At a Senate Health Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) questioned HHS Sec. RFK Jr. about DEI and science.
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00:00Senator Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Secretary Kennedy, for being here with us today. I oftentimes hear you say the quote, happy to work with you. And I will say that you said it to Senator Kennedy. And as a person who's asked you to work on a number of topics, when you say happy to work with you, you've actually been a man of your word. And I truly appreciate that.
00:22We talked about the importance of sickle cell anemia and the research being done. And I invited you down to South Carolina. And you took me up on my offer. You came last month. And I really appreciate you taking the time and investing the energy to talk about an issue that's critical to so many folks, specifically African Americans.
00:40And as a guy that is thankful that we are working to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion in the federal government, I do not want some folks to think that all things racial are somehow DEI.
00:52And frankly, sickle cell anemia is a classic example of something that has a racial nexus. But it's not diversity, equity, and inclusion.
01:00It's just a basic fact that African Americans, 99.9% of the time are the folks that are suffering through sickle cell anemia. And frankly, if you go beyond sickle cell anemia, you find other diseases that have a consistent presence in minority communities.
01:17And to that end, I think it's really important that we continue to work together on building on issues impacting minority and other communities.
01:28And I would love, Secretary Kennedy, as you move through this reorganization that you are currently going through, I would like for you to answer the question,
01:36will you commit that programs involving minority health will continue and not get tied unnecessarily and inappropriately to DEI?
01:44Yeah, absolutely. We will continue. I think that one of the minority health programs has been terminated, and it was one that was deeply embedded with the DEI ideology.
01:58But there are seven others that are going to continue. I want to thank you for inviting me down to South Carolina. That was a wonderful trip.
02:05It was really, I got to witness a microcosm, a template for how medicine ought to be working.
02:12Yes.
02:13You had brought together under your leadership, hospital systems, pharmaceutical companies, and the biotech companies that developed this new technology for treating sickle cell.
02:25And they had all, and patients, and they had all worked together to make it affordable so that South Carolina now has this extraordinary program where if you have sickle cell in South Carolina, you can get 100% funding with, I think it's 100% cure or close to it.
02:44Yes, very close to it. Thank you.
02:45I'll just ask the two questions as opposed to asking the preliminary to the questions.
02:50For all the parents of children with sickle cell, can you please just reassure them that the Administration of Health for America will work on sickle cell and addressing minority health issues?
03:02It's a simple yes or no.
03:03And will the full budget, and when it's released, reflect funding at AHA for both the Office of Minority Health and Sickle Cell Activities that used to be housed in CDC?
03:14Yeah, absolutely, in my commitment.
03:17In fact, I had a company in this morning meeting with FDA that has a new technology that may, that seems as effective and may be even more economical.
03:29And I'm very, very excited, and I'm excited to show it to you if it proceeds, if it makes it through the traps at FDA.
03:37Excellent.
03:37But, yeah, absolutely, I'm going to continue to make that a priority of this agency.
03:42Great. Let me change topics quickly with my minute and 45 seconds left, since I was extended an extra 30 seconds.
03:49Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
03:50I really appreciate the work that you're doing, frankly, as it relates to addressing how our food supply contributes to chronic diseases,
03:56including the phasing out of petroleum-based as part of your Make America Healthy movement.
04:02I'm really encouraged by the FDA's announcement last week approving three new natural color additive petitions.
04:08During your confirmation hearing process, I shared your passion for shaking up the food industry,
04:14and you are truly doing just what you said you were going to do as it relates to food additives.
04:19Because of your bold actions at HHS regarding petroleum-based food additives,
04:25the food industry responded by getting rid of these dyes in favor of natural alternatives.
04:32Thank you for your work in bringing healthier food options for our kids.
04:37Can you talk about how you will use your position to continue to build on your work eliminating artificial food dyes
04:45to further improve the quality of food sold to Americans in our quest to make Americans healthier?
04:54Yeah, I mean, one of the big areas of neglect has been linking specific food additives and food processes to the chronic disease epidemic.
05:07NIH has neglected that area of study.
05:09It is now the central focus of NIH.
05:12It's going to be looking at it, and FDA, looking at ultra-processed foods, at sugars,
05:18and the 10,000 additives that are in our food, that are in nobody else's food in the world,
05:24and looking at the impact so that we can put accurate labeling on,
05:29and when they're really dangerous, we can revoke their authorizations under grass.
05:36Thank you, sir.