After Successful Senate Vote, Wyden Urges Republicans to Support Restoring the American People's Voice on Right to Science-Based Health Care

After Successful Senate Vote, Wyden Urges Republicans to Support Restoring the American People's Voice on Right to Science-Based Health Care

As Prepared for Delivery

Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here

As Prepared for Delivery

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., spoke on the Senate floor to restore transparency in public health via a congressional disapproval resolution. Wyden led the effort with Senator Angus King, I-Maine, to reverse the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) April 2025 decision to halt public comment in a Senate procedure under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Today's bipartisan, procedural vote passed 50-49 and will lead to a final Senate vote on the motion.

Before the vote, Wyden spoke on the Senate floor about the need for real "radical transparency" rather than the radical secrecy Robert Kennedy has delivered.

A selection of his prepared remarks are below:

I come to the floor today to urge support for Senator King's resolution.

Earlier this year, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. took the unprecedented step of doing away with a longstanding practice at HHS that gives Americans a voice on policies that have a massive impact on their health and well-being.

One of the first safeguards Kennedy took aim at is what's known as the "Richardson Waiver." This rule is what gives the American people a say in the health care policies its federal government enacts.

Doing away with it makes it that much easier for Kennedy's HHS to undermine science and health care in America and make every one of us less safe. And under this rule change, it is all being done in secret.

Since Kennedy's repeal of the Richardson Waiver, HHS has abruptly and arbitrarily cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars of previously approved public health funding. He has announced a major reorganization of his department, resulting in fewer health experts at HHS. These are just a few of the long list of dangerous actions Kennedy has taken under this veil of secrecy to erode public health in America.

Without this safeguard in place, Kennedy is emboldened to move forward with sweeping rules about vaccines without input from the public. He is actively pursuing bogus studies about safe medications that have been on the market for decades that the administration is seeking to limit access to, like mifepristone. Robert Kennedy promised radical transparency when he became HHS secretary. Instead, he has delivered radical secrecy. Rather than throwing open the doors of government, he has shut the gates and thrown away the key.

The resolution I introduced alongside Senator Angus King would give the American people their voice back. It would give them a say in the future direction of their own health. It would give them the power to speak up about this administration's crusade against health care, and the power to speak out against the policies that are making them less safe.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I yield the floor.

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