00:00Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Secretary Kennedy, I want to talk to you about your
00:04relationship with this committee and this Congress. I want to talk to you about the
00:08statements that you made to the chairman of this committee and to members of this committee during
00:12your confirmation hearing about vaccines. You didn't tell the truth. I find that to be really
00:19dangerous for our relationship. If I were the chairman who believes in vaccines and voted for
00:24you because he believed what you said about supporting vaccines, my head would be exploding.
00:28In the hearing, you told us, quote, I will not work to impound, divert, or otherwise reduce any
00:35funding appropriated by Congress for the purpose of vaccination programs. That's not the truth.
00:40Let me finish my question. I didn't hear what you said. I'm just asking you to repeat it so I can
00:46understand your question. During the hearing, I'll repeat it. During the hearing, you said to this
00:51committee and to the finance committee, I will not work to impound, divert, or otherwise reduce
00:56funding appropriated by Congress for the purpose of vaccination programs. That is not what happened.
01:02You've done the opposite. You canceled $12 billion in grants to the states, including my state, that are
01:07used to administer and track vaccines. You promised Chairman Cassidy. When did I do that? Madam Chair,
01:14would you allow me to finish my question? When did I do that? Let me finish my question.
01:21Just tell me when I did it so I can understand what the question is. You have canceled $12 billion in
01:29public health grants to states, whether you know this or not. That funding is used by the states in
01:35part to be able to administer and dispense information about vaccines.
01:41Mr. Secretary, let me give you the full panoply of the things you said before this committee that
01:52didn't turn out to be true. You also promised Chairman Cassidy that the FDA would not change
01:57vaccine standards from, quote, historical norms. But what happened as soon as you were sworn in? You
02:03announced new standards for vaccine approvals that you proudly referred to in your own press release
02:09as a radical departure from current practice. And experts say that that departure will delay
02:15approvals. You also said specific to the measles vaccine that you support the measles vaccine.
02:21But you have consistently been undermining the measles vaccine. You told the public that the
02:26vaccine wanes very quickly. You went on the Dr. Phil show and said that the measles vaccine was never
02:31fully tested for safety. You said there's fetal debris in the measles vaccine. And this morning-
02:37That's true. All true. This morning-
02:39Do you want me to lie to the public? That's not- none of that is true. None of that-
02:42None of that is true. None of that is true. None of that is true.
02:43Of course it's true. None of that is true. Senator, none of that is true. Senator,
02:46Senator, you do not know what you're talking about.
02:48And I will submit-
02:49And I will submit-
02:50Submit for the record-
02:51Let's have a little bit of order so that you can get your question-
02:53Well, Madam Chair, I'm speaking- I didn't ask- I didn't ask for a response yet.
02:58I understand that. I'd like to lay out the predicate of my question before I'm interrupted by the witness.
03:01He should ask your respect for this committee. Just this morning in front of the House of Representatives, you also said that you, in fact, would not recommend that kids get vaccinated for measles. You said you would just lay out the pros and cons. Okay, so this is the summation of everything that you have said to compromise people's faith in the measles vaccine in particular is contrary to what you said before this committee. You said you support the measles vaccine.
03:30But then you have laid out a set of facts that are contested, and I will submit information for the record from experts who contest what you've said about the vaccine. And the result is to undermine faith in the vaccine. It's kind of like saying, listen, I think you should swim in that lake, but you know, the lake is probably toxic and there's probably a ton of snakes and alligators in that lake, but I think you should swim in it. Nobody's going to swim in that lake if that's what you say.
03:53And so I want you to acknowledge that when you say you support the measles vaccine and then go out and repeatedly undermine the vaccine with information that is contested by public health experts, that is not supporting the vaccine.
04:08And so I guess I have two simple questions for you. One is, can you clarify what you said in the House this morning? Are you or are you not recommending that families get their children vaccinated? Or are you just giving people the pros and cons?
04:24And do you understand that when you say these things about the measles vaccine, what ends up happening is less people get the vaccine? That may be what you want, but do you understand that the result of constantly questioning the efficacy or safety of the vaccine results in less people getting the vaccine?
04:41So I don't necessarily want to spend the remaining 20 seconds in an argument over the science, but do you at least understand that that's the consequence of what you're saying?
04:50And are you actually still recommending people get the vaccine or are you not?
04:54Senator, if I advise you to swim in a lake, I knew there to be alligators. And wouldn't you want me to tell you there were alligators in it?
05:01So are you recommending, are you recommending the measles vaccine or not?
05:05What I've said and what I said, it doesn't sound like you are.
05:08If that's, are you going to let me answer? Are you going to keep it? Are you or are you not?
05:13Are you going to let me answer? What I pledged before this committee when I, during my confirmation, is that I would tell the truth, that I would have radical transparency.
05:22I'm going to tell the truth about everything we know and we don't know about vaccines.
05:26Are you recommending the measles vaccine or not?
05:27I am not going to just tell people everything is safe and effective if I know that there's issues. I need to respect people's intelligence.
05:34I think you're answering the question. I think you're answering the question.
05:37That's really dangerous for the American public and for families.
05:39The reason people have lost faith in this program is because they've been lied to by public officials for year after year after year.
