Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. went before the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday in Washington, D.C. Democrats on the panel grilled him on a number of topics, including cuts to health care and vaccines.
Springfield U.S. Representative Richard Neal is the ranking Democrat on the committee. After the hearing he said the vaccine issue is especially important right now.
"We thought that what has happened with measles and vaccinations has also begun to plague America again and we wanted to have the secretary explain to us why he has raised suspicion about vaccinations," Neal said. "I think his answers were pretty vague,".
During the hearing, Kennedy defended his vaccine policy, while touting his agency's record on drug price negotiations and new dietary guidelines. It was his first appearance on Capitol Hill this year.
Cease fire in Iran continues, but questions remain domestically
Earlier in the week, there were failed negotiations to bring the war in Iran to a settlement. A two-week cease fire is more than a week old. There was news Thursday that Pakistan was pressing Iran to extend the deal to temporarily end hostilities.
Neal said things still remain unclear from a U.S. perspective.
"There still has not been a statement of objectives, there's been no determination as to what the exit ramp might be," Neal said. "Instead, the justifications for the actions seem to take place on almost an hourly basis. We need a better and stronger explanation as to what we intend to accomplish here,".
The president in remarks made in Las Vegas Thursday said the war in Iran was going “swimmingly” and predicted the conflict “should be ending pretty soon,”.
Meanwhile, a 10-day cease fire is in place between Israel and Lebanon. Israel has been conducting raids in that nation targeting the Iranian-backed militant group.
To hear the entire conversation with Neal, click on the link above.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.
