38That's all I have.
25:41Let's see.
25:43Senator Hassan.
25:45Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
25:47And I want to thank you, Doctor, for being here today.
25:50And congratulations on your nomination.
25:52I'm going to start with a straightforward question that I ask every nominee.
25:56If directed by the president to take action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the president's directive?
26:02The president would never ask me to break the law.
26:05And if a president did, would you follow the law or follow the directive?
26:10We'll always follow the law and the president would never ask me to break the law.
26:13Well, I'd ask you to review recent facts and perhaps reflect on that answer.
26:19Let me move to a second question.
26:22Doctor, the CDC supports critical local work in New Hampshire to fight addiction and overdoses, including funding that helps prevent addiction in youth, as well as a grant that helps New Hampshire track overdose deaths.
26:35Doctor, if you're confirmed, can you commit to continuing these life saving programs at the CDC?
26:40So CDC is moving towards getting back to its core mission of preventing, detecting and responding to infectious diseases and emerging threats.
26:49If I am confirmed as a CDC director, I will look into and make sure that we have effective continuity of these key public health activities as they transition to other parts of the organization.
27:00Well, I want to make sure that these services remain in place because they have been life saving and critical not only to individuals, but to our communities and frankly, to our economy in terms of workforce.
27:12So we will follow up with you on that.
27:15One critical role of the CDC director is to help protect children from lethal infectious diseases.
27:21The CDC director can't perform this critical role unless they are politically independent, which means that you must be willing to disagree with political leaders based on scientific evidence.
27:33So is there anything that you disagree with Secretary Kennedy about?
27:38If I'm confirmed as CDC director, I look forward to having technical discussions with the secretary.
27:46He has said he values and prioritizes independent thinking and using science to drive decision making.
27:53I am an independent thinker and I am a scientist and I will welcome the opportunity to share my my opinions based on science and evidence with him as he makes some of these very difficult decisions.
28:06Is there anything you disagree with him about?
28:09So look, if I'm confirmed as a CDC director, I look forward to supporting the secretary with science and evidence and making sure that I am giving him the best information possible to help support some of these critical decisions that he's making.
28:23Well, let's go to some specifics then.
28:25When you were acting director of the CDC, Secretary Kennedy stated, quote, it's very, very difficult for measles to kill a healthy person, close quote.
28:35Do you have any scientific concerns about Secretary Kennedy's statement?
28:40So so measles is an important public health threat and we have to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to prevent and mitigate the spread.
28:49Do you have any concerns about a statement?
28:51Didn't a child die from measles while you were acting CDC director?
28:55See, measles can be lethal.
28:57We know from from historical data that in in populations, unvaccinated populations that one one in a thousand.
29:08Right.
29:09So excuse me for interrupting, but I have limited time.
29:12So when the secretary said it's very, very difficult for measles to kill a healthy person, no concerns from you about that.
29:18So look, we know that measles can be fatal in one in a thousand individuals.
29:24And look, these are very critical issues that we need to be able to.
29:28Right.
29:29Which is why you're being able to independently state in public that you differ with the secretary is a really, really important thing.
29:36And right now you're showing a real reluctance to do this.
29:39What about when Secretary Kennedy said, again, while you were CDC acting director, that cod liver oil and vitamin A have, quote, 87 percent effectiveness, close quote, for preventing death for measles.
29:53Do you agree with that from a scientific perspective?
29:55So there are there are no FDA approved antivirals or aligned treatments for for the measles.
30:07We do know that vitamin A has been approved by the WHO and has been supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics as an effective supportive therapy to.
30:18And so where's the science that says it's 87 percent effective?
30:21So I'm not familiar with that quote.
30:24I'm not familiar with the specific statistic.
30:27But if I am confirmed as a CDC director, I'm happy to look into it and follow up with you.
30:32Well, for the record and with a request for unanimous consent, Mr. Chair, I have a copy of an article from The New York Times entitled,
30:42I feel like I've been lied to when a measles outbreak hits home from somebody who followed Secretary Kennedy's kind of alternative treatment theories in Texas,
30:52whose family got very, very, very ill, almost died because of measles.
30:58I am very concerned that a CDC nominee who says she wants to be independent and will apply science is so unwilling to speak publicly about scientific evidence that contradicts the secretary.
31:11Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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