The Senator’s full exchange with the Secretary Kennedy can be found here.
Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) spoke during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing and questioned Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on the sweeping changes made to the agency and the department’s lack of response to congressional oversight letters.
To watch the full hearing, click here.
Senator Blunt Rochester: “Your proposed ‘compassionate budget’ would cut funding for multiple maternal and child health programs. And I know as a new parent, I remember learning that my baby should sleep on their back. The NIH Safe to Sleep Campaign you’ve shuttered, after launching this campaign in 1994, the rate of sudden infant deaths dropped by 50%.
“Many parents in this room maybe remember getting their children screened for hearing loss or rare diseases. That program has also been shuttered. You’ve cut programs that collect data on IVF, maternal health, infant mortality, all while President Trump is calling himself “the fertilization president.” None of these policies are based in compassion, and my only concern even following up on Senator Kim’s question is what goes into gutting a program that has increased the efficacy of parents being able to take care of their children?
“I will…my time has expired but I will just say again, a budget is a reflection of priorities, and to me, this budget, the cuts to Medicaid that are talked about right now across in the House of Representatives are going to have real, like you said, painful impacts on people’s lives, and I hope there’s some real compassion in the end, and I hope you hear from our constituents as we are hearing from them as well. And we will continue to try to fight for them.”
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.