Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, promised Wednesday that if confirmed he will ensure tax dollars will support health foods and scrutinize chemical additives in the food supply.
Kennedy made the remarks during his opening statement before the United States Senate Committee On Finance, detailing how he became involved with the issue of health.
“My journey into the issue of health began with my career as an environmental attorney working with hunters and fishermen and mothers in the small town in the Hudson Valley and along the Hudson River,” he said. “I learned very early on that human health and environmental injuries are intertwined. The same chemicals that kill fish make people sick also.”
Kennedy laid out the sad state of affairs, noting that overall American health today is “in grievous condition.”
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“Over 70 percent of adults and a third of children are overweight or obese. Diabetes is ten times more prevalent than it was during the 1960s. Cancer among young people is rising by one or two percent a year. Autoimmune diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, Alzheimer’s, asthma, ADHD, depression, addiction and a host of other physical and mental health conditions are all on the rise, some of them exponentially,” he said. “The United States has worse health than any other developed nation.”
“We spend more on health care at least double and in some cases triple as other countries,” he continued, noting last year, the U.S. spent $4.8 trillion. Health care is so expensive, he continued, because of the prevalence of chronic disease.
He continued:
That’s almost a fifth of GDP. It’s tantamount to a 20 percent tax on the entire economy. No wonder America has trouble competing with countries that pay a third of what we do for health and have better outcomes and a healthier workforce. But I don’t want to make this too much about money. It’s the human tragedy that moves us to care. President Trump has promised to restore America’s global strength and to restore the American Dream, but he understands we can’t be a strong nation when our people are so sick. … Today, over half of our countrymen and women are chronically ill. When I met with President Trump last summer, I discovered that he is more than just concerned for this tragic situation, but genuine care. President Trump is committed to restoring the American dream, and 77 million Americans delivered a mandate to him to do just that, due in part to the embrace and elevation of the Make America healthy again movement. This movement, led largely by MAHA moms from every state, and you can see many of them behind us today and in the hallways and in the lobbies, is one of the most transcendent and powerful movements I’ve ever seen.
“I promised President Trump that, if confirmed, I will do everything in my power to put the health of Americans back on track,” he said, ending with a promise to all Americans.
“I will conclude with a promise the members of this committee to the President and to all the tens of millions of parents across America, especially the moms who have propelled this issue to center stage,” he said.
“Should I be so privileged as to be confirmed, we will make sure our tax dollars support healthy foods. We will scrutinize the chemical additives in our food supply. We will remove financial conflicts of interest from our agencies. We will create an honest, unbiased gold standard science at HHS, accountable to the President, to Congress and to the American people,” he vowed.
“We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to good health,” he added.
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