On Wednesday evening, Senator Reverend Warnock held the Senate floor for nearly an hour to bring attention to the danger of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

During his speech, Senator Reverend Warnock highlighted Mr. Kennedy’s refusal to support lowering health care premiums and inconsistent views on supporting low-income Georgians’ access to coverage

Senator Reverend Warnock also addressed Mr. Kennedy’s disturbing comments and long-held beliefs that threaten health care costs, quality, and access for Americans

Senator Reverend Warnock also used the speech to highlight personal stories from Georgians who would be impacted by Mr. Kennedy’s potential poor stewardship of HHS

Senator Reverend Warnock: “Mr. Kennedy won’t work to lower Georgians’ health care costs or increase access to health care for my constituents who are caught right now in the health care coverage gap”

Above: Senator Reverend Warnock speaks on the Senate floor in opposition to Mr. Kennedy’s HHS nomination

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday evening, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate highlighting his opposition to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to be the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

During his nearly hour-long speech, Senator Warnock highlighted how Mr. Kennedy would not stand in the way of Washington Republicans’ attempt to raise Georgians’ health care premiums to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The Senator highlighted Mr. Kennedy’s inconsistent positions on providing Georgians’ access to health care.

“I asked him, yes or no, if he supports Congress extending these [premium] tax credits, which lower Americans’ premiums, something he told me was a priority for him [during their private meeting]. Suddenly, Mr. Kennedy could not give me a yes or no answer,” said Senator Reverend Warnock.“I wonder why?

“He told me in private that he cared about health care. He said he was aware that these tax credits were set to expire at the end of the year,” continued the Senator.“He said he wanted to lower health care costs. When I asked him whether he would support Congress extending these tax credits, the crusader, all of a sudden, became a politician and couldn’t give me a yes or no answer. That’s not a good sign. It’s a pretty simple question to the nominee to run the federal agency tasked with protecting the health of all Americans, do you support lowering health care premiums and keeping millions of people insured? That question, apparently, was a bit too challenging for Mr. Kennedy, so if a nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services cannot tell me if he supports preventing Georgians’ health care costs from spiking… I cannot support his nomination.”

Watch Senator Warnock’s speech HERE.

Below key excerpts from Senator Warnock’s speech:

“Mr. President,

“I rise today in strong opposition to the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To lead the Department of Health and Human Services.”

“It’s no overstatement for me to say that it’s hard for me to imagine a nominee less qualified that would actually be presented for the job of HHS secretary. Robert F. Kennedy, not only does he not pass muster, this is not even close. I still can’t believe we’re even having this discussion. He is a conspiracy theorist who is so focused on his conspiracy theories, when you think of what we need the HHS secretary to do, Robert F. Kennedy is a hazard to our health.”

“Certainly we can do better than this. He’s just manifestly unqualified. I don’t know how else to put it.”

[…]

“Mr. Kennedy won’t work to lower Georgians’ health care costs or increase access to health care for my constituents who are caught right now in the health care coverage gap. I’m so proud that in my first few months in the Senate, I was able to play a critical role in passing the American Rescue Plan, which, among other things, lowered Georgians’ health care premiums by hundreds of dollars on average. It is, quite frankly, the kind of thing that makes this job worth it to me. Being able to help ordinary folks.”

“That tax cut literally helped bring health care into reach for tens of thousands of Georgians and millions of Americans. These tax cuts are so critical that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that the number of Americans without health care would grow by 3.8 million in just one year, in just one year, 3.8 million without health care if the premium subsidies that we now enjoy were allowed to expire. We know that that would impact thousands of Georgians who have only recently been able to receive health care coverage.”

“If these tax credits are allowed to expire, a 45-year-old in Georgia with $62,000 annual income would see premiums go up by $1,414 a year. A 60-year-old couple in Georgia with an $80,000 annual income would see their premiums go up by a staggering $18,157 a year. Can you imagine someone making $80,000 a year, 60-year-old couple, and all of a sudden their health insurance for the year goes up by more than $18,000? We know what that is. That’s the difference between having health care coverage and not having it at all.”

“Nearly one-third of Americans have less than $500 in savings in their bank account, and so these folks don’t have that kind of extra dough. They don’t have that kind of extra cash on hand to pay for something that is vitally necessary, and we don’t know, we never know when we will really need our health insurance.”

“So, every single day, as we watch the games that Washington politicians play — for me, this is no game. I often say that if we would center ordinary people, we have a chance at getting the public policy right. If we will center people rather than politics, we might manage to get the right policy.”

[…]

“I asked the nominee for HHS, what do you think about this? Mr. Kennedy told me when I met him privately in my office that he wanted to work with President Trump to lower health care premiums. I said, good.”

“That’s why I was deeply troubled when I questioned Mr. Kennedy on his support for these tax credits in his hearing in front of the Senate Finance committee, I asked him, yes or no, Mr. Kennedy, are you aware that the premium subsidies that help save Georgians and average of $531 a month are set to expire at the end of the year? He said, yes, he is aware. Then I asked him, yes or no, if he supports Congress extending these tax credits, which lower Americans’ premiums, something he told me was a priority for him. Suddenly, Mr. Kennedy could not give me a yes or no answer. I wonder why?”

“He told me in private that he cared about health care. He said he was aware that these tax credits were set to expire at the end of the year. He said he wanted to lower health care costs. When I asked him whether he would support Congress extending these tax credits, the crusader all of a sudden became a politician and couldn’t give me a yes or no answer. That’s not a good sign.”

“It’s a pretty simple question to the nominee to run the federal agency tasked with protecting the health of all Americans, do you support lowering health care premiums and keeping millions of people insured? That question apparently was a bit too challenging for Mr. Kennedy, so if a nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services cannot tell me if he supports preventing Georgians’ health care costs from spiking and keeping people like Cassie Cox on her health care plan, I cannot support his nomination.”

“I don’t work for him. I don’t work for the insurance companies. I work for Cassie Cox and the other Georgians like her.”

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