00:00The yeas are 52, the nays are 48. Confirmation is confirmed.
00:07Just number four? Yeah, but just number four.
00:13Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table,
00:17and the president will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
00:21Under the previous order, the cloche of motion with respect to the Rollins nomination is withdrawn.
00:25The clerk will report the Rollins nomination.
00:27Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins of Texas to be secretary.
00:33The question occurs on the nomination.
00:39Is there a sufficient second?
00:42There appears to be.
00:44Clerk will call the roll.
00:45Ms. Hossel-Brooks, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Banks, Mr. Barrasso.
00:52And we did just hear that breaking news.
00:54RFK Jr. confirmed as health secretary, and you can now see they were moving on to the nomination of Brooke Rollins to be secretary of agriculture.
01:02But we did want to stay on this breaking news as I give you a live look right now.
01:08Out of Washington, D.C., at the United States Capitol building, the Senate voting to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
01:16as the nation's health secretary, and again, he will be controlling $1.7 trillion in spending for vaccines, food safety, and health insurance programs for roughly half of the United States.
01:29He was also backed by President Donald Trump, and Kennedy himself said he believes he is uniquely positioned to revive trust in certain public health agencies.
01:41And those agencies do include the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.
01:50It's going to be a real honor for me to introduce Robert F. Kennedy Jr., take the oath of office, and officially become our Secretary of Health and Human Services.
02:02Just as I promised last year, Bobby is going to lead a great national mission to make America healthy again.
02:10And he's going to do it.
02:11I think he's going to do things that will really make us very proud of this day, like his father, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
02:23Bobby has devoted much of his life to serving his fellow Americans in his campaign for president.
02:29And he was a very tough competitor.
02:31I did not like it at all.
02:33I said, let's get him on my side.
02:34But in his campaign for president in 2024, Bobby brought together a coalition of supporters across party lines, and he really worked very hard.
02:45And he got, he had tremendous support, unbelievable support.
02:49And I think a lot of that support came my way when we decided to do a, did a merger.
02:56And it was really great.
02:58And it was very loyal, very loyal, incredible people.
03:01They believe in him so strongly because he's a fierce advocate for the health of our children and for the values of free speech, democracy, and peace.
03:11And people are going to be very impressed, I have no doubt.
03:14I've known him a long time.
03:15He's been a friend of mine a long time.
03:17Perhaps most importantly, though, Bobby created a nationwide movement made up of millions and millions of mothers and fathers and young people and concerned citizens of every background who want to end.
03:28And this, this horrible chronic disease crisis that exists, exists in America.
03:35He's absolutely committed to getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment and out of our food supply and getting the American people the facts and the answers that we deserve.
03:46After years in which our public health system has squandered the trust of our citizens, and they really have, they didn't, they don't trust us.
03:54They don't trust anybody, frankly.
03:56They've gone through hell.
03:57There's no better person to lead our campaign of historic reforms and restore faith in American health care.
04:05Bobby's going to do it.
04:06The United States spends more money in health than any other country on earth, but we're growing sicker every year.
04:12We're not as healthy as countries that spend just a fraction of what we spend, so there's something wrong.
04:18He's going to figure it out.
04:19In recent decades, we've seen staggering increases in cancer rates across all age demographics, including more than 40% increase in childhood cancer since 1975.
04:31Who can believe that?
04:32And an explosion in other chronic childhood illnesses.
04:36Not long ago, one in 10,000 people, children, had autism.
04:41Now it's one in 36.
04:43Think of that.
04:44One in 10,000.
04:46One in 10,000.
04:48Now it's one in 36.
04:51Who can believe that?
04:53There's something wrong.
04:55There's something wrong.
04:56And I think it's something that can be found out.
04:58In 2022, more than 40% of children had at least one chronic health condition, and today nearly 80% of young adults do not qualify for military service, in large part for health reasons.
05:14Think of that, 80%.
05:16Something is wrong, and that's why immediately after Bobby is sworn in, I will be signing an executive order establishing the President's Commission to make America healthy again.
05:27We have some great people on that commission.
05:30Chaired by our new secretary, this groundbreaking commission will be charged with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illness, reporting its findings, and delivering an action plan to the American people.
05:45And it's going to be a plan that people are really waiting to hear.
05:48Bobby, I want to thank you.
05:50You've gone through a lot.
05:52It's taken great courage.
05:53You've been amazing, actually.
05:55I'd call him and say, you're going to be okay.
05:57And he said, I know.
05:58I really do.
05:59He's really been supported amazingly by Cheryl and his family.
06:05And it was a very tough, it was a very nasty group of people that were after him.
06:10But he was tougher and he was smarter than they are, and that's why he's here today.
06:15There are very few people that could have withstood the assault, but he was able to.
06:21So I just want to congratulate you, and we have a very special person here to swear you in, a man that I think has done just, I think he's just an amazing man.
06:33And, as you know, his name happens to be Gorsuch, and he's a member of the Supreme Court in extremely good standing.
06:43He's highly respected by everybody.
06:45And I don't know, were you two friends or something, or did this just happen to be the justice?
06:50Did this just happen to be the luck of the draw?
06:52What happened?
06:52I reached out to him.
06:53Did you reach out?
06:54Well, you reached out to a very good man.
06:56And so, please, if you would, thank you very much.
07:09Oh, this has to be done.
07:12Oh, this is.
07:13Sorry.
07:14I'm going to make this a good one, ready?
07:16Okay, it's good so far.
07:27Good.
07:29It's a ten.
08:31Please place your left hand in the Bible and raise your right.
08:34I, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
08:54against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same,
09:05that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation,
09:13without any mental reservation, or purpose of evasion,
09:16or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge,
09:20and I will well and faithfully discharge,
09:23the duties of the office,
09:25the duties of the office,
09:26on which I am about to enter,
09:28on which I am about to enter,
09:29so help me God,
09:30so help me God.
09:31Congratulations, Mr. Secretary.
09:33I want to begin by
09:55thanking President Trump for giving me this extraordinary opportunity,
10:00and I want to introduce my family and thank them for being here.
10:05My wife, Cheryl,
10:06my cousin, Anthony Shriver,
10:08my daughter, Kick,
10:09my other daughter,
10:11Kira,
10:11Carolina,
10:12Carolina Shriver,
10:14Joey Shriver,
10:16Jackson Hines,
10:17and Amaryllis Kennedy.
10:19All right.
10:19And I want to thank all of you for your support,
10:22and throughout this whole two-and-a-half-year journey.
10:30My first time in this whole office was in 1961,
10:35and I came here to meet,
10:39or in 1962,
10:41I came here,
10:42and I had a meeting with my uncle,
10:44who was president then,
10:46where we talked about the environment.
10:49He was involved deeply,
10:51as we all know,
10:53in restoring physical fitness in this country.
10:56He challenged,
10:57at one point during his administration,
11:00he challenged Americans to do a 50-mile walk,
11:03which I ultimately did,
11:05but I remember the day
11:06that my father completed his walk.
11:09We were staying at,
11:11at,
11:12up at,
11:14on Camp David,
11:16and my father came in after 18 hours,
11:19walking on the CNO,
11:21toe-passed,
11:22and with his feet bleeding,
11:23and blisters on them.
11:25My father had a,
11:27one of his best friends was Al Lowenstein,
11:30and Al Lowenstein ultimately was a congressman from New York,
11:33who was assassinated himself in 1980.
11:36But Al Lowenstein had started the dumb Johnson movement,
11:40the government of President Johnson,
11:41and,
11:42and the Vietnam War,
11:43and at the time that he started it,
11:45people just thought it was a fool's errand.
11:46And ultimately,
11:49he asked my father to run for president against Johnson.
11:53My father wouldn't do it at that time,
11:55and he asked Gene McCarthy,
11:57McCarthy did it,
11:57and he joined that campaign.
11:59And my father ultimately ran,
12:02and Johnson then dropped out.
12:03So Al Lowenstein had succeeded.
12:06And although Al Lowenstein was on the other side now,
12:09running against my father with Gene McCarthy,
12:12my father wrote up a note,
12:14a quote from Emerson,
12:16where he said,
12:17if a single man
12:18lands himself firmly on his own ideal,
12:22and thereby,
12:24the whole wide world will come round to him.
12:26For 20 years,
12:29I've gotten up every morning
12:31on my knees
12:32and prayed
12:33that God would put me in a position
12:35where I can end the childhood chronic disease epidemic
12:38in this country.
12:39On August 23rd of last year,
12:44God sent me President Trump.
12:46All right.
12:47And he gave me...
12:48APPLAUSE
12:49And we did a handshake,
12:56and everything that he told me he was going to do,
12:59he has done.
13:00Right.
13:01And I'm so grateful to him,
13:03and I've told you before,
13:05I genuinely believe
13:07that you are a pivotal historical figure,
13:10and you are going to transform this country
13:13at a time when we see
13:15all of the indition of democracy now
13:18in tatters in our country.
13:20We see the rise
13:21of the military-industrial complex,
13:23the rise of totalitarianism,
13:26these attacks on our Constitution,
13:27and this breathtaking epidemic
13:29that is disabling our people.
13:32President Trump has promised
13:33to restore the American dream in this country.
13:37A healthy person has a thousand dreams.
13:40A sick person only has one.
13:42Sixty percent of our population
13:44has only one dream,
13:46that they get better.
13:47President Trump has promised
13:49that he's going to restore America's strength.
13:52But we can't be a strong nation
13:54if we have a weak citizenry.
13:57If people are sick,
13:59sixty percent of our people are sick,
14:01seventy-seven percent,
14:03as President Trump mentioned,
14:04our children cannot qualify for military service.
14:07And we need a man on a white horse now.
14:12We need somebody who is willing to come in
14:15and has the spine and the guts and the strength
14:19to challenge orthodoxies,
14:22to stand in the way of vested interests,
14:24and to break institutions
14:27that have turned against our democracy.
14:30As in, Trump has shown again and again
14:32that he is that hero.
14:34And most recently,
14:36I greatly appreciate it,
14:38and I called you
14:38the day that you announced
14:40the terminated USAID.
14:42My uncle started USAID
14:45in 1961
14:47for humanitarian purposes,
14:49to put our country
14:50on the side of the poor.
14:52It has been captured
14:53by the military-industrial conflict.
14:55It has become
14:56a sinister propagator
14:58of totalitarianism
14:59and war
15:01across the globe.
15:03And very few people
15:04understand how
15:06sinister this agency really is.
15:08And President Trump saw that
15:10and he stood up to it
15:12with a masterstroke.
15:14And we want to do
15:15the same thing
15:16with the institutions
15:17that are stealing
15:19the health of our children.
15:21We need a revolutionary figure,
15:23and you are that figure,
15:24and I'm very grateful for you
15:26for giving me this opportunity.
15:28I want to recognize
15:33some of the allies
15:36that I've had in this battle
15:37for long-time
15:38Senator Rand Paul,
15:40Senator Ron Johnson,
15:41Senator Roger Marshall,
15:42Marjorie Taylor Greene,
15:44and Buddy Carter,
15:46who've all been champions
15:47of the Mahajan
15:48before I even came along.
15:50I'm very grateful for you
15:52for standing strong.
15:53Thank you very much,
15:54President Trump.
16:30I think he's going to go down to the record books.
16:32I really have power.
16:32This group has even ran it.
16:35Let's go.
16:44If I could ask you, Mr. Secretary, do you plan to fire anyone immediately?
16:47Or what are your plans on day one?
16:50Our plans are radical transparency and returning gold standard science, NIH, the FDA, and CDC to end the corruption.
17:00Ending the corporate capture of those agencies, getting rid of the people on those panels that have conflicts of interest.
17:07We can do unadordered and unimpeded science rather than the kind of product that is coming out of those agencies today.
17:17Mr. Secretary, may I ask, how do you address concerns that some Americans may have a response on vaccines?
17:24When people actually hear what I think about vaccines, which is common sense, which is vaccines should be tested, they should be safe, everybody should have informed consent.
17:38And people are reacting because they hear things about me that aren't true.
17:45They hear characterizations of things that I've said that are simply not true.
17:48And they hear what I have to say, actually, about vaccines.
17:52Everybody supports it.
17:53Mr. Kennedy, Tara Fashner from the NLTV.
17:57What's your message to Democrats in the Senate that fought so hard to keep you from speaking in this position?
18:02And congratulations, by the way.
18:04President Trump has promised me the president for all Americans, and he has said to me that he understands that there's no such thing as Republican children or Democratic children.
18:16All of our children need to be protected.
18:18And whether you're in a blue state or red state, I'm going to do everything I can to work with you, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, restore child's health in this country.
