Murray: “There are political realities, we all get that—but there is also right and wrong, fact and fiction. And there’s also people staying healthy, or people dying pointlessly from diseases we can prevent because they thought Congress took its job vetting our health care secretary seriously.”
Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care who has led hearings on addressing vaccine hesitancy, has been a leading vocal opponent of RFK Jr.’s nomination—speaking out on the Senate floor, holding events, raising the alarm after meeting with him
*** VIDEO of Senator Murray’s FULL questioning with RFK Jr. HERE***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, questioned RFK Jr. at the Senate HELP Committee hearing on his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)—pressing him forcefully on whether he stands by false statements he made about the HPV vaccine and asking about credible accusations of sexual harassment and assault against him.
RFK Jr. has long been one of the anti-vaccine movement’s loudest, proudest champions—peddling dangerous, debunked views and funding anti-vaccine causes—and there is much he could do as HHS Secretary to cause chaos and real harm to families, from firing top scientists and researchers, to ripping away the approval or insurance coverage of all kinds of vaccines and medicines, to ending our focus on infectious disease research, as he has threatened to do.
Murray began her questioning at today’s hearing by reiterating that HHS has broad and critical responsibilities to protect and preserve health care and social services, from advancing women’s health, to improving child care, to bolstering biomedical research—all priorities of hers—but she would use her limited time for questioning to ask about vaccines. Also noting the tragic plane crash last night in DC, Murray called it “a painful reminder that we need competent people running our federal agencies to respond when a crisis strikes.”
“I think we can agree that cancer is particularly a nefarious chronic disease. And the American Cancer Society reported earlier this month that women under 50 are experiencing a dramatic increase in incidence of the disease. Fortunately, there is clear data showing that the HPV vaccine has saved lives and cut cervical cancer rates dramatically. You have called the HPV vaccine ‘dangerous and defective’ and said it ‘actually increases the risk of cervical cancer.’ Do you stand by those statements? Yes or no?”
Kennedy filibustered, refusing to answer directly—Murray pressed him to answer the question, then continued, “You said that: ‘no loving parents would allow their daughter to receive this vaccine.’ If confirmed as HHS Secretary, would you recommend that parents get their children vaccinated against HPV? Yes or no?”
“I’ll just remind everybody—parents look to our health leaders for advice on these decisions; you would be a health leader,” Murray said, asking unanimous consent to enter Mr. Kennedy’s numerous statements disparaging the HPV vaccine and others into the record.
Murray continued by asking Mr. Kennedy about accusations of sexual harassment and assault by Eliza Cooney, who was hired as a part-time babysitter by his family. “When you were confronted about this accusation, you said you were ‘not a church boy’ and that you ‘have so many skeletons in my closet,’ Murray said. “You then texted Miss Cooney an apology and indicated you had no memory of what she described. Mr. Kennedy, I’m asking you to respond to those accusations seriously in front of this committee. Did you make sexual advances towards Miss Cooney without her consent?”
Kennedy denied the allegations, calling them “debunked,” despite credible reporting to the contrary, when pressed on why he apologized, Kennedy claimed he texted Cooney an apology for a separate reason—in contrast to the published texts. Mr. Kennedy then told the full committee that he had never made any unwanted sexual advances towards any individual without their consent.
“My time is almost up, but having read a lot and listened a lot, I just want to remind all my colleagues that by voting to confirm Mr. Kennedy, we would be telling our constituents he is worth listening to,” Murray said. “That alone will get people killed—before he even lifts a finger. Because he does not even need the levers of power to influence people, as we saw in Samoa—all he needs is a megaphone.
“To affirm his views by voting to confirm him as our highest health official—we should not mince words about what that will mean. When babies die from whooping cough because parents weren’t sure if the vaccine was safe, we will have to look them in the eye. When measles sweeps through schools, hospitals, nursing wards—will this be worth it?”
“There are political realities, we all get that—but there is also right and wrong, fact and fiction. And there’s also people staying healthy, or people dying pointlessly from diseases we can prevent because they thought Congress took its job vetting our health care secretary seriously,” Murray concluded.
When President-elect Donald J. Trump first announced his intention to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of HHS, Murray immediately and forcefully condemned the move—and she has consistently spoken out and laid out for her colleagues the case against his nomination since, including in a lengthy Senate floor speech earlier this month—VIDEO HERE. Murray met with RFK Jr. on January 15th and released a statement afterward reiterating her opposition to his nomination and urging her colleagues, “to be honest with themselves about the stakes of putting one of the anti-vaccine movement’s loudest, proudest champions in charge of HHS and join me in opposing RFK Jr.’s nomination.” In December, Murray held a roundtable discussion at UW Medicine on the importance of scientific research and vaccines—especially for children—and spoke about how having RFK Jr. lead HHS would threaten Americans’ health and safety.
As a longtime appropriator and former Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, Murray has long fought to boost biomedical research, strengthen public health infrastructure, and make health care more affordable and accessible. Over her years as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, she has secured billions of dollars in increases for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, and during her time as Chair of the HELP Committee she established the new ARPA-H research agency as part of her PREVENT Pandemics Act to advance some of the most cutting-edge research in the field. As Chair of the HELP Committee, Murray was also instrumental in crafting the American Rescue Plan Act, including its landmark investments in public health and health care. Senator Murray was also the lead Democratic negotiator of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which delivered a major federal investment to boost NIH research, among many other investments. Murray is also the lead sponsor of the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act (PHISLA), legislation to establish $4.5 billion in dedicated, annual funding for a grant program to build up and maintain the nation’s public health system across the board.
In 2019, Senator Murray co-led a bipartisan hearing in the HELP Committee on vaccine hesitancy and spoke about the importance of addressing vaccine skepticism and getting people the facts they need to keep their families and communities safe and healthy. Ahead of the hearing, as multiple states were facing measles outbreaks in under-vaccinated areas, Murray sent a bipartisan letter with former HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director and HHS Assistant Secretary for Health on their efforts to promote vaccination and vaccine confidence.
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