At today's Senate Health Committee hearing, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) questioned HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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00:00Senator Paul. Thank you. I want to commend Secretary Kennedy and the
00:04administration for putting forward less spending and one of the reasons I think
00:08we need to look at NIH and other grant-making organizations is if you
00:13keep giving them the same amount you'll keep getting the same frivolous grants
00:16and I'll recite a couple of them so people can remember. $660,000 was given
00:22to study the impact of microaggressions on obesity-related eating in Latinx
00:27Americans you know really maybe heart disease diabetes obesity but eating
00:35disorders in Latinx Americans there's another 419,000 to study of lonely rats
00:40seek cocaine more than happy rats maybe we could eliminate that and that could go
00:45to a real disease most recently NIH recorded a $620,000 grant for LGBTQ plus
00:52inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys and what
00:57they discovered was that girls who think they are boys are at least as likely
01:01to get pregnant as girls who think they are girls amazing the science but we
01:08should all agree that that's just left-wing ideology that's not science we
01:12should study obesity and cancer and diabetes I I commend you for shifting the
01:17balance I have a specific question about closing down Fort Detrick recently my
01:24understanding is that a contractor intentionally slashed the hazmat student a
01:29suit or the biosafety suit of someone who's handling Ebola you were immediately
01:34attacked in the press by saying it was just anti-science once again shutting down
01:38science was this a serious breach and is it being investigated we brought in the FBI
01:46to investigate it and as you say it appears like it was deliberate criminal act to try
01:51to that was a kind of that is equivalent to attempted murder because the people the kind of
02:00microbe the pathogens that they were handling have a very very high case fatality rate up to 50%
02:06the the disturbing thing about it is that there are three leaks a week globally from BSL-4 labs and
02:16any of those could be cataclysmic for humanity and as a result we not only brought
02:21closed Fort Detrick and we brought the FBI and to investigate that we also declared the end of
02:29gain-of-function studies again that will allow those kind of leaks to continue I commend you for that I
02:36think ultimately legislation will be needed because the next administration could reverse it I think
02:41there is bipartisan support for some controls on gain-of-function as you shut down gain-of-function
02:46though you have to decide what it is and then you have to look for it so I would suggest that it both
02:51Fort Detrick and at the NBAC lab that's nearby run by the DHS that we look at experiments involving Ebola
02:58avian flu Marburg virus to determine one whether gain of function but also just determine whether
03:06whether the experiments are wise I am told in public records that they are doing experiments
03:11or have done experiments to aerosolize Ebola at the NBAC lab that's the DHS lab nearby to Fort Detrick
03:19my hope is that when you investigate whether to do gain-of-function or what is gain-of-function
03:26what is being done that you'll compile that and at least give us a report in Congress we're going to ask for
03:32it but so there can be public scrutiny of these things you will help scrutinize it but the whole
03:37public needs to know how dangerous some of these things are and whether we should be doing them
03:41the idea of aerosolizing Ebola I think is or and or training Ebola to be aerosolized is it is incredibly
03:49dangerous probably goes against the biological weapons convention and I'd like to hear a little
03:54bit about whether or not as you investigate this you plan on bringing information back to Congress or to
04:00the public yeah we're going to be absolutely transparent I'm I have a trip planned to Fort
04:06Detrick with Christine Ohm the director of DHS and with Jay Bhattacharya and other people in my agency
04:17who are experts on bioweapons who are experts on gain-of-function research and we are going to be
04:23absolutely transparent we've also proposed a methodology for regulating and for determining
04:30which what is dangerous gain-of-function and what is legitimate scientific investigation and how to
04:41bring the public into that debate which I think as you point out is absolutely critical that is where
04:46we messed up last time and as you know we have some of the Democrats here who are you know talking
04:54about the great science from NIH but now we have a major agency intelligence agency the CIA the FBI the DOE
05:01and the State Department have all agreed that NIH research almost certainly led to the pandemic the
05:11COVID pandemic so that's not the kind of the result that we should be allowing or enabling and we're
05:17going to end that now if possible the trip to Fort Detrick and to end back we'd like to be included or
05:22invited on that trip if possible absolutely thank you mr. chairman