00:00It builds back, and now I recognize the gentlewoman from Texas, Representative Fletcher.
00:06Thank you so much, Madam Chairwoman, and thank you to Ranking Member DeGette.
00:12Thank you to all the witnesses for your testimony today.
00:15It's been very helpful, and I appreciate that all of you are public servants who care about the health and well-being of people across this country
00:23and have dedicated your careers to doing that, and we're here to talk about those things and your recommendations today.
00:30So I really want to thank you not only for your testimony but for your work.
00:35At the same time, I have real concerns that, once again, even if we reauthorize these programs,
00:41we won't have the funding or the staff to carry out these important recommendations and implement the information that we're hearing.
00:50I brought up this concern in April when we first were at our hearing on the over-the-counter monograph user fees reauthorization,
00:59and, you know, I just don't understand why we are having another hearing on this,
01:07on reauthorizing a program that supports FDA's work while simultaneously allowing the Trump administration to gut the FDA's workforce.
01:17This applies to the program reauthorizations under consideration today in these bills that fall under HRSA as well,
01:26and, you know, if everyone doesn't know, HRSA is slated to be eliminated completely as an agency under HHS under Secretary Kennedy.
01:40We had him here a couple of weeks ago.
01:42We need to have him back here because these are hugely important questions.
01:46This is going to be eliminated as a subagency, and it's all part of the administration's effort to shrink government
01:53and many of the critical workforce programs that we're talking about that HRSA oversees were slashed in President Trump's budget
02:02that this Congress is considering and seeming to move through without opposition,
02:09without objection to cutting the federal workforce, to cutting these agencies,
02:15to cutting the work that's being done to help people in our communities and to keep them safe
02:19and to help them be healthy and healthier.
02:21And it's not included in the authorizations that we're talking about today, but one example of a workforce program that was eliminated
02:28in the President's budget that we talked about a little bit earlier is the Children's Hospital's Graduate Medical Education Program,
02:36that the residents in Children's Hospitals.
02:39This has traditionally been a bipartisan program with a ton of support and it is the only federal program dedicated to training pediatricians.
02:47And our resident pediatrician already asked her questions, but we know, we know from people across our districts
02:56that this program helps train the doctors who take care of our children, and it is eliminated in the President's budget.
03:05It is completely eliminated.
03:07The President has decided this is no longer worthy of support.
03:11So, you know, my questions, I have questions that I'm going to ask the witnesses, but my real question is for the Republicans on this committee.
03:18If we reauthorize these programs, and in the next budget the President eliminates them, are you going to vote against them?
03:26Are you going to do anything to object and to fight for the programs that everyone here is saying they wanted?
03:32We're introducing bipartisan bill and bills about reauthorizing programs that we are letting the Trump administration,
03:40and when I say we, I mean half of this body, the majority in this body,
03:45over the strong objections of the people on my side of the aisle, are letting the administration run roughshod,
03:52are doing whatever the President wants, without question, in cutting agencies, in cutting funding, in cutting staff,
03:59in saying they want to get rid of all these things.
04:04Will you vote against that?
04:06Will you object?
04:07Will you stand up for the things that we are talking about today?
04:11If we pass the over-the-counter reauthorization, and there are no staff to review over-the-counter drugs,
04:20are you going to care about firing all of them then?
04:23We can put a stop to this here in Congress.
04:27We can do that.
04:28We can say no.
04:29We can vote no.
04:31And I would like to see that happening in this committee and in this Congress.
04:36So, Dr. Chen, I took longer than I thought to ask my questions of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
04:42So I have a question for you that I'm going to submit for the record.
04:45You talked a little bit earlier about your experience and talked about, in your testimony, obviously, you talked about the various programs.
04:56And I would like for you to speak about how the Children's Hospital's Graduate Medical Education Program helps address the pediatric workforce shortages as well.
05:07I'm out of time, so I'll look forward to your answer in writing in the record, and I will yield back.
