WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) took to the Senate floor to defend Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) after he was ambushed during a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week. Senator Tuberville praised Sec. Kennedy for the work he is doing to Make America Healthy Again, including banning Red Dye No. 3in foods and getting major companies like Kraft, Nestlé, and Coca-Cola to remove toxic ingredients from their products.
Read excerpts from Sen. Tuberville’s speech below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.
“Mr. President, what the American people saw last week in the Finance Committee with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was not a hearing on oversight. It was a dogpile by politicians who are scared to death of questioning the status quo. It was Washington at its worst, a full-on blitz against one man for the simple crime of telling the truth and refusing to play ball with the swamp.
Now, I spent 40 years in coaching before I got into this clown show. I know what it looks like when a player gets piled on, I know what it looks like when the referees refuse to call a fair game. And I know what it looks like when the other team tries to run up the score. That’s exactly what we saw last week. A coordinated, Deep State hit job on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
I have absolutely no idea what my colleagues have against RFK Jr. Surely, they don’t disagree with his efforts to make America healthy again. But there’s one thing I know for sure. RFK, after that hearing, is not working for the swamp. He’s fighting for the American people, people all over this country. I’ve personally seen him come close to tears while talking about his passion for ending the chronic disease epidemic in this country. What’s wrong with that? As a proud grandfather, to Rosie Grace, I am so grateful to have someone who is so passionate about helping our young people live longer, healthier lives leading Health and Human Services. I’m excited. He’s working for moms and dads across this country and in my state of Alabama who are sick and tired of being lied to by the so-called ‘experts’ in this country.
And when you’re playing […] for the people and are willing to take on the system, you’re gonna take some hard hits. We’ve all seen that. Just ask President Trump—he took a bullet for the exact same reason. A bullet. Though it didn’t come in [the] form of a bullet, RFK Jr. sure got hit real, real hard last week by the Deep State. But instead of folding, RFK Jr. stood his ground. He got back up after every hit and responded with the truth and facts. That’s toughness. That’s leadership. And that’s why President Trump picked him for the role.
Now, Democrats came into that hearing ready to throw every flag they could in an attempt to get 20 seconds of fame on their social media. Senator Wyden opened up with a personal attack calling for RFK’s resignation. Senator Warnock piled on, calling him a hazard to public health. Senator Warren tried to run a trick play by twisting his words to paint him as dishonest. And Senator Sanders just couldn’t stomach the fact that someone finally said out loud what everybody already knows: for years, big pharma money has corrupted politicians and our medical institutions. Big pharma is quietly calling way too many of the plays here in D.C.
These weren’t questions. They weren’t oversight. They were cheap shots. And I was particularly disappointed because several of my Republican colleagues joined in on this fiasco. Something I’ve learned is when you challenge the status quo, you find out real quick who’s willing to stand with you and who’s just concerned with getting reelected.
You might be asking what has RFK Jr. done to receive all this wrath from my colleagues? It’s because he has dared to bring accountability to our health-related government agencies. He’s asking questions [and is] daring to challenge the status quo.
There’s a lot of misinformation being spread by Democrats about RFK’s position on vaccines. I’ve never seen anything like it. The Department of Health and Human Services is not, and I repeat, not banning vaccines. RFK is simply directing the Department to look into some of the potential long-term effects of anything that we are putting into our bodies. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a great thing. It’s long overdue.
He’s also restoring sanity by getting rid of woke bureaucrats at the CDC—an agency that lost the trust of the American people during COVID. And I know a lot of my colleagues have been hyper-focused on the CDC director being fired, and they […] obviously weren’t there, and I wasn’t either. But according to RFK Jr., he asked the CDC director point blank, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said no. You know, I owned a small business one time. And if one of my employees had told me that, I would immediately fire them the same way he did.
He’s calling out the Deep State and that’s why they’re after him. The same CDC bureaucrats who told us to ‘follow the science’ during COVID—the ones that shut down our schools, they shut down our churches, they told us […] endless vaccines would stop the spread of COVID. Despite the fact that the vaccine was not proven to do anything to stop transmission of the virus. In other words, they lied to us. Meanwhile, liquor stores and abortion clinics were allowed to stay open. And let’s not forget the violent BLM riots that broke out in blue cities across the country during the summer of 2020. What a joke.
The so-called health experts failed America, and in doing so, they revealed the only thing that they really care about is power and control. That’s a scary place to be. And now, they want to lecture RFK Jr. about science. He has dedicated his entire career to this subject. That’s like a coach who never stepped on the field trying to tell me how to run a football program. It’s laughable. And we got a lot of people that should be laughed at.
Let me tell you, the CDC from top to bottom needs to be cleaned out. That agency was supposed to protect us from 2020 till the end of COVID. Instead, it became a political mouthpiece. It censored doctors [and] nurses. It worked with Big Tech to shut down free speech, and people lost their lives because of the CDC. Lost their lives. And when RFK Jr. fired some of those folks, this town acted like the sky was falling. They needed to be fired. Because the swamp protects its own—that’s why they went crazy.
But thank goodness, he hasn’t stopped there. Secretary Kennedy has already delivered results. He worked with me and the MAHA caucus to push the FDA to finally, finally ban Red Dye No. 3., a dangerous chemical that was banned from cosmetics. Banned from cosmetics because they found it causes cancer. But what did we do? We left it in our food. Now that makes a lot of sense. We left it in our kids’ food and the food that we eat every day, but they couldn’t put it in cosmetics. There’s no common sense there.
But RFK Jr. is fighting for families. Another major problem—he’s cracking down on the revolving door between NIH, the CDC, and big pharma. It’s corrupt and it’s wrong.
He’s focused not only on preventing diseases, but he’s helping people live longer lives. Under his leadership, HHS is focused on increasing access to healthy, affordable, nutrient-dense foods instead of just pumping more drugs into sick people. These are real wins for the American people. And yet what does he get in return? Attacks and smears.
RFK Jr. told the truth last week when he said, ‘We are the sickest country in the world.’ He’s exactly right. He goes by facts, not by the so-called science. Despite spending more on healthcare than anybody else, we’re leading in obesity, diabetes, cancer, and mental health problems. Don’t believe me, then explain why you can go to Italy and eat nothing but bread and pizza and pasta for a week and not gain a pound. It’s because all the chemicals and toxins that we have here in our food in the United States that we get obese.
That’s not winning. That’s losing. And you don’t fix the losing team by running the same plays over and over. You fix it by changing the culture. You fix it by changing the accountability—[hold] people accountable for what they do. You demand results. That’s what RFK Jr. is doing. He’s also daring to ask questions, which apparently isn’t allowed in the Deep State here.
Common sense question is like, why are American kids required to get dozens more vaccines than we did when we were all growing up? We’ve gone from a few to almost a hundred. And yet, by every metric, we are sicker as a country. Six out of ten Americans have a chronic disease in this country, six out of ten. Most of us. And yet, our food is filled with chemicals and things that other countries won’t even allow. That’s why we have these diseases. Why are we protecting big pharma’s bottom line while our families are getting sicker? These are fair questions—and questions we should be asking if we actually care about the people we represent. But in this town, [by] asking fair questions, you get labeled dangerous, anti-science, and a conspiracy theorist.
RFK Jr. is not your typical politician. He’s blunt. […] He doesn’t toe the line and that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. Because if all you do is follow the Deep State’s demands—what happens up here—you never get the change in this country that we desperately need. Sometimes you’ve got to call out the mistakes, push harder for answers, and not be afraid to shake things up. That’s how you build a winning team. That’s what RFK Jr. is doing. He’s not playing it safe, and he’s getting real results.
Since RFK took over at HHS, companies like Hershey, Kraft, Pepsi, Steak ‘n Shake, and In ‘n Out […] have made meaningful changes to their ingredients. He’s delivering major wins, and the swamp can’t stand it because they can’t control him. That’s what happens up here—they want to have control.
But let’s not forget that the American people are watching. 77 million Americans voted for President Trump and his agenda. That’s the most votes a Republican running for president has ever received. President Trump campaigned on making America healthy again, along with RFK Jr.
Now, if some of my colleagues wanna keep running defense for big pharma, that’s their choice. But I didn’t come to Washington to protect the swamp. I came here to fight for the great state of Alabama and the people across this country. For the parents trying to raise healthy kids, for families who have felt lied to by their government, for the hardworking folks who lost their jobs simply because they chose not to take the COVID vaccine. I’m proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with RFK Jr.
He’s not perfect. None of us are, but he’s in the fight for the right reasons. He’s fighting for accountability, transparency, and for the health and freedom of the American people. And that’s a team I’m proud to be on. I yield floor.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.
###
