Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
January 30, 2025
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WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Thursday questioned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a hearing on his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Murphy challenged Kennedy’s credibility and pressed him on past statements comparing America’s vaccine program to the Holocaust and the Catholic Church’s pedophilia scandal. Murphy argued that Kennedy’s long history of spreading misinformation about vaccines raises serious concerns about his ability to lead HHS, emphasizing the need for a Secretary who prioritizes science and public trust.
A full transcript of Murphy’s exchange with Kennedy can be found below:
MURPHY: “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Kennedy, thank you for joining us here today. Listen, credibility matters so much when you lead the most important health agency in the world. The Secretary of HHS has got to be trusted that he’s telling the truth, that he cares about science, [and] has no political agenda.
“Mr. Kennedy, I want to go back to some of your testimony yesterday, before the Finance Committee, when you either feigned ignorance about some very clear statements that you have made in the past, or you outright denied saying things about the vaccine program that you have undoubtedly said.
“So with a day’s hindsight, I want to give you another chance to be honest about the things you have said. Senator Warnock asked you yesterday if you had compared America’s vaccine program to the Catholic Church’s pedophilia scandal. You said you never said that. Now I’m not asking you to explain what you said.”
KENNEDY: “I didn’t say I never said that. I did not say that I hadn’t said that, Senator. I said [I didn’t say] the other question he asked me, about the Nazi death camps.”
MURPHY: “That’s fine, you’re doubling down on that. Senator Warnock also asked you if you compared America’s vaccine campaign to the Nazi death camps and the Holocaust. Again, you said yesterday you didn’t say that.”
KENNEDY: “I did not say that.”
MURPHY: “Senator Bennett asked you yesterday if you had made an allegation that AIDS is a different disease in Africa than it is in America. On that one you said you didn’t recall. Having had a day to think about it, do you recall saying that AIDS is a different disease in Africa than it is in the United States?”
KENNEDY: “I looked up that passage in my book and found that indeed the diagnostics for AIDS are very different in Africa and the United States– that the list of symptoms is almost completely different.”
MURPHY: “So let me just– I’ll submit this for the record, but having denied the first two statements, let me just read what you said. You said in 2013, ‘Is it hyperbole to say that the people who run our vaccine program should be in jail? They should be in jail. To me, this is like Nazi death camps. Look at what it does to the families [who participate in the vaccine program]. I can’t tell why somebody would do something like that. I can’t tell you why ordinary Germans participated in the Holocaust. I can’t tell you what was going on in their minds.’
“With respect to the pedophilia scandal, you said: ‘The pedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church is a perfect metaphor for what’s happening in the United States. The vaccine program– it’s the same reason we had a pedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church. It’s because people were able to convince themselves that the institution of the church was more important than these little boys and girls who were being raped.
“I don’t disagree with Senator Mullin. I don’t want a HHS Secretary that’s not going to question science. I think it’s important to question science. But you’re not questioning science– you’ve made up your mind. You have spent your entire career undermining America’s vaccine program. You make these purposeful comparisons to those that are administering the vaccine program to the Nazi executioners, to the people who covered up the Catholic Church’s pedophilia scandal, because you have made a decision that there is a comparison; that there is evil in the vaccine program as there was evil in the pedophilia scandal and the Nazi death camps.
“You aren’t exploring science, you have made up your mind. You have spent your entire career trying to undermine these programs. The reason that these statements–these incredibly aggressive, over-the-top statements–matter to us is because it just isn’t believable that when you become secretary, you are all of a sudden going to be consistent with science. People who have spent their career saying these kinds of things, running the kinds of campaigns that you have run, don’t all of a sudden change their stripes. So Mr. Chairman, I will submit these statements into the record.”
KENNEDY: “Can I respond to that, Senator? My statement about the Catholic Church is almost identical to the findings of the Government Oversight Investigation Committee that investigated the CDC’s vaccine program in 2003. Senator Burr was Chairman of that committee. And he said that the certain individuals in that program had written off a generation of kids because of ‘misplaced institutional loyalty to the CDC’ and because of ‘entanglements with the drug companies.’”
MURPHY: “You equate pedophilia to the administration of vaccines?”
KENNEDY: “It wasn’t pedophilia.”
MURPHY: “You said it was a perfect metaphor.”
KENNEDY: “If you have one in 36 kids who has neurological injuries, and if that is linked, that should be studied.”
MURPHY: “Is it a perfect metaphor?”
KENNEDY: “It’s not a perfect metaphor, but there’s no metaphor that’s perfect. I am pro-vaccine. I am going to support the vaccine program. I want kids to be healthy, and I’m coming in here to get rid of the conflicts of interest within the agency and make sure that we have gold standard, evidence-based science. And if you show me where I’m wrong on this, show me a single statement I’ve made about science that is erroneous.”
Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, laid out his priorities and expectations for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during a hearing to consider Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be HHS Secretary. Grassley discussed the importance of lowering prescription drug prices, holding pharmacy benefit managers accountable, bolstering rural health care, answering congressional oversight and more.
In response to Grassley, Kennedy said: “I agree with all those provisions, Senator. My approach to the administration of HHS will be radical transparency. If members of this committee or other members of Congress want information, the doors are open… If Congress asked me for information, you would get it immediately.”
Video and excerpts from Grassley follow.
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VIDEO
Oversight:
“A key responsibility of each member of Congress is oversight. Oversight allows us to hold bureaucrats accountable to the rule of law, and it helps keep faith with taxpayers. I expect HHS to provide timely and complete responses to congressional oversight.”
PBMs:
“I’ve been working to hold Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) accountable in order to lower prescription drug costs. I expect you to work with us to hold PBMs accountable and ask for your support for legislation that’s before Congress.”
Prescription Drug Pricing:
“Senator Durbin and I have been trying to get a bill passed that requires price disclosures on TV ads for prescription drugs. Knowing what something costs before buying it is just common sense. President Trump tried to do this by regulation in his first term and Vice President Vance cosponsored our bill last Congress. I ask you to support my bill, or if you can do it by regulation, do it by regulation.”
Rural Health Care:
The previous administration dragged its feet in opening up slots for the Rural Community Hospital demonstration program. It also ignored concerns from rural pharmacies when implementing changes to Medicare Part D and ignored rural needs when it comes to distributing physician residency slots. I expect you to prioritize rural Americans’ health care needs.”
Agriculture:
“In our meeting earlier this month, we talked at length about agriculture. You prefaced the conversation by saying you will not have jurisdiction over those issues. I expect you to leave agricultural practices regulations to the proper agencies, and for the most part that’s USDA and EPA.”
Dietary Guidelines:
“I’ve sent letters to the Secretaries of Agriculture and HHS requesting they provide information regarding conflicts of interest on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to increase transparency. I expect you to provide Congress with confidential financial disclosures from the Advisory Committee before finalizing the Dietary Guidelines, so we know that nobody has a vested interest in it.”
HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement Oversight (ORR):
“Last year, I expanded my investigation into HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. I wrote to two dozen contractors and grantees whose job it is to place unaccompanied children with sponsors. In many cases, children have been placed with improperly vetted sponsors, placing them at risk of trafficking. The Biden administration’s HHS directed these taxpayer-funded contractors and grantees to not respond to my inquiry. This is obstruction by the executive branch.
“I expect you to produce to me the records and data I’ve requested and instruct HHS contractors to fully cooperate as well. I also expect HHS to not retaliate against any whistleblowers, including those who identify ORR’s failures in vetting sponsors of unaccompanied [children].”
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Headline: Panasonic Well Venturing into the Future of Family Wellness
Yoky Matsuoka, Executive Officer of Panasonic Holdings Corporation and Panasonic Well Director, took the stage with Yuki Kusumi, Group CEO, during the opening keynote at CES 2025. She announced that Umi, a holistic digital family wellness platform and coach, will be launched in the US as an example of Panasonic Go.*1 We interviewed Yoky about Panasonic Well, the vision to commercializing Umi, and the outlook for the future.
＊1: A global corporate growth initiative promoting business transformation using AI.
Integration of wellness and technologies: Panasonic Well taking up challenges
Panasonic Well, led by Yoky, is a venture and business incubator committed to building new services and technologies that improve the well-being of all people, with a focus on the wellness of modern families. Yoky is an accomplished executive and technologist with over two decades of leadership experience. She is a renowned robotics and neuroscience expert, recognized for her groundbreaking work and honored with the MacArthur Genius Award.
Yoky: Partly due to my past experiences, Panasonic Well tends to be seen as simply a developer of AI or technologies. However, we are able to create solutions at the intersection of responsible tech and human care because we understand what is needed to achieve wellness. This is Panasonic Well’s strength.
Yoky Matsuoka and Panasonic Well staff (at the CES 2025 Panasonic booth)
The first project that Yoky initiated at Panasonic was Yohana, a next-generation family concierge service.
Yoky: During the COVID-19 pandemic, people’s work styles and how they spent time with their family saw drastic changes. At that time, we conducted surveys to get a deeper look at the challenges underlying their problems and did exhaustive research on how we could develop relevant solutions. We launched Yohana in 2021 in the US, then later in Japan, to respond to the time-consuming needs of families by proposing suggestions for meal menus, birthday presents, and so on. The Yohana team, composed of actual humans, has completed over 300,000 tasks on behalf of our customers. This work accumulated to a total of more than one million hours for our customers’ time, which we were able to give back to them. However, we have been unable to provide adequate solutions for using the time created by Yohana to strengthen family ties or improve self-care.
At Panasonic Well, we have continued our research to ensure that AI will be able to resolve challenges facing families in the future. Furthermore, a survey*2 conducted in the US revealed that half of the “sandwich generation”*3 parents, including myself, feel overwhelmed by stress and that 65% feel lonely. This shows that strengthening family ties and self-care are indispensable for the elderly. Consequently, we developed Umi*4 to address these crises in family ｗell-being.
＊2: U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents (August 2024).＊3: A generation simultaneously supporting aging parents while raising children.＊4: The word “umi” means ocean in Japanese. This name was chosen because it evokes an image of health and well-being, since it not only has a calming effect but also gives people the feeling of vastness and the availability of unlimited resources.
Umi: A new AI partner supporting family wellness
Yoky: Umi will start by providing an app as a family well-being coach that facilitates behavioral changes toward achieving family wellness. By encouraging multi-generation families to cultivate wellness habits that fit their diverse needs and lifestyles, it can be a family partner that supports their health and well-being. Activities & fitness, nutrition, sleep, and stress management are essential for wellness, and among these, the first two have been increasingly attracting attention in recent years. Accordingly, Umi’s AI agent assists in behavioral changes for all family members from their childhood, especially in the areas of activities & fitness and nutrition.
From the video shown during the keynote. Left: Umi suggests ideas for enjoying a weekend, and family members exchange opinions.
Right: Umi explains key points of communication with elderly parents based on advice from experts.
Specifically, using wide-ranging data learned through questions and communications with family members, Umi’s AI sets personalized goals for individuals and suggests necessary actions to meet these goals while considering their feasibility. For example, Umi may propose a monthly target number of steps for a user, but if it learns through conversations that it is not feasible due to the user’s busy schedule, Umi may set another more achievable target for eating more nutritious meals. Since the priorities of activities & fitness and nutrition vary among individuals, it is essential to tailor this process for each family member.
One of Umi’s features enables all family members including children to share conversations, not only 1-to-1 communication. This coordinates family wellness through communication and eventually leads to behavioral change. We delve deeply into the app features like tone of voice and tweak between strong and soft tones to make suggestions best suited for encouraging behavioral changes. Umi also visualizes your progress and enables you to review the outcomes to establish actions as routines.
Panasonic Well: Committed to building a wellness ecosystem
Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP
During the keynote, Yoky introduced the Panasonic Well Partner Collective, which consists of leading health and wellness businesses, organizations, and research institutions, as well as a partnership with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP),*5 an NPO with approximately forty million members in the US. Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP, took the stage and emphasized that technology is critical to living a healthy life for an increasing number of older people and their families around the world. Yoky also introduced the Family Wellness Innovation Challenge, a global competition co-sponsored by AARP and Panasonic Well for start-ups who pursue relevant technologies and services, and the prize winners were announced at the end.
＊5: Aiming at improving the quality of life of older people, AARP provides information and support related to health, economic, and social challenges.
Yoky: During the development of Umi, we placed much emphasis on building a business ecosystem.*6 Typical examples are partnerships with companies that provide services as needed or those that give expert advice based on the communications carried out between users and Umi.
＊6: A large economic network of various companies and organizations that collaborate to create greater value.
Group CEO Kusumi joined the award ceremony of the Family Wellness Innovation Challenge and praised the grand prix winner.
The sandwich generation is under a great deal of emotional, time, and economic pressure, and more than half of the families in the US face these burdens.*7 Partnerships are critical for resolving such issues. The Family Wellness Innovation Challenge is a significant step toward expanding such partnerships. We received over 550 applications from around the world, including Japan. I joined the latter half of the screening process myself and interviewed applicants in person. We announced the winners at CES partly to find partners who align with our initiatives, and many participants actually approached us demonstrating their interest. By taking this opportunity, we want to further expand the ecosystem and respond to a wider range of use cases.
＊7: World Economic Forum “More than half of Americans in their 40s are ‘sandwiched’ between an aging parent and their own children” (April 2022).
Daniela Amodei, Co-founder and President of Anthropic
Since collaboration with AI partners is indispensable in promoting Panasonic Go, Group CEO Kusumi announced in his keynote a strategic partnership with Anthropic in the US, a company that shares the Panasonic Group’s belief that AI must be safe, understandable, and designed to deeply align with human values. In response, Yoky stated that Umi will be equipped with Anthropic’s Claude AI assistant. Daniela Amodei, Co-founder and President of Anthropic, joined her and explained that Claude has added value in all aspects of business, from customer service to decision-making, over the years. She expressed her determination to help the Panasonic Group enhance its overall creativity while delivering better business results by leveraging Claude’s high reliability and safety.
Yoky: Anthropic has grown while placing great emphasis on ethics, privacy, and responsibility, and its large language models (LLMs) have gained a high reputation in the US. Umi, committed to supporting the health and well-being for all with wellness as a gateway, cannot be viable without innovations based on Anthropic’s AI ethics. Anthropic AI is particularly excellent at family calendar management and chat promotion, so we will be able to provide a service where Umi discusses the scheduling of hospital visits with users, prepares and manages their schedule with AI, and then even reserves a taxi. We expect further collaboration with a diverse range of partners by expanding the breadth of services in this way.
Umi and Panasonic Well’s future strategy
Yoky: I feel that being able to demonstrate Umi’s capabilities at CES was very meaningful. Umi’s first key vision for the future is to provide a one-stop solution. We hope to develop Umi into a platform that knows all family members well, capable of making good suggestions in response to their wellness consultations without the need to access different sources.
The Umi booth at CES 2025, where many visitors attentively listened to the explanations of booth staff while trying out screen demonstrations
In front of the Partner Collective panel displays. Quite a few representatives of companies expressed their support and consulted with staff of Panasonic Well.
The second vision is to strengthen the ecosystem by expanding our network of partnerships. We will select partners based on their attitudes toward AI ethics and customer needs. We hope that more companies and organizations will participate in the Umi ecosystem in the future, even if their various services overlap. We believe that optimal solutions for problems and concerns can be provided to more customers only when Umi is backed up by a diverse range of partners.
Umi will launch services from the US while aiming to establish a global ecosystem to ensure deployment in other countries and regions. The Panasonic Group is unrivaled in its touchpoints with customers in households and it is important to leverage this advantage. We, as the provider of Umi, look forward to collaborating closely with the business divisions to identify mutually beneficial approaches to solve our customer pain points.
While Panasonic Well is a company capable of making customers around the world healthy and happy through wellness solutions, we want to be the forerunner that will lead Panasonic Go, an initiative to promote corporate transformation of Panasonic. We will pioneer the creation of new products and businesses by leveraging AI and other advanced technologies. We will also establish AI platforms in collaboration with partners and our operating companies.
Furthermore, we are conscious of our contributions to the AI-based transformation of the entire Panasonic Group. In addition to promoting teamwork with departments in charge of AI at Panasonic Holdings and other organizations, we will provide inspiration and lead initiatives to encourage every Panasonic Group employee to embrace AI, unleashing tremendous progress in their tasks and in the products and services they develop.
Panasonic Go aims to expand AI-driven hardware, software, and solutions businesses to approximately 30% of the Panasonic Group’s revenue by 2035. However, the Panasonic Group won’t be able to meet the goal only through the efforts of Panasonic Well and Blue Yonder. All business divisions and departments across the Panasonic Group need to create AI-driven revenue streams. We at Panasonic Well hope to contribute to the attainment of our goal by implementing the approaches I’ve described. If we succeed in meeting our goal, the day may come when the entire Panasonic Group is regarded as a leader in AI technologies.
Under Yoky’s leadership, Panasonic Well will continue to provide innovative solutions driven by AI and other advanced technologies, thus contributing to family wellness. It will also promote AI use throughout the Panasonic Group’s businesses and work at the forefront of Panasonic Go.
The content in this website is accurate at the time of publication but may be subject to change without notice.Please note therefore that these documents may not always contain the most up-to-date information.Please note that German, French and Chinese versions are machine translations, so the quality and accuracy may vary.
A los pueblos les asiste el derecho a decidir su propio destino colectivo según lo estableció la Conferencia de Bandung en 1955 y el Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos de 1966, lo cual no fue gratuito, sino producto de la lucha de los países periféricos por su descolonización. Ante esta realidad, Estados Unidos nunca renunció a extender la doctrina Monroe hasta el presente. Empeorando la situación, el irredentismo imperial con el presidente Donald Trump se hace explícito. La desconfianza de la población hacia la élite política en esta coyuntura se está reproduciendo en el imaginario colectivo en un marcado desinterés por el irredentismo imperial de Trump. Esto último, busca la anexión y recuperación de territorios, aunque no compartan fronteras, como el caso de Groenlandia y Panamá. Y, no se trata del capricho de una persona, en este caso Trump, sino de una racionalidad imperial.
Ante las amenazas de Trump de anexarse territorios, recuperar otros, como el Canal de Panamá y, ultrajar a países como Canada, Colombia, México, Cuba y Venezuela con falacias y sanciones, una vía para resistir es la organización de los pueblos y la puesta en marcha de una agenda en común cuyo contenido sea la autodeterminación de los pueblos, la integración regional y la unidad nacional popular. La élite política panameña no necesariamente va a defender los más caros intereses del pueblo. Estados Unidos es nuestro principal socio comercial y con el coloso del Norte mantenemos una relación de dependencia. Nuestra élite es cipaya en esa conjunción. Lo demuestra cada vez que puede, con la soga al cuello patea el banco. Recientemente ante el altercado en redes sociales entre los presidentes Gustavo Petro y Trump, el Gobierno de la República de Honduras, ocupando la presidencia Pro Tempore de la CELAC, convocó a una reunión urgente para atender la situación, pero fue cancelada por “falta de consenso” (https://surl.li/ctjijs).
En el caso particular de Panamá, las élites políticas panameñas tienen más de un siglo negociando con los estadounidenses en beneficio propio. Al pueblo le tocará organizarse para garantizar los suyos, así como lo hizo el 9 de enero de 1964. Los intereses del pueblo no necesariamente son los mismos de la élite, aunque por momentos puedan coincidir. El problema de fondo no es Trump, sino, el irredentismo imperial. Hoy es Trump, mañana será otro presidente y, en el fondo, subyace esa racionalidad irredentista. Por lo tanto, es necesario diseñar mecanismos de defensa y resistencia, táctica y estratégicamente. Es imperativo enrumbar las acciones hacia una correlación regional de fuerza distinta en función de la unidad latinoamericana hasta la constitución de un nuevo “bloque histórico” como diría Gramsci.
Siguiendo con el espíritu irredentista expresado por el presidente Trump en su red social Truth Social y, en su discurso presidencial, la Comisión Marítima Federal de los Estados Unidos convocó a una audiencia para discutir la supuesta presencia China en el Canal. El internacionalista Julio Yao hizo un análisis de la resolución de la Comisión y concluye con la necesidad de consultar a la Corte Internacional de Justicia si las peticiones de Estados Unidos no constituyen una violación al derecho internacional. Peticiones a todas luces injerencistas. En particular: “EE. UU. no puede instar a Panamá “a reafirmar su compromiso con el Tratado de Neutralidad permanente del Canal”, ya que Panamá lo ha hecho siempre, contrario a EE. UU. que lo ha violado cada vez y exclusivamente para satisfacer sus intereses de seguridad para sus fuerzas armadas” (https://surl.li/mwpuos).
Ese es el argumento de fondo del irredentismo imperial, invocar el Tratado Concerniente a la Neutralidad Permanente del Canal y el Funcionamiento del Canal de Panamá, en particular la Enmienda DeConcini: la cual posibilita que Estados Unidos “pueda tomar medidas militares en suelo panameño sin el consentimiento del Gobierno de Panamá” (https://surl.li/kvxhkh). Para justificar esta acción han recurrido a falacias sobre la presencia China en Panamá hasta la cantidad de muertos en la construcción del Canal por los estadounidenses en 1914. El historiador y diplomático Omar Jaén Suarez aclaró este último punto en uno de sus recientes artículos, “La mortalidad durante la construcción del Canal interoceánico […] entre 1904 y 1914, sólo hay 350 estadounidenses (6 %) según la Comisión del Canal Ístmico, mientras que los empleados afroantillanos muertos fueron 4.049 (72 %) […] los datos no señalan más de 6.280 muertes entre los empleados de las compañías del canal francés desde 1881 hasta 1903” (https://surl.li/kybccq). Y, así sucesivamente el irredentismo imperial se sostiene sobre falacias para justificar su interés de recuperar el Canal.
Como señala Greg Grandin, profesor en Yale, en un reciente artículo en el New York Times: el “lenguaje desinhibido [que utiliza Trump] aumenta la volatilidad de un mundo ya de por sí volátil” (https://surl.li/oziinq), esa táctica de choque, en la cual una de sus principales armas son las redes sociales, busca desestabilizar para alcanzar sus objetivos. En última instancia, MAGA (Make America Great Again) es su sueño por “un nuevo imperio estadounidense”, como lo planteó Grandin. Para ese cometido, necesitará doblegar aún más a sus ya arrodillados socios. Allí cobra importancia las posiciones antiimperialistas y descolonizadoras, cuando ya muchos la daban por muertas. No se trata de sacar una bandera panameña a última hora e invocar un patriotismo abstracto; a diferencia del pueblo panameño consciente y organizado de su historia de lucha, que recuerda a sus mártires de la lucha generacional por la recuperación de nuestra soberanía.
En esa misma línea de Grandin, el abogado y académico panameño Alonso Illueca, escribió en el El País: “Parado sobre una tradición sepultada a mediados del siglo XX, Trump relanzó el pasado 20 de enero de 2025 la política expansionista del destino manifiesto y la doctrina Monroe” (https://surl.li/zzqzdx), en detrimento nuestro, particularmente por sus “criterios” en torno al manejo del Canal; pero, también como policía del mundo, inicia una cruzada contra la izquierda como en los grises días de la guerra fría. No es casualidad que los presidentes en la asunción de Trump tengan algo en común: odian a la izquierda. Su toma de posesión fue un retrato a cuerpo entero, rodeado de los milmillonarios magnates de la tecnología. Veremos un despliegue del fetichismo del capitalismo digital, hostigamiento hacia las izquierdas y contra defensores de Derechos Humanos.
No vemos a una élite política defendiendo los más caros intereses del pueblo panameño ante la afrenta imperial, en cambio sí sus privilegios. La unidad popular no es otra cosa que la unidad en base a intereses colectivos. Sin la autodeterminación de los pueblos, la integración regional y la unidad nacional popular sobre la mesa, el patriotismo abstracto de la élite política negociará sus privilegios en el marco del irredentismo imperial.
Photo credit: Pedro Silva
Abdiel Rodríguez Reyes esDoctor en filosofía por la Universidad del País Vasco y profesor e investigador en la Universidad de Panamá
TORONTO, Jan. 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mount Logan Capital Inc. (Cboe Canada: MLC) (“Mount Logan” or the “Company”) today announced it has successfully completed its previously announced minority investment in Runway Growth Capital LLC (“Runway”), alongside BC Partners and its affiliates, which are acquiring the remaining outstanding ownership in Runway. On closing, Mount Logan issued to former Runway members an aggregate of 2,693,071 common shares of Mount Logan at a deemed price of C$2.67, which was determined based on the 20-day volume-weighted average price prior to and including January 27, 2025.
With approval of a new investment advisory agreement, Runway will continue to serve as investment adviser to its managed funds, including Runway Growth Finance Corp. (Nasdaq: RWAY) (“Runway Growth Finance”), a business development company, and to other private funds. Mount Logan looks forward to working with BC Partners and Runway’s management and investment teams to capitalize on the opportunities available in the North American credit markets.
Management Commentary
Ted Goldthorpe, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Mount Logan, stated, “We are thrilled to officially welcome David and the talented team at Runway to the Mount Logan family. We are excited about partnering with the Runway team to scale their specialized capabilities in providing financing solutions to late-stage growth platforms. Since the announcement, we have already seen significant benefits of our alignment with the Runway team. Runway’s expertise enhances our credit capabilities, and we are confident in our ability to leverage their strong investment acumen to expand our product suite and further diversify our private credit fund offerings.”
Advisors
Wildeboer Dellelce LLP acted as Canadian legal counsel to Mount Logan. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to BC Partners. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Runway Growth Capital LLC. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal counsel to Runway Growth Capital LLC and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP acted as legal counsel to the independent directors of Runway Growth Finance.
About Mount Logan Capital Inc.
Mount Logan Capital Inc. is an alternative asset management and insurance solutions company that is focused on public and private debt securities in the North American market and the reinsurance of annuity products, primarily through its wholly owned subsidiaries Mount Logan Management LLC (“ML Management”) and Ability Insurance Company (“Ability”), respectively. Mount Logan also actively sources, evaluates, underwrites, manages, monitors and primarily invests in loans, debt securities, and other credit-oriented instruments that present attractive risk-adjusted returns and present low risk of principal impairment through the credit cycle.
ML Management was organized in 2020 as a Delaware limited liability company and is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. The primary business of ML Management is to provide investment management services to (i) privately offered investment funds exempt from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) advised by ML Management, (ii) a non-diversified closed-end management investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company, (iii) Ability, and (iv) non-diversified closed-end management investment companies registered under the 1940 Act that operate as interval funds. ML Management also acts as the collateral manager to collateralized loan obligations backed by debt obligations and similar assets.
Ability is a Nebraska domiciled insurer and reinsurer of long-term care policies and annuity products acquired by Mount Logan in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021. Ability is also no longer insuring or re-insuring new long-term care risk.
About Runway Growth Capital LLC
Runway Growth Capital LLC is the investment adviser to investment funds, including Runway Growth Finance Corp. (Nasdaq: RWAY), a business development company, and other private funds, which are lenders of growth capital to companies seeking an alternative to raising equity. Led by industry veteran David Spreng, these funds provide senior term loans of a target of $30 million to $150 million to fast-growing companies based in the United States and Canada. For more information on Runway Growth Capital LLC and its platform, please visit www.runwaygrowth.com.
About Runway Growth Finance Corp.
Runway Growth Finance is a growing specialty finance company focused on providing flexible capital solutions to late- and growth-stage companies seeking an alternative to raising equity. Runway Growth Finance is a closed-end investment fund that has elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Runway Growth Finance is externally managed by Runway Growth Capital LLC, an established registered investment advisor that was formed in 2015 and led by industry veteran David Spreng. For more information, please visit www.runwaygrowth.com.
About BC Partners & BC Partners Credit
BC Partners is a leading international investment firm in private equity, private debt, and real estate strategies. BC Partners Credit was launched in February 2017, with a focus on identifying attractive credit opportunities in any market environment, often in complex market segments. The platform leverages the broader firm’s deep industry and operating resources to provide flexible financing solutions to middle-market companies across Business Services, Industrials, Healthcare and other select sectors. For further information, visit www.bcpartners.com/credit-strategy.
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the expressions “seeks”, “expects”, “believes”, “estimates”, “will”, “target” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect the current expectations of the Company regarding future results or events and are based on information currently available to it. Certain material factors and assumptions were applied in providing these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements discussed in this release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Company’s business strategy, model, approach and future activities; portfolio composition, size and performance, asset management activities and related income, capital raising activities, future credit opportunities of the Company, portfolio realizations, the protection of stakeholder value, the expansion of the Company’s loan portfolio, including through its investment in Runway, synergies to be achieved by both the Company and Runway through the Company’s strategic minority investment, any future growth and expansion of each of both the Company and Runway, any change in earnings potential for the Company as a result of any growth of Runway, the business and future activities and prospects of Runway and the Company. All forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions; however, the Company can give no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized by certain specified dates or at all. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including that the expected synergies of the investment in Runway may not be realized as expected; the risk that each of the Company and Runway may require a significant investment of capital and other resources in order to expand and grow their respective businesses; the Company has a limited operating history with respect to an asset management oriented business model and the matters discussed under “Risk Factors” in the most recently filed annual information form and management discussion and analysis for the Company. Readers, therefore, should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, a forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any such statement or to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances except as required by securities laws. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release.
This press release is not, and under no circumstances is it to be construed as, a prospectus or an advertisement and the communication of this release is not, and under no circumstances is it to be construed as, an offer to sell or an offer to purchase any securities in the Company or in any fund or other investment vehicle. This press release is not intended for U.S. persons. The Company’s shares are not registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Company is not registered under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”). U.S. persons are not permitted to purchase the Company’s shares absent an applicable exemption from registration under each of these Acts. In addition, the number of investors in the United States, or which are U.S. persons or purchasing for the account or benefit of U.S. persons, will be limited to such number as is required to comply with an available exemption from the registration requirements of the 1940 Act.
Contacts Mount Logan Capital Inc. 365 Bay Street, Suite 800 Toronto, ON M5H 2V1 info@mountlogancapital.ca
We were polarised by the United States last week, but in the same way that a windscreen wiper distracts you from the rain, our Pacific news cycle and local coconut wireless became dominated by a whirlwind of speculation after New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced a review of New Zealand’s aid to Kiribati.
This followed what was perceived as a snub by our President Taneti Maamau.
The New Zealand media, in its typical fashion, seized the opportunity to patronise Kiribati, and the familiar whispers about Chinese influence began to circulate.
Amidst this media manufactured drama, I found myself reflecting on “that” recent experience which offered stark contrast to the geopolitical noise.
We had the privilege of attending the ordination of a Catholic Priest in Onotoa, where the true spirit of Kiribati was exemplified in the splendour of simplicity. Despite limited resources, the island community, representing various faiths, came together to celebrate this sacred event with unparalleled joy, hilariousness and hospitality from silent hands that blessed you with love.
Hands that built thatched huts for us to sleep in, wove mats, cooked food, made pillows and hung bananas in maneabas to provide for guests from all over Kiribati and Nauru. Our President, himself a Protestant, had prioritised and actively participated, embodying by example, the unity and peace that Bishop Simon Mani so eloquently spoke of.
We laughed, we cried, and we felt the spirit of our loving God.
Spirit of harmony That spirit of harmony and hope we carried from recent experiences felt shaken overnight by news of New Zealand’s potential aid withdrawal. Social media in Kiribati erupted with questions and concerns, fuelled by an article claiming that New Zealand was halting aid due to President Maamau “snubbing” of Deputy Prime Minister Peters.
Importantly: President Maamau would never in a millennium intentionally “snub” New Zealand or any foreign minister. The reality is far more nuanced.
At the end of 2024, President Maamau announced to his Cabinet Ministers that he would delegate international bilateral engagements to Vice-President Dr Teuea Toatu or other Ministers and Ambassadors appropriately. Thereby enabling him to focus intently on domestic matters, including the workplan for our national necessities outlined in the KV20 vision and 149 deliverables of his party manifesto.
NZ’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters . . . his spat with Kiribati described as a “storm in a teacup”. Image: RNZ/Reece Baker
While the Vice-President was prepared to receive the New Zealand delegation, it seems Minister Peters was insistent on meeting with the President himself, leading to the cancellation of his trip.
This insistence on bypassing established protocol is not only unusual but also, well let’s just say it with as much love as possible: It’s disrespectful to Kiribati’s sovereignty.
It is also worth noting that the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia recently visited Kiribati and engaged with the Vice-President and Cabinet Ministers without any such reluctance.
New Zealand’s subsequent announcement of an aid review, including a potential threat to the $2 million funded RSE scheme, has understandably caused serious anxiety in Kiribati.
Devastating impact The potential loss of funding for critical sectors like health, education, fisheries, economic development and climate resilience would of course have a devastating impact on our people.
After committing $102 million between 2021-2024 these are major threats to public health where $20 million was invested in initiatives like rebuilding the Betio Hospital, training doctors, building clinics, NCD strategic planning and more, $10 million in education, $4 million in developing the fisheries sector, it’s an expansive and highly impactful list of critical support for capacity strengthening to our country.
While New Zealand has every right to review its aid programme to Kiribati or any developing country, it is crucial that these kinds of decisions are based on genuine development processes and not used as a tool for political pressure.
Linking Pacific aid to access to political leaders sets a questionable precedent and undermines the principles of partnership, mutual respect and “mana” that underpins the inextricably linked relationships between Pacific nations.
The reference to potential impacts on I-Kiribati workers in New Zealand under the RSE scheme is particularly concerning. These hardworking individuals contribute significantly to the New Zealand economy in a mutually beneficial arrangement.
We deserve to be treated with fairness and respect, not weaponised to cut at the heart of what drives our political motivations — providing for our people, who are providing for our children.
Despite this unfortunate situation, I believe that dialogue and understanding along with truth and love will prevail.
Greater humility needed In the spirit of the “effectiveness, inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability” that upholds New Zealand’s own development principles, we should all revisit this issue with greater humility and a commitment to resolving such misunderstandings.
As a New Zealand-born, Australian/Tuvaluan, I-Kiribati politician representing the largest constituency in Kiribati, I have zero pride or ego and will never be too proud to beg for the needs of the people I serve, who placed their faith in a government that would put them first.
We would love to host Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and a New Zealand government delegation in Kiribati, and we are indescribably grateful for the kinds of support provided since we gained independence in 1979. Our history stretches back even further than that, when New Zealand’s agricultural industry was nourished by phosphate from Banaba, and we continue to treasure the intertwined links between our nations.
Let us prioritise cooperation and mutual respect over ego and political posturing. Let’s drink fresh coconuts and eat raw fish together and talk about how we can change the world by changing ourselves first.
The “tea party” of Pacific partnership must continue to strengthen, and deepen, ESPECIALLY when challenged to overcome misunderstandings. It should always be one where Pacific voices are heard and respected lovingly, while we work towards a collective vision of health, peace and prosperity for all.
But if development diplomacy ever fails, we’ll remember that I-Kiribati people are some of the most determined and resilient on this planet. Our ancestors navigated to these “isolated isles of the Pacific” surrounded by 3.5 million km of ocean and found “Tungaru” which means “a place of JOY”.
We arrived in this world with nothing, and we’ll leave it with nothing, and we get to live our whole lives not feeling sorry for ourselves in this island paradise of ours, this place of joy, where we are wealthy in ways that money cannot buy.
We will survive
Ruth Maryanne Cross Kwansing was elected an independent member of Parliament in Kiribati in 2024. She later joined the Tobwaan Kiribati Party.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon McLennan, Senior Research and Teaching Fellow, School of Health, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Fiji’s minister of health declared an official HIV outbreak in January, citing 1,093 new cases from January to September 2024 – triple the number from the same period in 2023.
The World Health Organization defines a disease outbreak based on the number of cases being in excess of normal expectations. Similar to an epidemic, an outbreak typically refers to a more limited geographic area.
Declaring an outbreak enables prompt public health response measures and mobilises domestic and international resources to respond to the crisis.
Preliminary Ministry of Health data show half of the newly diagnosed individuals receiving anti-retroviral therapy contracted HIV through injecting drugs.
However, the crisis extends beyond drug use. Increasing urbanisation, homelessness and unemployment, coupled with disconnection from traditional land and culture, contribute to risky health behaviours.
Low HIV awareness and social stigma compound these factors. Many Fijians are reluctant to get tested and, if positive, to receive care. Knowledge of HIV prevention is low: a 2021 survey found less than a third of those aged between 15 and 24 had comprehensive HIV knowledge.
Fiji is a regional hub for education and business, attracting students and economic migrants from across the region. There’s a real risk the virus will spread to other island nations via returning workers and students, potentially undetected for long periods.
Fiji is also a major tourist destination. Unsuspecting visitors, whose fun in the sun extends to drug use or unsafe sexual activities, may be at risk.
There is also a risk of reputational damage for the tourism industry, whose success relies on marketing Fiji as a safe and happy destination. With Fiji still recovering from COVID’s impact on tourism, the new crisis is a major threat.
Fiji is also experiencing significant outward migration (5% net in 2023), mostly to Australia and New Zealand. This raises the risk of virus spread through established migration pathways, including labour mobility policies such as the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme and New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer schemes.
The HIV surge will be costly for the country and the region. HIV/AIDS strains household finances through lost income and increased healthcare costs, diverts public spending from other areas, with flow-on impacts for national and regional economies.
What is being done to combat the outbreak?
The Ministry of Health’s 90-day HIV Outbreak Response Plan fast-tracks high-impact interventions. These include harm-reduction programs, condom distribution, and prophylactic pre-exposure treatment.
This complements the HIV Surge Strategy 2024–2027, a long-term road map for strengthening Fiji’s health system based on the United Nations’ global “95-95-95” targets: 95% rates of testing, treatment and viral suppression in the population.
However, as the health minister noted, the outbreak declaration “reflects the alarming reality that HIV is evolving faster than our current services can cater for”.
Funding is starting to trickle down to the front lines. For example, with support from Australia and New Zealand, the Fiji Reproductive and Family Health Association is working with experts on awareness, prevention and care strategies to reverse the surge.
Duty of care: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva, 2022. Getty Images
What can Australia and New Zealand do at home?
Both countries bear particular responsibility and face specific risks. Their domestic drug markets drive regional trafficking, fuelling Fiji’s meth crisis and the HIV outbreak.
Continued support for regional anti-narcotics initiatives is crucial, as is addressing domestic drug demand.
As beneficiaries of Fijian labour migration, Australia and New Zealand also have a duty of care for migrants. This includes education, screening and treatment for Pacific communities, and access to preventive treatments which are currently not funded for migrants in either country.
Finally, tourists and travellers need to be educated about the risks, and take precautions.
The outbreak declaration demonstrates Fiji’s commitment to addressing the crisis but success will require regional cooperation.
Australia and New Zealand are key stakeholders whose domestic policies and support can significantly affect the outbreak’s trajectory, contribute to a unified Pacific response and protect regional public health.
Sharon McLennan gratefully acknowledges the valuable input and guidance of Avendra Prakash (Chair, Reproductive & Family Health Association of Fiji), Dr Akisi Ravono (University of Fiji) and Dr Johanna Thomas-Maude (Victoria University of Wellington).
Sharon McLennan receives funding from the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke during the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services(HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sen. Tuberville and Mr. Kennedy discussed the harmful ingredients used in American food products and ways to Make America Healthy Again.
Earlier today, Sen. Tuberville penned an op-ed explaining why he supports Kennedy for HHS Secretary.
Read excerpts from Sen. Tuberville’s remarks below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.
ON THE OVER-PRESCRIPTION OF MEDICATION: TUBERVILLE: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy, for being here. Being a few months older than me, I’m going to be respectful to my elders. [laughs] […]
Thank you for bringing light to what this is all about. It’s about the health in our country. There might have been a half a dozen people in [here for the hearing of] the last Health and Human Services nominee—nobody was interested. A lawyer who worked from home in California—didn’t do a damn thing in terms of what we needed when COVID was in full steam.
So, thank you. Thank you for getting our young people involved. My two boys, 28 and 30, a year ago or so were gonna vote for you for President of the United States. You know why? Because you’re trying to save their group of people from the chemicals and the things that we have in our food. They’re fired up about it. And you brought light to that. And thank God you’ve done that. You brought importance to what we’re doing.
You know, I coached for 40 years. In the last four or five years I coached, I’d never seen the run on drugs our young people are being given by doctors across this country. We have an attention deficit problem in this country. When you and I were growing up, our parents didn’t use a drug, they used a belt and whipped our butts, you know, and told us to sit down. Nowadays, we give them Adderall and Ritalin like candy across college campuses and high school campuses. Mr. Kennedy, what are we gonna do about that?”
RFK JR: “Today, 15% of American kids are on Adderall. And there’s clearly a major problem with over-prescription, not just with our children, with our entire population. We have 4.2% of the world’s population, and we take fifty percent of the pharmaceutical drugs. And there’s a recent study by Peter Gotzsche, who is one of the founders of the Cochrane Collaboration that showed that prescription drugs are now the third largest cause of death in our country after cardiac arrest or colon cancer. We’re not getting healthier. Americans are getting less and less healthy. 70% of pharmaceutical profits will globally come from our country, which has 4.2% of the world’s population. We’re the only country that allows full-scale pharmaceutical ads on TV. And we’re all being told that you can eat anything you want, you can smoke anything you want, you can do anything you want and there’ll be a drug to fix you in the end. And it is not a good formula. And our kids are getting sicker and sicker. They’re not getting better. Nobody here—all the people here who are defending this current system and defending these pharmaceutical industry profits—many of whom are taking huge amounts of money from the pharmaceutical industry, millions of dollars for many of these senators. And none of that is making our country healthier. It’s making us sicker. We need to get rid of these conflicts. We need good science, and we need good leadership. [I’m] able to stand up to these big industries and not bend over for them.”
ON VACCINES:
TUBERVILLE: “And you brought to light the vaccines over the last couple of years. I’ll have my first granddaughter here in a couple of weeks, and my son and his wife have done their research about vaccines. And she’s not going to be a pin cushion. We’re not going to allow that to happen. But you brought that up, as you and I talked about with vaccines—let’s empower scientists to do their job. You know, don’t just do something for the pharmaceutical companies. So, I appreciate you doing that.”
ON FOOD INGREDIENTS: TUBERVILLE: “One other thing is—you and I talked about Red Dye No. 3. It just happens that you and I talked about that and a few days later, in this room, we had the FDA director. And I asked him, why don’t we use Red Dye Three in our cosmetics, [but] use it in our food? Yet we don’t use it [in] cosmetics because it causes cancer. What the heck is going on? Well, a few weeks later because of that, [the Biden administration] dropped it. So, tell me about dyes and things that you’re concerned about. I [hear more] about that than anything.”
RFK JR: “We have 10,000 ingredients in our food in this country because the FDA employs a standard called the GRAS standard. And it looks at any new chemical as innocent until proven guilty. Europe, they have 400 ingredients in their foods. Kellogg’s makes fruit loops for the United States alone. It is loaded with a red dye, blue, a yellow dye, and many, many other ingredients. They make the same product for Canada [with] all vegetable dyes. And for Europe, if you eat a McDonald’s French fry in this country, it has 11 ingredients. You eat the same product in Europe, it has three. We are allowing these companies because [of] their influence over this body, over our regulatory agencies, to mass poison American children. And that’s wrong. It needs to end, and I believe I’m the one person who’s able to end it.”
BACKGROUND:
As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and a co-founder of the Senate “Make America Healthy Again” Caucus, Senator Tuberville is a strong supporter of President Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sen. Tuberville shares Kennedy’s view that increased transparency is needed for our food and health care systems, especially the chemicals that are being put in America’s food. The FDA recently announced its decision to ban Red Dye 3 following Senator Tuberville questioning top FDA officials on the harm of these chemicals in a HELP hearing last month.
MORE:
Tuberville: “America is facing a public health crisis; We must confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr.”
Tuberville Joins Sen. Marshall in Launching Make America Healthy Again Caucus
Tuberville, MAHA Caucus Celebrate FDA’s Decision to Ban Dangerous Red Dye No. 3 from Foods
1819 News: Tuberville questions FDA over red dyes no. 40 and no. 3 in America’s food supply — ‘It’s not a conservative or a liberal standpoint’
Tuberville Exposes Harmful Chemicals in American Food and Beverage Industry
ICYMI: Tuberville Joins “National Report” on Newsmax
Tuberville Meets with RFK Jr. and Todd Blanche
Coach’s Monthly Column: All in for Trump’s America First nominees
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.
Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville
“They are all outstanding choices and should be confirmed to President Trump’s cabinet as soon as possible.”
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke on the Senate floor about the need to quickly confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard to key roles in President Trump’s cabinet. Sen. Tuberville defended each nominees’ qualifications and their commitments to making America healthy, more just, and secure again. During the speech, Sen. Tuberville denounced the baseless attacks aimed at these nominees by the media and career politicians as nothing but dishonest attempts to tank President Trump’s nominations.
Read Senator Tuberville’s remarks below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.
“Mr. President,
I’d like to start by thanking Leader Thune for President Trump’s cabinet nominees so far. President Trump is on the verge of having his full team. We’ve confirmed Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Scott Bessent and many others who are doing an outstanding job implementing President Trump’s America First agenda, but there are more critical nominees that President Trump still needs to confirm. This includes Robert Kennedy, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard, along with a few others.
I’ve gotten the chance to meet with each of these nominees. I’ve been very impressed. They are all outstanding choices and should be confirmed to President Trump’s cabinet as soon as possible.
First, I’d like to express my complete and total support for Robert F. Kennedy’s nomination to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. You know, last November, we saw millions of Americans, especially young Americans, flock to the MAGA movement after Bobby Kennedy endorsed President Trump.
Both my sons, 28 and 30, Tucker and Troy, were huge fans of RFK and I know there’re just millions of young people who RFK [has] brought to the table and into the fold, opening our eyes towards something they had never really been involved in, and that’s the health of their generation and all generations across the country.
As we know, Bobby started [the] Make America Healthy Again movement, known as MAHA, which eventually joined forces with President Trump. MAHA isn’t just a political slogan. It’s not just a political slogan. It’s a movement. That has swept our Nation. For the first time, important issues like the effectiveness of vaccines, the dangers of prescription medicines, and the chemicals in our food and household products are part of our national political [discourse], as it should be. And it’s all because of the work of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
You know, before entering the arena, Bobby spent four decades, environmental law, and in healthcare policies, specializing in issues like water pollution, vaccines, and food safety. Four decades. He is an accomplished attorney who attended Harvard, the London School of Economics, and the University of Virginia. And he’s authored multiple best-selling books that I would suggest anybody, that’s concerned about the health of our country, should read.
Throughout his career, he has committed to discovering the truth about what is causing the chronic disease epidemic in America today. And his presidential campaign exposed the fact that we have a serious, a very serious public health crisis facing our country today and in the future.
For example, in his hearing yesterday, Bobby Kennedy laid out that over seventy percent of adults and one third of our children are overweight or obese. The rate of diabetes is ten times more prevalent today than it was in 1960. Cancer among our young people is rising by one or two percent every year. Auto immune diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, and addiction cases are hugely on the rise. Depression and anxiety rates are absolutely through the roof. Meanwhile, more Americans are reliant on pharmaceutical drugs than ever before.
I saw that in my formal life of being a coach of players years ago, very few on any kind of drug such as Adderall or Ritalin for attention deficit. But the last few years, it was a huge uptick in prescription drugs and many, many young people across the country. These findings are alarming, and they should, and they had better shock, all of us.
Thank God, Bobby has dedicated his life to getting to the bottom of what’s causing these trends. As he did in his hearing yesterday, Bobby is an expert on the health issues facing our country and has the facts, the data, and the evidence to prove it. And he will bring his commitment to evidence-based science, transparency to our national health agencies. And it’s simple: Americans want access to all the facts so they can decide what’s best for themselves and for their families. Bobby is committed to giving Americans the information that they need to be informed and make informed decisions.
Recently, I’ve seen the mainstream media, and some politicians attempt to smear Bobby Kennedy as anti-vax, anti-industry, or an enemy of food producers. All of this couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s just a political attack. We’ve even heard from prominent Republicans like former -Vice President Mike Pence who is running ads on TV criticizing Bobby Kennedy for not being sufficiently pro-life.
Bobby addressed this himself yesterday. He believes every abortion is a tragedy, and he will work with President Trump to implement his pro-life policies. These attacks are nothing more than dishonest attempts by the DC establishment to tank his nomination. We’ve seen that in the last couple of weeks on all nominees.
Sure. Bobby Kennedy may not be the typical pick for the job, but the American people don’t want a typical pick. The one we picked four years ago for President Biden was a lawyer, lived in California, and very seldom came to Washington D.C., worked from home. We got nothing done in health and human services.
They gave us a mandate in November, 77 million people, to deliver Trump, President Trump’s agenda. And that includes Making America Healthy Again. As far as I’m concerned, Bobby is not part of being the healthcare establishment class. That’s a really good thing. We don’t need that. Look where it’s got us. The pharmaceutical industry and industrial food complex won’t be running the show anymore when Bobby Kennedy is confirmed. Instead, he will restore our health agencies to the gold standard of [scientific] research and explore [holistic] healthcare alternatives as part of our efforts to end chronic disease epidemics across this country.
Ultimately, this will lower cost for Americans and ease the burden on our entire healthcare system, which is being overrun by all of the conditions that we have popping up today. With the many public health crisis we’re facing as a country, we have no time to waste. Hope my colleagues will join me in supporting Bobby for HHS Secretary and help President Trump Make America Healthy Again.
Our next nominee, I’d like to turn to Kash Patel.
He is on the Hill today going through his confirmation hearings. Kash is President Trump’s pick to be the FBI Director, who testified in front of the Senate all morning long. Kash is an excellent choice, and he has my full support.
It’s clear to the American people that the culture at the top of our top police agency in this country, the FBI, is rotten. It’s rotten to the core. We have some good people. But the people in charge have made devastating decisions against a lot of people across this country. It is far past time to clean house at the FBI.
Over the last four years, we’ve seen the Bureau become politicized and weaponized. The Biden administration turned the FBI into the ‘fake bureau of investigation.’ The scales of justice were never fair and balanced under the last administration. Christopher Ray, the director, went after parents at school boards [and] pro-lifers. He went after Catholics. He went after grandmas who peacefully protested right outside this building on January the sixth. He went to their homes and arrested them. Not to mention the unprecedented raid on President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
What we’ve seen unfold at our nation’s premiere law enforcement agency over the last four years is a complete and absolute disgrace to the American people and to our Constitution.
Not only has the public’s trust in [the] FBI been completely eroded, it’s been a disservice to all the great men and women in the FBI, who commit every day to defending the Constitution and protecting us as American citizens. It’s going to take a lot of hard work to right this ship. Trust has to be put back into the FBI. Kash Patel is the right man to do [the] job.
He’s qualified and has an impressive resume. He served in several national security and intelligence roles, as [a] federal prosecutor, and as a public defender. Not only is Kash qualified, but he also has the courage and the resolve needed to restore our faith in the FBI. Despite the media’s lies, Kash won’t have his enemies list when he takes a job, unlike the Biden administration. If crimes are committed, he will open an investigation, follow facts wherever they lead. No bias, no partiality.
Kash will bring back truth and transparency, uphold the rule of law and the Constitution, and protect Americans against its enemies, foreign, and domestic. He will ensure that the government works for the American people and not the other way around.
Let’s confirm Kash quickly and give President Trump an important component of his national security team. I look forward to supporting Kash Patel, and I hope my Republican colleagues will do the same.
Finally, we need to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to be our next Director of National Intelligence. Like Kash, Tulsi will play a critical role on President Trump’s national security team.
She just had her hearing in front of the Senate Intel Committee this morning. Her hearing only further confirmed to me that Tulsi is the perfect candidate for the DNI role. She is a decorated lieutenant colonel, over twenty years of service in the military. Tulsi served in combat in the Iraq War and is currently active in [the reserves]. She has a top security clearance, having passed five background checks to receive it.
Tulsi served in Congress for eight years, where she sat on the Homeland Security, Armed Services, and Foreign Relations Committee. And as a member of Congress, she consistently participated in high-level intelligence briefings. [As] she has displayed throughout her entire career in the military and as an elected official, Tulsi will bring a fearless spirit to the DNI role.
I have to tell you my meeting with Tulsi is one of the most impressive meetings I’ve had since I’ve been in this office going on five years. [Her] knowledge and expertise is unmatched. I have no doubt she will keep our country secure while protecting the Constitution and the constitutional rights of all Americans. She will help us return to peace through strength and put an end to Americans costly foreign wars.
The attacks on her, questioning her loyalty to the United States are absolutely disgusting. It’s insulting. Tulsi has devoted her entire life to serving this country, [in] the military, and in public service.
To the Senators criticizing Tulsi for not fitting the typical mold of a DNI director, [it] might just be a good thing. Have the last several years shown us that the status quo is working? No. I don’t think so. And I don’t think the American people think so either, and they’re the ones that count.
Tulsi brings a fresh perspective to the job in the America that we all want and deserve. We do not need another James Clapper. Like the FBI, we’ve seen our intelligence community weaponized to target opponents of the regime. The IC conspired to take down President Trump in 2016 and 2020. And maybe most recently [in] the election a couple months ago.
For that reason, I think Tulsi is exactly the change agent we need leading our intelligence community. Like Bobby Kennedy, Tulsi switched her party affiliation because she saw the status quo as a threat to the American people and our constitutional rights. As Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi will check her politics at the door just like she’s done the last twenty years serving in our military.
She will come to DNI without any bias. She will fix our broken intelligence community, and folks, it is broken. I look forward to confirming Tulsi to DNI.
I urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for Tulsi. She will play a major role in President Trump’s team in restoring faith in our intelligence community.
Mr. President, I yield the 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.
The Coalition Government’s scaled-back new Dunedin hospital build is putting cost-cutting ahead of health and wellbeing, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says.
NZNO President and emergency nurse Anne Daniels says today’s announcement fails to future-proof the health needs of the Southern community.
“This is short-sighted. The Southern community has a growing and aging population. We also have a failing primary care health sector which means more people will unnecessarily need hospital level care.”
NZNO is disappointed but not surprised with today’s announcement, she says.
“We had hoped the Coalition Government would keep its promise to fund the new build as outlined in the 2017 business case which was worked on by 500 clinicians.
“But this Government is still intent on putting dollars before the people. That is a choice.
“They are making decisions about the health and wellbeing of the Southern community rather than doing what they were elected to do,” Anne Daniels says.
The new hospital will open with 16 beds fewer than the existing hospital and even after it is scaled up over time, will have six beds less than originally promised, she said.
“Fewer beds also means fewer jobs for nurses as Te Whatu Ora will resource this hospital based on bed numbers.”
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and 10 colleagues in introducing the Halt Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act to combat illegal fentanyl and keep communities safe.
This legislation makes permanent the temporary classification of fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This permanent scheduling will give law enforcement the tools they need to keep extremely lethal and dangerous drugs off our streets and ensure scientists can research and better understand these substances. Overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, are the leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 45 years old. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl account for 66 percent of the total U.S. overdose deaths.
“Far too many Nevadans have lost their lives due to fentanyl, and we need to give law enforcement the tools they need to keep our communities safe,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “My bipartisan bill will keep this deadly drug off our streets, save lives, and make it easier for law enforcement to bring drug traffickers to justice.”
The HALT Fentanyl Act would permanently schedule illicitly produced fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs and streamline the regulatory process for scientists seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to research Schedule I substances. The drug’s Schedule I classification is set to expire on March 31, 2025. Senators Cortez Masto, Cassidy, Grassley, and Heinrich were joined by U.S. Senators Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-V.W.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in introducing the legislation. A one-pager can be found here and the bill text can be found here.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2023. This was primarily fueled by synthetic opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the HALT Fentanyl Act in March 2023.
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
(Washington, DC) – In case you missed it: Last night, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to condemn the Trump administration’s order to take away federal grants and loans that families, seniors and small businesses in all 50 states rely on for critical, often life-saving services. Shaheen illustrated the chaos caused by the extreme order by sharing the stories of many Granite Staters she has heard from this week. Click here to watch the Senator’s speech.
Key quotes from Senator Shaheen:
“This is a decision that does not lower costs, it does not create jobs, it does not enhance public safety or keep our communities safe. It’s a decision that actually will hurt people in my state of New Hampshire and too many across the country who rely on services that are now in jeopardy.”
“People in our states can’t get the housing that they’re counting on. If they can’t get their funding, that means more people are forced to live in their cars, on the streets. It means more people can’t get the help they need with substance use disorders or finding work. It means more people are stuck without permanent housing. And these are veterans, they’re families, they’re victims of domestic violence – they’re all placed at risk because of this order.”
“Another of my constituents, Kathleen, lives in housing for seniors. She has debilitating medical issues that make it hard for her to leave her home. She gets all of her food from a local food bank. She called my office because she’s worried that if this funding stops, she’ll be on the street, and she doesn’t know where her meals will come from. That’s what this order and these cuts are threatening.”
“Common sense calls for all of us to work on a bipartisan basis to help our constituents and put an end to the chaos that has been created by this administration in only its second week. I hope we can do that.”
Remarks as delivered can be found below:
Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening to join my colleagues to express my deep concerns about the Trump Administration’s extreme decision to take away services that millions of families and small businesses rely on.
This is a decision that does not lower costs, that does not create jobs, that does not enhance public safety or keep our communities safe. It’s a decision that actually will hurt people in my state of New Hampshire and too many across the country who rely on services that are now in jeopardy.
On Monday night, more than 2,600 federal programs were ordered to cease activities with less than 24 hours’ notice. They were given little guidance on how this should be carried out, and in every state across the country, confusion and panic among too many people followed.
Since that order, I have heard from countless Granite Staters who are worried about what this means for them and their families–from healthcare providers to nonprofit organizations to so many who are doing essential, lifesaving work.
Many of these organizations are waiting on promised funding for projects that they have already completed, funding that they went through the process, that they were guaranteed they were going to get these awards, and now they are in jeopardy.
The Trump Administration claims it wants to lower costs for folks. Well, let me be clear: this unprecedented decision does nothing to bring down the price of food, the price of housing, the price of childcare, the price of medications, or other lifesaving needs that families have.
So what we saw this afternoon is that the Administration tried to walk back their order; they rescinded the memo. But sadly, uncertainty and confusion remains, because the White House says that they rescinded the memo but the freeze wasn’t rescinded. So like a lot of people in New Hampshire, I’m concerned, and I’m frustrated. In my state and across much of the country, there is an affordable housing crisis. Because of the Administration’s actions, housing organizations across New Hampshire are not able to use federal funds.
I heard from the Executive Director of the housing authority in the city of Rochester. They said they have 170 families who are at risk of being homeless if they can’t get their operating funding–and that is just one housing authority.
Despite what the Administration said about rental assistance not being affected, at no point yesterday did the Department of Housing and Urban Development say that this money would continue to be available. Housing funding that keeps all of these families and hundreds more across New Hampshire in their homes is at risk of being cut off.
Yesterday, we also heard from the mortgage bankers association. They were asking for clarity because they couldn’t be sure if they could help families complete the purchases of their homes.
The person we talked to said: “Americans are going to the closing table tomorrow and deserve to know that their loan will close on their home purchase. Without this clear assurance that the federal government will ensure new loans or pay claims under these programs, there will be severe harm to borrowers and disruption to the mortgage market.” Well, HUD gave that clarity for single-family mortgage insurance but not for multifamily properties, such as apartment buildings. That affects 20 percent of the multifamily housing construction across the country. Let me just say that again. It affects 20 percent of the multifamily housing construction that is happening right now. We are talking about 130,000 apartments nationally that are jeopardized by this administration’s actions.
Our housing shortage is much of why the most recent point-in-time count for homelessness found it up 18 percent across the country. We have far too many people in this country who don’t have a roof over their heads, and that is especially dangerous during these winter months.
Meanwhile, even though 2 weeks ago New Hampshire nonprofits and state and local governments were awarded more than $14 million to help shelter people and support them, today, they couldn’t access that money. That means they won’t have the funding they need for rent or to get reimbursed for supportive services.
And I want to be clear: even after a judge stayed the order, my constituents still cannot access their funding. The presiding officer is a former governor. He knows what that means. People in our states can’t get the housing that they are counting on. If they can’t get their funding, that means more people are forced to live in their cars, on the streets. It means more people can’t get the help they need with substance use disorders or in finding work. It means more people are stuck without permanent housing. These are veterans; they are families; they are victims of domestic violence. They are all placed at risk because of this order.
I heard from one constituent who has a mortgage from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has owned her home for 20 years now. She is almost at the point where she has paid off that mortgage, but without the mortgage assistance that she gets from the USDA, she is worried that she might lose her home entirely.
Another of my constituents, Kathleen, lives in housing for seniors. She has debilitating medical issues that make it hard for her to leave her home. She gets all of her food from a local food bank. She called my office because she is worried, if this funding stops, she will be on the street, and she doesn’t know where her meals are going to come from.
That’s what this order and these cuts are threatening–leaving seniors without a roof over their heads, not knowing where their next meal is going to come from.
It is not just in housing that people are concerned. The effects on communities are significant. The chaos of this order is hurting communities that have been promised funding for improvements they have made to their water infrastructure, to their energy use, and even to city parks.
We heard from the town of Conway, which is in the heart of the Mt. Washington valley in the white mountains. With help from the environmental protection agency, Conway has fixed an aging sewer pipe, their sewer main, to keep sewage from leaking into the groundwater.
New Hampshire is really good at working at the local, state, and federal level to address critical infrastructure. This week, Conway received word that, at least for now, they can’t get paid, thanks to this order from the Trump Administration. Conway has already done the work, they have already paid the contractors, and as of today, they are waiting for reimbursement of about $400,000 from the federal government. That is a big deal for a town in a rural area that has fewer than 10,000 people. It affects their tax base. If the federal government doesn’t come through with the money that has been promised, then taxpayers in Conway are going to have to make up that difference.
It is unacceptable for the administration to suggest that it won’t pay this bill, leaving families on the hook for unaffordable rate hikes.
I have also heard from one town administrator who is not yet sure how broad the scope of the administration’s order is and how it is going to affect their ongoing wastewater infrastructure project that is using a mix of federal and non-federal funds.
Their pump station relies on tarps to keep out the elements. The structure and equipment that keep the sewer system functioning face imminent failure. Without the federal funding–which, just to be clear again, has already been committed–there is no way this town can complete this project. That the whims of an unconfirmed budget director can create this degree of uncertainty is maddening.
I have heard from Kristen Murphy, who is with the town of Exeter. She is very concerned about the pause and the impact it will have on energy efficiency funding.
The energy efficiency community block grant program was poised to host a presentation in February for resident-owned manufactured housing on funding opportunities for energy efficiency. That is particularly important for those people who live in manufactured housing. And I did when my husband and I were in graduate school. We lived in what we called a mobile home; now it is manufactured housing. I know how challenging it is to keep them heated and warm and comfortable for the people who live there.
As Kristen pointed out, support for these manufactured housing communities is essential because a greater percentage of their annual income goes to home heating costs than it does for most people.
The Administration’s actions also threaten other projects in Exeter, like a landfill solar array that is currently under construction, improvements to critical stormwater infrastructure, and funding for a multigenerational community center.
There are a dozen other small towns in my state–from Gorham in the northern part of New Hampshire to Keene in the west over the Connecticut River Valley along Vermont—who have made improvements to their parks and community spaces through the land and water conservation fund. These towns have matched federal funding dollar for dollar to improve quality of life in their communities, and as of today, because of the uncertainty and the way this order is being interpreted, taxpayers are left holding the bag.
In the area of childcare and nutrition, the chaos and confusion from the White House over the past 2 days have created significant uncertainty for early education programs, and it risks further fueling the childcare crisis.
Again, like housing, we have a childcare crisis in New Hampshire. The cost of childcare for the average family, if they have a toddler and an infant, is over $30,000 a year.
Now, fortunately, the timing of this uncertainty has not disrupted services in New Hampshire so far, but I am hearing stories of programs in other states that had to temporarily stop serving families because they were not able to access the funds they needed.
It is unclear what the impacts of these shifting policies will be on child care and development block grants, which working families rely on to be able to afford care for their children while parents are at work.
My office has heard from the Childcare Network Collaborative in New Hampshire with significant concerns that childcare providers may be prevented from accessing community development block grant funding that they have already been awarded. These funds are intended for the purchase of a building that will prevent huge rent increases for childcare providers and help fuel an expansion of childcare in the rural parts of northern New Hampshire.
Childcare programs are also concerned about the potential impacts on other federal programs that the families they serve rely on. For example, while the Administration eventually said yesterday that SNAP payments wouldn’t be affected, programs are finding it hard to reassure families about whether they will actually get their monthly payments on time given the disruptions that we have already seen to programs that were not supposed to be affected according to the Administration’s own words. So more chaos and uncertainty.
That is why so many of my constituents are telling me they simply do not trust what they are hearing from the White House.
Families relying on programs like SNAP for food and WIC for women, infants, and children to keep from going hungry already struggle to make their benefits last until the beginning of the next month. Any payment delays, even if it is just a few days, will cause needless suffering for hungry children. It is cruel to be putting struggling families through this unnecessary anxiety. When it comes to law and order, the president often speaks about his commitment to law and order. In 2020, he criticized democrats who supposedly wanted to “defund” and “abolish” the police. Yet here we are with the president stopping federal funds from going to police and law enforcement agencies. Make no mistake, this stoppage could place lives and livelihoods in jeopardy.
I heard from Strafford County Sheriff Kathyrn Mone about how the cutoff of funds will affect them. I live in Strafford County, so I know the sheriff there very well. Strafford County was awarded a $715,000 COPS technology grant to buy much needed modern and interoperable portable and mobile radios for first responders. The U.S. Department of Justice notified the county on Monday that they are going to withhold these funds, forcing the county to place a hold on the order of new, updated radios. Now, this may not sound like a big deal to some, but this equipment helps Strafford County first responders protect Granite Staters. If first responders can’t communicate effectively, by definition, they can’t respond to emergencies and crimes.
When I was governor, we had a horrible shooting in northern New Hampshire. Two state troopers, a judge, and a newspaper editor were killed. As they were trying to get the perpetrator, our state police couldn’t talk to local police, they couldn’t talk to the Vermont law enforcement, they couldn’t talk to the Canadians, and they couldn’t talk to Maine–all of whom were involved in trying to catch the perpetrator–because they didn’t have the communication, the radios they needed to keep people safe.
In the same vein, the town of Newington on the Seacoast was awarded $80,000 to replace 20-year-old radios and technology that can’t communicate with modern equipment. The town was on the verge of submitting its invoices to be reimbursed for buying this crucial public safety equipment when the trump administration stopped the flow of federal funds.
If they are in an emergency, like a natural disaster or a mass shooter, Newington’s police and fire departments would not be able to communicate on their current radio equipment to coordinate an effective response with federal, state, and local partners. This lack of coordination among first responders could result in Newington’s police or fire department not arriving in time to fight a fire or to rescue people in need of help. The lack of modern radio communications could result in people not getting medical care quickly enough.
Again, this is much needed equipment that allows officers to communicate quickly and effectively to not only protect the people they serve but to protect each other.
Thanks to President Trump, Newington is being forced to pause its upgrade of 20-year-old equipment.
It should also be noted that the White House payment freeze means that the businesses who sold Newington the radios and associated equipment are not going to get paid in a timely fashion.
So let’s call it what it is: stopping funds to law enforcement and first responders puts lives and businesses in jeopardy.
It also affects defense contractors. New Hampshire has a strong defense industrial base. We have a lot of companies that do great work to protect our men and women who are serving. The federal funding freeze is hitting those small businesses and manufacturers that rely on defense contracts to pay their workforce, which is critical to maintaining our national security.
For example, the New Hampshire APEX accelerators program relies on grants from the Department of Defense to help small businesses navigate federal contracting. In New Hampshire, government contracts and subcontracts totaled $4 billion last year.
Now, that is not just some number that helps fuel our economy. For people from big states, maybe that doesn’t sound like a lot of money in your economy, but in New Hampshire’s economy, that is a lot of money, and it is an investment in our national defense. It is a manufacturing worker’s ability to support their family. So let’s not lose sight of what and who we are talking about here.
The freeze blocks funding under the Defense Production Act, which expands the defense industrial base under national security emergencies. Right now, we have a lot of businesses in New Hampshire that are receiving funding under the defense production act to support their operations. These grants strengthen military readiness and capacity.
In the area of health, this pause will also cause real harm to healthcare providers and patients across our state. Everyone from our largest hospitals down to individual patients is reaching out to my office. They are confused, and they are scared.
The most immediate consequences will be felt by safety net providers like community health centers. They are vital to caring for our most vulnerable populations. Their patients are often uninsured for healthcare. Sometimes they are homeless. Some of them suffer from substance use disorders or mental illness. They rely on their community health centers just to get through the day.
As much as 50 percent of community health center funding comes from federal grants, and their operating margins are slim.
Lamprey Health Care in Newmarket, in the southern part of New Hampshire, tried and failed to draw down federal funds yesterday. They have another scheduled drawdown for early next week. This means that Lamprey has a limited number of days before the Trump Administration’s order limits the services they can provide to the community.
Amoskeag Health–another one of our community health centers–provides services in Manchester, our largest city. It would also suffer from a funding pause. Thirty-five percent of their funding comes from federal grants, and they only have 19 days of cash on hand, which would cover just 1 week of payroll. They are scheduled to get funding on Monday, and that is now in the lurch.
Federal funding to train the healthcare workforce is also being threatened. New Hampshire struggles to retain and recruit healthcare providers, and federal funding is critical to ensuring we have enough providers in rural and underserved areas.
Last week, Elliot Hospital–one of the largest hospitals in the largest city, in Manchester–received notice that $3 million in funding for its nursing expansion grant program was put on hold. There are currently 80 potential students enrolled in this program. The program is designed to address the acute nursing workforce shortage by attracting local applicants in the greater Manchester community. The funding freeze now puts that effort in jeopardy. And Coos County Family Health, the northernmost county in New Hampshire, up along the Canadian border, is another community health center where access to healthcare can be extremely limited. Patients frequently have to drive hours to get access to some of the most basic services.
Coos County Family Health received a planning grant through the Health Resources and Services Administration, HRSA, to establish a rural medical residency program. Just this week, they received their accreditation, which is so exciting. They were so excited. And now the process begins to recruit and retain future doctors. The sole purpose of this program is to train health providers in Coos County, an area that struggles to attract talent. When we train these doctors in rural areas, they are more likely to stay after residency and become core members of the community. Any other week, this would be great news: more doctors to treat patients in need. But, today, their future funding through HRSA is at risk, thanks to the uncertainty created by these executive orders.
Training doctors to treat sick or injured patients shouldn’t be a controversial issue, but according to this administration, it is.
Coos County Family Health also uses federal funding to support the victims of domestic violence that come into their practice. Specialized staff offer the victims counseling and support services–things like access to shelter. The staff connects victims with law enforcement and even offers prevention programs in local schools. Without federal funding, they will be forced to lay off these staff members.
I don’t know, does the Administration think that domestic violence survivors are unworthy of our support? Does this administration believe that causing chaos is more important than protecting our most vulnerable? Maybe this is what President Trump meant when he said he wanted disrupters. I don’t believe this is what the public wanted.
Mental health programs are also at risk. New Hampshire’s suicide rate is higher than the national average, and we need every available resource to help address this issue.
Northern Human Services and the National Alliance on Mental Illness use funding from the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant to provide afterschool support to youth experiencing suicidal ideation or those who have recently attempted suicide. We are literally talking about taking away services from children who are thinking about committing suicide. I heard from the folks at NAMI, the New Hampshire Alliance on Mental Illness. They almost in tears when they talked about what was going to happen if they couldn’t serve these kids who need help.
And there is also navigating recovery, offering around-the-clock substance use disorder services in the city of Laconia. They are a small nonprofit, and they make use of every dollar they get by offering 24/7 support for individuals that have just overdosed, and that includes literally going into the hospital to be with the patient as they recover. They offer wrap-around services like connecting individuals to housing, job opportunities, and childcare so they can find stability as they go through recovery.
53 percent of Navigating recovery’s funding comes from federal sources, including the State Opioid Response Grant Program. I have worked for years to get dollars to the state under that SOR program, including last year when New Hampshire was awarded nearly $30 million.
And I have to say, in the first term of the Trump Administration, President Trump was very supportive of these dollars. We worked with his administration to get additional funding to address the fact that New Hampshire was one of the hardest hit states. So I don’t know why, suddenly, they are willing to put that funding at risk by this freeze, because it has done more to prevent fatal overdoses and support recovery services than any other federal program. Navigating recovery uses those dollars on the ground. Without it, they would only have weeks before they start laying off staff and stop offering services.
Despite what this administration claims, it is the individuals who will pay the price of this uncertainty and chaos. This spending freeze is yet another example of the Administration ignoring how their policies affect individuals’ peace of mind, the livelihoods and the health of Americans at risk.
And then we are seeing broader attacks by the Office of Management and Budget on federal employees. The Trump Administration didn’t stop at ripping funding away from vulnerable Americans this week. While much of the public’s focus has been held by that order, they have continued their relentless attack on federal employees.
Over 2 million civil servants working in thousands of essential fields–from healthcare to law enforcement to national security–who keep our country running, are under attack. And listen, I think we need to be more efficient and more effective, and we may have people who are not doing their jobs the way we want them to, but what this order has done is created confusion over the spending freeze–the hiring freeze instituted by the President’s executive order.
The Administration claims this is temporary, but thousands of Americans who had job offers on the table saw those offers revoked–even those who were ready to fill some of our most urgent vacancies, like at the VA. Even though the Department of Veterans Affairs said it would not apply this hiring freeze to many VA positions dedicated to providing veterans’ healthcare and benefits, many crucial programs that veterans depend on will not be able to hire staff to serve our veterans.
For example, the VA will not be hiring caseworkers who help veterans get into permanent housing and related support. They won’t be able to hire the personnel that literally keep the lights on and buildings running, such as fire protection, housekeeping, plumbing, boiler plant operation, laundry services, and other essential roles.
And we should remember that, year after year, the VA has had challenges in addressing these critical gaps. Last year, the VA reported almost 3,000 severe occupational staffing shortages. But that didn’t stop this administration from pulling every pending job offer the day they took office. And while some have been reinstated, others are still in limbo. In just one example, VA employees at a facility focused on research and care for veterans with late-stage cancer were told their jobs were under review and they may be terminated altogether. Now, I know everybody in this chamber believes that we have made a commitment to those who have served this country in uniform, and we don’t want to fail our veterans when they return home and enter civilian life. So how does this firing of people who take care of them help us fulfill that commitment?
And then, if we want to talk about jobs that keep Americans safe, let’s talk about keeping planes from falling out of the sky or colliding on runways. I worked closely with the National Air Traffic Control Union and the FAA’s collaborative resource working group to adopt a new staffing model in last year’s FAA reauthorization bill.
We have a significant number of air traffic controllers in New Hampshire. They do a great job of keeping people in the flying public safe as they enter North America, all the way down to New York, in some of the most congested airspaces in the country. Now, the FAA made good progress in hiring last year as a result. They are still more than 3,500 controllers, however, short of their staffing target, and the controllers we do have work 6-day weeks, 10-hour days on a good week. They are exhausted; they are overworked; and they face severe mental health challenges as a result.
The FAA estimated that 10 percent of the federal air traffic controller workforce would depart last year as a result of these conditions. And despite this, these air traffic controllers still haven’t been told conclusively whether or not air traffic controllers are exempt from the hiring freeze.
Now, if preventing us from filling shortages and taking care of some of our most vulnerable wasn’t enough, OMB is actively trying to get rid of the civil servants we do have. This week, millions of federal employees received emails offering to pay their salaries for the rest of the fiscal year in exchange for resigning now–and that included every single air traffic controller in the country.
Now, you might be asking yourselves why, when we are short more than 3,500 air traffic controllers, did we offer to pay the ones we have not to work? Well, like the hiring freeze, this order is an irresponsible, reckless, nontargeted effort that could have devastating consequences for critical positions.
What’s more, they are trying to convince us that this will save money, making it clear that even if we lose thousands of employees with no plans to replace them, we will be better off.
Well, that is bad news for tourism in New Hampshire, for those who work closely with U.S. Forest service personnel and depend on sound management of the White Mountain National Forest, and it is bad news for people who value clean air and clean water.
This message was also sent to more than 780,000 civilian employees who work for the department of defense. In New Hampshire, we have almost 8,000 civilians who work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard that we share with the state of Maine. There are four public shipyards in the United States. Our employees in Portsmouth have the best on-time, on-budget record of any of the public shipyards. These employees contribute to the maintenance of our nuclear submarines, an essential tenet of our national security and a crucial capability to deter major conflict. Any impact to their workforce will strain a shipbuilding industrial base that is already saturated with demand to meet the requirements of our navy.
The bottom line: if the shipyard can’t get boats to the fleet on time, our nation is less safe.
The freeze on federal assistance also affects critical programs that support men and women in uniform, including DOD’s financial assistance and grant programs that support servicemembers and their families.
This administration has said repeatedly that it wants to “restore the warrior ethos” at the Pentagon. I don’t know about you, but slashing our defense workforce doesn’t help me sleep any better at night. I don’t think that restores the warrior ethos.
So in conclusion–I see my other colleagues here, and I know they are waiting to speak–the actions this week have only created confusion, chaos, and stress. That is the best-case scenario, if it ends right now. But if not, if the Trump Administration and Elon Musk get their way and cut these programs, working Americans will be the ones to suffer the most.
The need for housing, sewers, and childcare doesn’t go away when this administration says they don’t want to pay the bills. These costs just get pushed down to towns and end up coming out of people’s paychecks. It ends up being paid on the backs of our local taxpayers.
Now, again, the Administration tried to walk this back by rescinding Monday’s memo, but then they added confusion by claiming that the underlying funding freeze was still in place. And they are unable to answer basic questions about who and what will be affected.
Maybe it is just me and the hundreds of Granite Staters whom I have heard from, but if you are going to stop all the critical funding that helps seniors, children, and families across this country, you need a better answer than we’re hearing from this White House.
Instead, what we heard during the white house briefing–when asked one of these basic questions, Americans were told: we’ll check on that and get back to you.
So to Granite Staters who have called my office in distress, wondering what this far-reaching, unprecedented move means for their lives and their livelihoods: don’t worry. The White House is going to get back to you.
That’s outrageous–and this, despite not one but two federal judges who have ordered the White House to stop holding these funds. The Administration has made it clear that they intend to move forward with vague, irresponsible executive orders that jeopardize billions in infrastructure, energy, healthcare, workforce, and educational investments.
Hard-working families, businesses, and nonprofits have been calling my office asking for clarity, and this administration hasn’t been willing to provide any.
Common sense calls for all of us to work on a bipartisan basis to help our constituents to put an end to the chaos and uncertainty that has been created by this administration in only its second week.
I hope we can do that.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
On Monday, the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced a sweeping executive order pausing almost all forms of federal assistance to states, nonprofits, non-governmental organizations and more. Senator Shaheen immediately condemned the move and emphasized the impact it will have on communities. The full list that agencies were directed to review encompasses over 2,600 assistance programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), community health centers, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), transportation and highway funding, energy assistance programs, water infrastructure funding, State Opioid Targeted Response grants, GI Bill, veteran compensation for service connected disabilities, Section 8 vouchers, school breakfast and lunch, Title I education grants, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Head Start.
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, are today introducing the bipartisan Keeping Drugs Out of Schools Act to strengthen efforts to address the substance use disorder crisis that is impacting communities across the nation. The bipartisan bill would help prevent youth opioid use and overdoses by establishing a new grant program that allows current or former Drug-Free Communities (DFC) coalitions to partner with schools to provide resources educating students about the dangers of synthetic opioids.
“Our bipartisan bill will help save lives by educating students and young people across the country about the dangers of synthetic opioids,” said Shaheen. “We’ve made progress in recent years to stem the substance use epidemic, but there’s more we can and should do to ensure kids know just how deadly opioids can be. Our bipartisan Keeping Drugs Out of Schools Act would help do just that.”
“Stamping out drug abuse in our communities and schools demands an all-hands approach. One piece of the puzzle is supporting drug prevention programs that educate young people about synthetic opioids and preventable resources,” Grassley said. “I’m glad to support this vital and fiscally responsible bill to protect our next generation from the dangers of addiction.”
The Keeping Drugs Out of Schools Act would authorize $7 million per year for five years for a new grant program eligible to DFC grantees and other qualifying DFCs. The bipartisan bill allows DFC grantees to apply for additional funding to partner with schools to plan, implement and evaluate comprehensive school-based substance use prevention programing.
Shaheen has spearheaded crucial legislation and funding to stem the opioid epidemic, including through her leadership on the pivotal U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which funds the U.S. Department of Justice. Shaheen has also worked to increase access to substance use treatment in New Hampshire. Last year, Shaheen led the state’s congressional delegation in fighting for $29,880,604 in State Opioid Response (SOR) grants directed to New Hampshire. Shaheen fought to secure this investment in the government funding legislation for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 that was signed into law. Additionally, the Shaheen-led State Opioid Response Grant Authorization Act increased funding and provided critical flexibilities for states administering SOR spending. In recent years, Shaheen successfully pushed the Department of Health and Human Services to maintain SOR funding levels for New Hampshire and avoid significant cliffs in funding year-over-year. Shaheen’s efforts have led to a more than tenfold increase in federal treatment and prevention funding for New Hampshire.
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a top member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), led 18 of her colleagues on SASC and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense—U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of SASC, Patty Murray (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Angus King (I-ME), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI)—in releasing the following statement on the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) rescission of policy that allowed service members to get reimbursed for travel and transportation for non-covered reproductive care. Earlier this week the Senator’s office obtained a memo that updates the Joint Travel Regulations to rescind this policy.
“This decision strips away service members’ ability to access the reproductive care they need, which is nothing short of abhorrent. It runs contrary to a core goal of the Department of Defense – to ensure the health and wellbeing of all our service members so that our force remains ready at all times to protect Americans and keep this nation safe.
“U.S. service members have no control over where they are stationed and what state laws may govern their bodies. The policy that the Department of Defense took away from our servicewomen and military families provided them the ability to travel to another state to seek out the care they need. Rescinding that does nothing to enhance military readiness.
“At a time when we are already facing military recruitment and retention challenges, we should do all we can to assure those who answer the call to serve America that we will do everything in our power to support them and their families. Instead, this extreme action does the opposite and sends a message to servicewomen—who make up more than 17 percent of our military’s active duty—that they are not as valuable as their male counterparts.
“We will do everything in our power to mitigate the impact that this extreme decision will have on members of our military and ensure their health and safety comes first.”
Last Congress, Shaheen introduced the Protecting Service Members and Military Families’ Access to Health Care Act – legislation that would codify the DoD’s February 16, 2023 policy to ensure service members and their families can access non-covered reproductive health care, including abortion services, regardless of the state in which they are stationed.
The people of Dunedin have won in an almost year-long battle to have their hospital confirmed, but National’s delays have cost dearly.
“Though there are fewer beds than originally planned, this is a win for the people of the Southern region,” Labour health infrastructure spokesperson Tracey McLellan said.
“We have always said there is money to pay for this hospital, and the announcement today proves National was trying to make savings at the cost of good healthcare for the Southern region.
“Together we have fought hard against National’s attempts to scale back New Dunedin Hospital. The people of the Southern region deserve a state-of-the-art hospital that meets their needs now and into the future.
“According to one estimate, the Government’s poor negotiation and delays cost $100,000 per day while it sat still. This is money that should have been spent improving healthcare.
“The building of the new hospital, which Labour began and paid for, falls short of the promises National made during the election campaign, but it is the best of a bad situation.
“We’ll be watching closely to make sure this Government actually delivers on their promise and doesn’t try to cut corners down the line, both in Dunedin and at other hospitals which they said were threatened by the Dunedin project,” Tracey McLellan said.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment on final draft guidance from NICE on the use of exagamglogene autotemcel (exa-cel) for severe sickle cell disease.
Dr Diana Hernandez, director of immune and advanced therapies at UK stem cell charity Anthony Nolan, said:
“Today’s decision from NICE to grant access, on the NHS, to the UK’s first ever CRISPR-based therapy for some patients with sickle cell disease, represents a leap forward in the treatment of this debilitating and life-threatening condition. Sickle cell disease is caused by abnormally shaped red blood cells that can block blood vessels, causing fatigue, chronic pain and increased risk of infection. By modifying the DNA of the patient’s own stem cells so they produce healthy red blood cells, the treatment provides a ‘functional cure’ for people who otherwise have limited options.
“This treatment offers hope to thousands of patients in the UK, the majority of whom are from African and African-Caribbean backgrounds and have experienced years of feeling ignored, and is a glimpse into the exciting possibilities of gene therapies to treat diseases that have previously been considered incurable.”
Dr Alena Pance, Senior Lecturer in Genetics, University of Hertfordshire, said:
“Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel) is based on the innovative gene-editing tool CRISPR, which won its inventors the Nobel Prize in 2020
“This approach is a great medical advancement because gene-editing may represent a possible cure rather than a treatment of this inherited genetic disease and stem cell technology makes it possible to use patient-specific cells which avoid immunological issues.
“The background is that sickle cell disease is caused by mutation of one of the proteins that form haemoglobin. This is the main component of red blood cells that transports oxygen around the body. In adulthood, it consists of 4 globin proteins, 2 alpha and 2 beta, that form a tetramer with an iron core which binds the oxygen. During development however, the haemoglobin in the foetus is made with gamma globin instead of beta globin. This is because Gamma globin has higher affinity for oxygen, which is less abundant in the womb. At birth, there is a switch that silences Gamma globin which is no longer made and induces Beta globin to be made instead.
“When Beta globin is mutated long inflexible chains of haemoglobin form, called sickle haemoglobin that leads to a change in the morphology of the red blood cells which also become stiff and get stuck in small capillaries. This causes pain and loss of red blood cells or anaemia, which increases in situations of high need or use of oxygen, such as exercise or high altitude.
“What this therapy does is to switch off the factor that silences Gamma globin so that it can be produced in the red blood cells and substitute the faulty Beta globin. Because it is a blood disease, the gene-editing can be performed in the stem cells from the bone marrow from which all the cells in the blood originate. This means that the stem cells are extracted from the patient, modified and expanded in the lab and then put back into the patient where they will be able to reconstitute the blood. As a consequence, there is no immunological difference between the modified cells and the patient necessitating immunosuppressing medication for life and once the modified stem cells establish themselves in the bone marrow of the patient, they can repopulate the bone marrow and produce Gamma globin red blood cells technically for ever. An additional advantage this strategy has is that because it does not aim to correct the mutation (fix the faulty beta globin) it can be generally applied not just to sickle cell disease but also to beta-thalassemia. This is because there is a wide range of mutations in the beta globin gene and so fixing it would become patient-specific which would be even more costly and difficult.”
“There are some set backs to this approach and it is certain that the technology will continue improving, but at this moment in time, it is the greatest advance seen so far in the application of these technologies to health.”
Prof Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Director of EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), said:
“This is an exciting development for practical CRISPR based gene therapy. After impressive clinical trials worldwide, the technology provides a way for certain sickle cell disease individuals to have a far better life. This CRISPR based therapy uses an interesting molecular mechanism, where the gene therapy acts on a different, related gene (fetal haemoglobin), boosting this gene’s expression in adulthood which mitigates the effect of the sickle cell changed adult haemoglobin. The mechanism was discovered by genetic studies in particular from cohorts in Sub-Saharan Africa and people with recent African ancestries.
“Looking ahead, this technology has the potential to treat many other rare diseases with precise genetic diagnoses.”
Prof Felicity Gavins, Professor of Pharmacology,Brunel University of London, said:
“The approval of Exa-cel for NHS use in England is a very exciting moment, not only because this marks the first approval of a CRISPR-based gene therapy for SCD in the NHS, but also because it offers a potentially curative treatment for eligible patients. By addressing the genetic cause of SCD, Exa-cel reduces or eliminates vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs), decreases hospitalisations, and improves quality of life.
“Of the 15,000 people in England with SCD, approximately 1,750 may be eligible for Exa-cel treatment. The therapy works by editing the patient’s BCL11A gene to reactivate fetal haemoglobin production, preventing red blood cells from sickling and blocking blood flow which cause VOCs and disease complications.
“However, while Exa-cel is a breakthrough, it is not a cure for all SCD patients, and uncertainties remain about its long-term effectiveness, safety and accessibility. It is critical to continue funding research to develop treatment that benefit the broader SCD population and address remaining challenges in care.”
Professor Laurence D. Hurst,Professor of Evolutionary Genetics, The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, said:
“The recommendation of exa-cel (alias Casgevy, alias Exagamglogene autotemcel) by NICE is a potential step change for sufferers (and their carers) of a common genetic disorder, sickle cell disease (SCD) that particularly affects UK individuals with a Caribbean and Black African ancestry. It will come as a very welcome reversal of a prior draft recommendation (March 2024) by many within the at-risk communities.
“Part of NICE’s recommendation was based on the observation that the disorder is especially prevent in ethnic minority backgrounds and seeks to redress inequality in health access. This is a good news day for sufferers of severe SCD and for these communities.”
Why is there a need for a “cure” for sickle cell disease?
“Current treatments may be considered the equivalent of plastering over a wound repeatedly, rather than getting to the cause of the wound and curing it.
“SCD patients need regular blood transfusions and with that treatment to absorb excess iron. Some qualify for a drug therapy, Hydroxycarbamide, also used as in cancer chemotherapy, that reduces VOC rates. This increases rate of production of foetal globin and reduces red cell stickiness. There are very few treatments to stop symptoms and what is available often has intolerable side effects. A further issue is that while treatments may reduce VOC frequency they tend to increase pain associated with each VOC. They do not address the underlying cause.”
“Stem cell transfusion – the best current “cure” – is potentially different as you are replacing the cells that make red blood cells in the patient with those from a donor who doesn’t have SCD. However, only 15% of patients have a potential donor and this treatment can lead to immune rejection (graft versus host disease).
“Exa-cel is potentially a life-long cure – the patients can make their own non SCD inducing blood, thus immune rejection should not be an issue.”
How does this CRISPR therapy work?
“For many single gene genetic disorders gene therapy is now being actively researched and, in some cases, making it to clinic. To date the successful ones, have taken the strategy of adding in a copy of the properly functioning version of the gene (as in recent gene therapies for haemophilia A and B). Exa-cel is different as it involves “editing” your own DNA, not adding genes.
“It relies on the fact that as foetuses our haemoglobin was different. Indeed, foetal haemoglobin is a little better than the adult version at carrying oxygen. Adult haemoglobin consists of two beta globins and two alpha globins. In foetuses we use gamma globin instead of beta globin. Shortly after birth a protein BCL11A helps in the switch from foetal to adult haemoglobin, from gamma to beta. Exa-cel edits the gene for BCL11A preventing it from being made, and in so doing forces the cells to upregulate gamma globin so making more foetal haemoglobin.
“It does this by editing a part of the switch that turns the BCL11A gene on in developing blood cells. This causes BCL11A to not be made which in turn allows gamma globin to be produced, as BCL11A switches gamma globin off. As such – it is a CRISPR mediated gene edit – it is unlike the standard mode of gene therapy which involves addition of the correct gene. The treatment involve removing relevant cells from the patient, editing in the lab and replacing them into the patient.
“Given its mode of action it is a potential therapy for any genetic disease involving badly functioning beta-globin, notably sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.
“Importantly it is also likely that making gamma globin is safe – it is our own protein. In addition, most of us fail to fully inactivate the foetal/gamma version and so well all have a bit of gamma globin. Indeed, with conditions like SCD, the higher the level of gamma globin the lesser the symptoms.”
The therapy is life transforming
“The evidence for the efficacy and safety of Casgevy for SCD is good, although sample numbers are low. Base line the patients had 2.6 VOCs per year. Of 43 patients 29 were followed long enough. 28 of 29 had no VOCs for at least a year. None were hospitalised.
“There is a further issue, however, that it can be difficult to collect cells in patients with SCD and some of those not followed up were because the treatment couldn’t be given.
What is the new decision?
“This new decision is not a statement about safety and efficacy. The therapy has been approved for use in the UK (late 2023), EU (spring 2024) and USA (late 2023) on safety and efficacy grounds. What is new is that NICE now recommends funding this with “managed access*” via the NHS as it is deemed adequately cost effective (or rather it was happy with the high level of uncertainty on cost effectiveness given the circumstances). This is a reversal of its prior draft recommendation in March 2024.
“It is restricted to those for whom a stem cell transplant donor cannot be found and with severe SCD ie recurrent VOCs meaning 2 or more in the prior 2 years.
“The defence for the opening of access was based on the health inequalities faced by people with SCD, the technology being innovative and the fact that prior decision had failed to capture the quality of life of the carers.
“Earlier this year NICE approved the same therapy for beta thalassemia -also owing to beta glogin issues- for a restricted number of patients.”
What does the treatment cost?
“The treatment is a one-off procedure. The headline cost per treatment £1,651,000 but the actual cost to the NHS is a commercial secret.”
What are the uncertainties?
“There are two main uncertainties:
“First, being a new treatment how long it will last is unknown. Why the treatment might revert is unclear but only time will tell.
“The second is whether there are downstream side effects. CRISPR as an application for example involves send a molecule to cut DNA at a designated site in our DNA. Sometimes, however, the cuts also happen at sites we didn’t want to have cut. These are so-called “off-target” effects. The early data from the research team behind found no evidence for such off-target effects but they remain a possibility. More classical forms of gene therapy – involving adding genes to our DNA – have been associated with induction of cancer and so the field is naturally cautious.”
What is SCD?
“Sickle cell disease is a genetic disease associated with a different form of a gene and its derived protein that make up part of the molecular that transports oxygen from the lungs to the body, heamoglobin, in our red blood cells. The affected gene/protein is “beta globin”.
“Sufferers have pain 4 days out of every seven and unpredictable episodes of severe pain, termed vaso-occlusive crises [VOCs] that can require hospitalization. Over 2 years about 2/3 of sufferers need emergency care 2 to 3 times and about a quarter spend 1-2 weeks in hospital. Higher rates of both define severe SCD. It causes ongoing anaemia (lack of red blood cells) and widespread organ damage. Even with access to medical support, life expectancy is typically around 50 years.”
Why is SCD so prevalent in ethnic minorities?
“Globally locations with endemic malaria have higher rates of the disorder. This is because individuals with a mix of beta globin genes (we all have two versions, one inherited from mother one from father) are less likely to die young from malaria. This selection favouring individuals with a mix of beta-globins maintains the two versions of the beta globin gene at relatively high frequencies. However, it also means that the rate at which individuals will inherit two of the SCD causing version of the gene is also high – if mum and dad were both carriers a quarter of their kids will get SCD. Having two SCD versions is needed for the full blown SCD. In sub-Saharan Africa up to 1-3% of the population suffer SCD making it a remarkably prevalent genetic disease.”
Professor David Rees, Professor of Paediatric Sickle Cell Disease, King’s College London, said:
“It is encouraging that Exa-cel has been approved for use to treat patients with sickle cell disease in England, particularly as it is based on discoveries made at King’s College London by Dr Stephan Menzel and Professor Swee Lay Thein. The treatment uses CRISPR gene editing technology to increase the level of fetal haemoglobin in people with sickle cell disease, which has a major effect in reducing the severity of the condition. The treatment is not curative in the traditional sense of the word, in that the patients still have some features of sickle cell disease, but early studies suggest that successfully treated patients have very few symptoms of the condition, at least in the medium term.
“Exa-cel has been approved for patients getting episodes of acute pain over the age of 12 years, and potentially more than 5000 people with sickle cell disease may be eligible for this in the UK. However, it is difficult to know how many people will actually benefit, because of the very high cost and potential toxicity of the treatment. Exa-cel treatment still requires very strong chemotherapy, similar to having a bone marrow transplant, which causes problems with reduced fertility and sometimes more serious complications, and it seems likely that it will most benefit patients with severe and progressive problems caused by sickle cell disease.
“Despite these concerns, the availability of Exa-cel is a major advance and offers a really important new treatment option for some patients with sickle cell disease. Excitingly, advances in gene editing are happening very rapidly at the moment and it seems likely that cheaper, safer and more effective forms of gene editing will emerge for sickle cell disease over the coming years, offering the prospect of a curative treatment which is universally applicable, even in low income countries where the majority of patients live.”
NICE’s final draft guidance on Exagamglogene autotemcel for treating severe sickle cell disease in people 12 years and over was published at 00:01 UK time on Friday 31 January 2025.
Declared interests
Professor David Rees: “I don’t think I have any significant conflicts of interest.”
Prof Ewan Birney: No conflict of interest.
Dr Alena Pance: No conflicts.
For all other experts, no response to our request for DOIs was received.
Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced his roles on the funding panel’s subcommittees in the 119th Congress.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to represent Louisianians on the Senate Appropriations Committee. I will continue to advocate for the needs of our state through my work on subcommittees that cover disasters, energy, defense, flood mitigation projects, health care, education, transportation, commerce and science and other key issues,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy’s Appropriations Committee roles now include:
Chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development,
Member of the Subcommittee on Defense,
Member of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security,
Member of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies,
Member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies
and Member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies.
Read more information on these subcommittees here.
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It will allow Plunket to deliver vaccinations alongside in-clinic Well Child visits, at dedicated immunisations clinics, at community events, and eventually in homes.
“Improving childhood immunisation rates is a priority for the Government. Having established immunisation services across the country is an important step in increasing access and reducing barriers.
“The Government knows that immunisations are a critical tool in protecting children from serious, preventable diseases such as whooping cough (pertussis), which has worryingly already hospitalised a number of babies so far this year.
“Our Government’s health targets are critical to ensuring that all New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare services. This new service will support our target of 95 per cent of children being fully vaccinated by 24 months of age, setting them up for a healthy start in life.
“By upskilling the existing workforce and catching those in the system who may not be able to access their general practice or aren’t enrolled, we’ll be able to boost childhood immunisations in areas where vaccine coverage is particularly low,” Mr Brown says.
This initiative to boost the vaccination workforce is in addition to the $50 million investment over two years for Hauora Māori providers to deliver additional vaccinations. The pilot runs until June 2026.
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin Hospital that will futureproof the provision of timely, quality healthcare for the people of Dunedin and the surrounding Otago and Southland regions. This will be a new, modern hospital, built at the former Cadbury factory site,” Mr Brown says. “Last year, the Government invested $290 million towards the new Dunedin Hospital project, bringing the total funding for the project to $1.88 billion. Alongside this, the Government is investing a record additional $16.68 billion in health over three years. “All New Zealanders deserve to see better results for that record spend on health, including better health infrastructure, to ensure they have access to timely, quality healthcare. The Government has listened to the Dunedin community and is committed to build a new Dunedin Hospital to deliver the healthcare locals need.” Upon opening, the new Dunedin Hospital will provide:
351 beds, with capacity to expand to 404 beds over time 20 short-stay surgical beds, a new model of care 22 theatres, with capacity to expand to 24 theatres over time 41 same day beds to provide greater capacity for timely access to specialist and outpatient procedures 58 ED spaces, including a short-stay unit and specialised emergency psychiatric care 20 imaging units for CT, MRI and Xray procedures, with 4 additional spaces available for future imaging advancement.
In late September last year, the Government released Robert Rust’s independent review into the hospital project. The review found that the project was alarmingly off-track and over budget due to poor decision making and due diligence by the previous government. “The Dunedin Hospital project was poorly handled under the previous government. They promised big, made poor decisions, and blew out the budget. We are focused on delivering a safe, modern hospital complex that Dunedin deserves,” Mr Brown says. “There are few suitable sites for a new Dunedin Hospital to be located. The former Cadbury factory site purchased by the previous government has numerous construction challenges such as contamination, flood risk, and access issues. However, we are confident that these can be overcome, and it’s clear that using this site to build a new hospital would be far less disruptive than constructing a new complex at the existing hospital. “Our review of the project means the hospital will be futureproofed for growth, with no change to the number of floors to be built. The new Dunedin Hospital will provide clinical staff with world-class facilities and is designed to meet the needs of the community. The site will also be futureproofed so new beds and services will be able to be brought online when needed. The new Dunedin Hospital will be able to adapt and expand in years to come to ensure it responds to changing needs.” Further updates will be provided once the contracting process has been completed.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shelley J. Walker, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Justice Health, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University
Many of us have tried to move on quickly from the pandemic, putting lockdowns and restrictions far behind us.
But for some Australians, this hasn’t been possible. Among the pandemic’s lingering impacts is the burden of outstanding fines, issued for breaking COVID restrictions.
Our new research involved surveys and in-depth interviews with people who used drugs during the pandemic. They reported feeling targeted by police and even harassed while trying to access drug treatments – and years later, many still have fines they’re unable to pay.
This is not the case in Victoria. In June 2023, around 30,000 fines were outstanding in Victoria, and to our knowledge the situation hasn’t changed since then.
Feeling targeted
We know that people who use drugs already face increased police scrutiny in general, due to the criminalisation of drug use.
We conduct two long-term studies with people who use drugs in Victoria, which involves participating in an annual survey.
During the pandemic we asked additional questions about people’s interactions with police. Between March 2020 and May 2022, 1,130 participants responded to our survey.
Our new research found one in ten reported being stopped by police.
A third of these received at least one COVID-related fine – mostly for breaking curfews, failing to wear a face mask or breaching travel restrictions – a rate we calculated as nearly three times higher than the general population.
However, this is a crude estimate, as accurate data on the numbers of fines in the general population is not publicly available.
Of those who received fines, most were unemployed, more than a quarter were in unstable housing or homeless, and more than half had been to prison.
We also did in-depth interviews with 76 participants. Many told us they felt the pandemic gave police an “excuse” to target them, leading to serious and lasting effects on their lives.
Fined while accessing services
Interactions with police were described as fraught with discrimination and harassment. Participants reported being stopped, searched and fined while trying to go about their daily lives. This may be partly because their circumstances meant they were more likely to be using public spaces – and therefore were more visible to police.
Daniel, aged 41, was fined $1,652 for breaching COVID rules he told us he didn’t understand. He said:
it was so obvious they were looking for drugs – it felt like they were doing everything they could to find a reason to fine us.
For people who use drugs, accessing harm-reduction services and drug treatment programs (such as methadone to replace opioids) is vital to their health. Some participants told us they were fined while doing so, despite carrying medical exemptions.
Natasha, aged 39, was homeless. She said she was fined while travelling to a needle and syringe program, despite being within the permitted travel zone.
Police issued her a fine for leaving the home for non-essential purposes. Natasha found the situation absurd, asking “how can you be (fined for being) outside if you sleep outside?”
Ryan, aged 45, was fined $1,800 while collecting methadone. He described the encounter as “humiliating” and unnecessary, saying police appeared more interested in finding drugs than enforcing public health measures.
The financial and emotional toll
In our study, the financial burden of COVID fines was devastating.
Most could not afford to pay fines or lacked the confidence to navigate appeals processes to contest them, leading to further entanglement with the criminal legal system.
For example, Sally, who received multiple fines while collecting her methadone during the pandemic, said:
at the end of the day, they’re government authority and I’m a nobody – the chances of me winning would be slim to none.
As a result, unpaid fines for some reportedly led to court orders, some were arrested, and a few even reported serving prison time.
The emotional toll was equally severe, with feelings of being targeted and harassed by police further eroding their trust in public institutions.
The Conversation contacted Victoria Police about our study, noting participants thought police were using the pandemic as an excuse to target them.
In response, a police spokesperson said: “At the time officers were performing duties on behalf of the Chief Health Officer’s direction.”
The burden can be lifted
Public health responses should be designed to protect people, not punish them. As we move forward, it is crucial to address the lasting impacts of COVID fines.
Shelley Walker is the recipient of an ARC Discovery Early Career Award (project number DE240101056) funded by the Australian Government. The study presented in this article was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council NHMRC (#2003255). The SuperMIX and VMAX studies are funded by the NHMRC; #545891, #1126090, #1148170)
Paul Dietze receives funding from the NHMRC and government and non-government organisations for the conduct of research into the impacts of alcohol and other drug use.
Lisa Maher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 3
For Immediate Release:
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Journavx (suzetrigine) 50 milligram oral tablets, a first-in-class non-opioid analgesic, to treat moderate to severe acute pain in adults. Journavx reduces pain by targeting a pain-signaling pathway involving sodium channels in the peripheral nervous system, before pain signals reach the brain.
Journavx is the first drug to be approved in this new class of pain management medicines.
Pain is a common medical problem and relief of pain is an important therapeutic goal. Acute pain is short-term pain that is typically in response to some form of tissue injury, such as trauma or surgery. Acute pain is often treated with analgesics that may or may not contain opioids.
The FDA has long supported development of non-opioid pain treatment. As part of the FDA Overdose Prevention Framework, the agency has issued draft guidance aimed at encouraging development of non-opioid analgesics for acute pain and awarded cooperative grants to support the development and dissemination of clinical practice guidelines for the management of acute pain conditions.
“Today’s approval is an important public health milestone in acute pain management,” said Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, J.D., M.D., acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “A new non-opioid analgesic therapeutic class for acute pain offers an opportunity to mitigate certain risks associated with using an opioid for pain and provides patients with another treatment option. This action and the agency’s designations to expedite the drug’s development and review underscore FDA’s commitment to approving safe and effective alternatives to opioids for pain management.”
The efficacy of Journavx was evaluated in two randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled trials of acute surgical pain, one following abdominoplasty and the other following bunionectomy. In addition to receiving the randomized treatment, all participants in the trials with inadequate pain control were permitted to use ibuprofen as needed for “rescue” pain medication. Both trials demonstrated a statistically significant superior reduction in pain with Journavx compared to placebo.
The safety profile of Journavx is primarily based on data from the pooled, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled trials in 874 participants with moderate to severe acute pain following abdominoplasty and bunionectomy, with supportive safety data from one single-arm, open-label study in 256 participants with moderate to severe acute pain in a range of acute pain conditions.
The most common adverse reactions in study participants who received Journavx were itching, muscle spasms, increased blood level of creatine phosphokinase, and rash. Journavx is contraindicated for concomitant use with strong CYP3A inhibitors. Additionally, patients should avoid food or drink containing grapefruit when taking Journavx.
The application received Breakthrough Therapy, Fast Track and Priority Review designations by the FDA.
The FDA granted approval of Journavx to Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated.
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Boilerplate
The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, radiation-emitting electronic products, and for regulating tobacco products.
OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a settlement against pharmaceutical manufacturer QOL Medical (“QOL”) and Frederick E. Cooper, the company’s Chief Executive Officer for submitting false claims to the Medicaid program and other government healthcare programs. The settlement resolves allegations that QOL engaged in a kickback scheme between 2018 and 2022, by providing free Carbon-13 (“C13”) test kits to providers then using the test results to sell their drug, Sucraid. This resulted in some patients taking Sucraid even though it wasn’t medically necessary. As a part of the settlement, QOL and Cooper, will pay a total of $47 million to resolve federal and state violations of various fraud and kickback statutes, with the State of California receiving $384,406.
“Decisions impacting patients’ health must be guided exclusively by what is best for the patient,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Kickback schemes putting profit before patients are not only immoral, they are also illegal. My office is dedicated to holding accountable those who would defraud California’s critically important Medi-Cal program. I am grateful for the collaboration of our local, state, and federal partners in this important mission.”
The settlement resolves allegations that QOL paid remuneration to induce the purchase of Sucraid, a drug that treats the symptoms associated with sucrose ingestion in patients with a rare gastrointestinal genetic disease called congenital sucrase-isomaltase deficiency (CSID). This is a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal False Claims Act and state law False Claims Act corollary statutes. QOL admitted that beginning in 2018, it distributed free C13 test kits to health care providers and asked them to give these kits to their patients with common gastrointestinal symptoms. They claimed that the C13 test could “rule in or rule out” CSID, for which Sucraid is the only FDA-approved therapy. QOL paid a clinical laboratory to analyze patients’ C13 tests and received aggregate weekly results, which its commercial team used to find potential Sucraid patients. Between 2018 and 2022, QOL paid the laboratory for over 75,000 C13 tests and disseminated the results to the QOL sales force, so that the sales force would make Sucraid sales calls to health care providers whose patients had positive C13 test results. This conduct allegedly caused the submission of false claims to both Medicare and Medicaid, including California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal.
The California Department of Justice’s DMFEA protects Californians by investigating and prosecuting those who defraud the Medi-Cal program as well as those who commit elder abuse. These settlements are made possible only through the coordination and collaboration of governmental agencies, as well as the critical help from whistleblowers who report incidences of abuse or Medi-Cal fraud at oag.ca.gov/dmfea/reporting.
The Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $69,244,976 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2025. The remaining 25 percent is funded by the State of California. FY 2025 is from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025.
Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
Bipartisan legislation would permanently place fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, helping law enforcement combat fentanyl trafficking, while advancing scientific and medical research
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced the bipartisan Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. This permanent scheduling will give law enforcement the tools they need to keep extremely lethal and dangerous drugs off our streets and ensure scientists can research and better understand these substances.
“We’re losing nearly 75,000 Americans each year to illicit fentanyl overdoses. I refuse to accept this reality, and that’s why I’m working to deliver tools law enforcement personnel need to keep deadly fentanyl off our streets and out of our communities,”said Heinrich. “Permanently scheduling fentanyl and its analogues will help federal and local law enforcement crack down on illegal trafficking and allow prosecutors to build stronger, longer-term criminal cases. Our HALT Fentanyl Act will help stop the flow of these deadly drugs into our communities and save lives.”
Background:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there were 107,543 overdose deaths in the United States in 2023. Fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances accounted for nearly 75,000 of those deaths. Since 1999, the overdose crisis has increasingly been characterized by deaths involving these illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl-related substances (FRS), which are commonly sold through illicit drug markets for their fentanyl-like effect, and are often mixed with heroin or other drugs, such as cocaine, or pressed in to counterfeit prescription pills. During this same period, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased 103-fold. By comparison, overdose deaths involving heroin and prescription opioids increased 2.5-fold and 4.1-fold, respectively.
Traffickers are continually altering the chemical structure of fentanyl to evade regulation and prosecution, sometimes with tragic results. Since 2013, China has been the principal source of fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and the precursor chemicals from which they are produced. Chinese product is commonly shipped to Mexico and smuggled into the U.S’s illicit drug market. Traffickers have favored fentanyl-related substances to skirt around committing the crime of trafficking fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. In 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized nearly 12,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl, including fentanyl powder and more than 78 million pills laced with illicit fentanyl. The 2023 seizures were equivalent to more than 388.8 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
In 2018, as an initial response to this unprecedented crisis, the DEA issued a temporary scheduling order that placed FRS in Schedule I, under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), after classifying it as an imminent hazard to public safety. Previously, Congress has only closed this loophole temporarily by designating fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs. Congress has extended the FRS temporary scheduling order several times, most recently on December 21, 2024, with a measure that expires on March 31, 2025.
Heinrich’s HALT Fentanyl Act would finally make permanent the scheduling of illicitly produced fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs and streamline the regulatory process for scientists seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to research Schedule I substances.
Clear and Enforceable Criminal Penalties for Fentanyl Trafficking:
A permanent scheduling of FRS is necessary to make penalties for criminals clear and enforceable under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), reducing the supply and availability of illicitly manufactured FRS. The HALT Fentanyl Act places the strongest controls and penalties on FRS, which have no accepted medical use and a high abuse potential.
Specifically, the HALT Fentanyl Act will permanently impose the following quantity-based federal trafficking penalties on FRS:
Mandatory minimum penalties: 5 years for 10 grams or more (10 years for second offense); and 10 years for 100 grams or more (20 years for second offense).
Discretionary maximum penalties: 40 years for 10 grams or more (life for second offense); and life for 100 grams or more.
Expanded Scientific and Medical Research
More closely aligning the research and registration process for schedule I substances, including FRS, with Schedule II substances will facilitate increased FRS research. By accommodating more medical research into fentanyl-related substances, the bill would establish a new, streamlined registration process for research funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or under an Investigative New Drug (IND) exemption from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Specifically, the HALT Fentanyl Act will enhance our understanding of these illicitly manufactured substances by:
Allowing researchers in the same institution to participate in multiple scientific studies.
Permitting researchers with ongoing studies to examine newly added schedule I substances.
Allowing researchers to manufacture small quantities of FRS without a separate registration.
Support for the HALT Fentanyl Act
The HALT Fentanyl Act is led by Heinrich, Cassidy, and Grassley. The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va,), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
Full text of the HALT Fentanyl Act can be found here.
A section-by-section summary of the HALT Fentanyl Act can be found here.
Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
January 30, 2025
In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin shared the stories of Illinois constituents who would be dramatically impacted by the Trump Administration’s federal funding freeze
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor last night, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) shared stories of constituent calls his office received over the last two days in reaction to the Trump Administration’s decision to issue an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement” of trillions of dollars of Federal financial assistance, which caused mass confusion about the funding and operations of hundreds of government-funded programs ranging from Medicaid, to Head Start, to Violence Against Women Act grants. Shortly before the federal funding freeze was set to begin, U.S. District Court Judge Loren L. Alikhan, who was confirmed under Durbin’s tenure as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, temporarily blocked the move by the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration rescinded the memo yesterday but claimed that the federal funding freeze would still take place.
“On Monday night, President Trump threw America into chaos when he abruptly announced a freeze on trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans that so many communities, states, and Americans depend on. The reaction across the nation has been uniform. We had our phone ringing off the hook, computers busy and buzzing, everybody wants to know what does this mean, what has happened,” Durbin said. “Even members of the press were confused, members of Congress were confused, members of the American public were confused. Even members of the President’s own Administration were confused about the intent and scope of the freeze.”
In his remarks, Durbin spoke about the impact of the announcement on Illinoisans, who rely on federal funding to support critical programs and medical research. One woman told Durbin’s office that a halt on federal funding would prevent her brother, who has Down Syndrome, from receiving the care he needs. Another constituent shared that her work on biomedical research would be jeopardized if the Trump Administration’s funding freeze moves forward.
“Toni is a woman from Woodstock, Illinois. She shared with my office that her brother has Down Syndrome, and the care he receives is funded by a federal grant. His health and safety would be at risk if this freeze is allowed to be implemented,” Durbin said.
“Or take Dr. Kay, a professor and scientist at the University of Chicago. Her work depends on funding from the National Institutes of Health and other federal grants. She shared the freeze would ‘interrupt crucial biomedical research, stopping progress, sometimes destroying years’ worth of research that cannot be undone.’ And it would hurt the retention of our nation’s future scientists,” Durbin said.
“Or [take] Sarah, a supporter of community-based organizations that serve youth experiencing homelessness in the city of Chicago. If this freeze, in fact, takes place, the organization will not be able to access the federal funding it needs to provide services for youth, help them escape violence, or help to reunify their families,” Durbin continued.
The OMB memo caused immediate panic across the country as red and blue states’ Medicaid portals shut down and Head Start programs worried that they would not be open the following day to provide critical child care. The Trump Administration failed, when asked repeatedly, to provide clear guidance about what programs would be safe from being defunded.
“Americans across the country faced disruptions in accessing critical funds and services in popular programs like Head Start, Medicaid, and so many more. These are just a few of the many messages my office and others have received from Americans confused, outraged, and impacted by this freeze,” Durbin said.
After Judge Alikhan’s ruling on Monday temporarily blocked the freeze from starting, the Trump Administration claimed to rescind the memo while purporting that the funding freeze would still move forward.
“In response to the backlash from the American public, the organized efforts of many Democratic lawmakers, and the court ruling, President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget today rescinded the memo outlining the funding freeze. But that isn’t the end of the story. The President’s Press Secretary now claims that while the memo ordering the freeze has been rescinded, the freeze itself still stands… How does this make sense, you’re asking? The honest answer is, it doesn’t,” Durbin continued.
“In true Trump fashion, his Administration has made clear that it doesn’t intend to abide by the will of the American people, the letter of the law, or the Constitution. It will do whatever it takes to push through this policy, even if it means hurting Americans across the country,” Durbin said.
Durbin concluded his remarks by reiterating that he will push back against any unconstitutional or harmful policies enacted by the Trump Administration.
“We’re going to continue to fight this unconstitutional, devastating, and grossly unpopular freeze in federal spending. I want every American to know that your voice and participation in our democracy means more now than ever,” Durbin said.
“The President is betting that you won’t notice when he abuses power or breaks the law, that amidst the chaos that surrounds him you will be too confused, jaded, or just too tired to fight back. But I urge Americans to continue monitoring the actions of this new Administration, particularly when they touch you and your family personally,” Durbin said.
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services
Lowering the cost of prescription drugs for Americans is a top priority of President Trump and his Administration. In accordance with the statutory requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the list of 15 drugs selected for the second cycle of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program on January 17, 2025. As the second cycle begins under the Trump Administration, CMS is committed to incorporating lessons learned to date from the program and to considering opportunities to bring greater transparency in the Negotiation Program.
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced State investments in a new partnership between St. Barnabas Hospital Health System (SBH), Cityblock Health and Union Community Health Center. The preliminary approval is part of the Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program, and includes an up to $142 million investment in the Bronx, a recognition of the health facilities’ critical services for Bronx residents and the wider region. Today’s announcement follows the significant steps Governor Hochul has taken to improve the health of New Yorkers. Established in the FY25 Enacted Budget, the Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program incentivizes partnerships between safety net hospitals and health care organizations to improve the resilience of safety-net institutions.
“I’m committed to ensuring that everyone has access to affordable and dependable healthcare, regardless of where they live,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “The investments we are making today will ensure the availability of essential resources for the Bronx community for years to come.”
The Governor also highlighted her proposal to add an additional $45 million for home- and community-based services for older adults statewide, helping older New Yorkers age in the environment of their preference and ensuring their caregivers and families have the resources to fulfill their needs.
St. Barnabas Hospital (SBH) Health System President and CEO Dr. David Perlstein said, “We look forward to strengthening our partnerships with UCHC and Cityblock. This funding will be transformative in how we deliver care to our community. Our Emergency Department is often our front door where we treat our neighbors in their most dire times. Transforming this space will help us serve more patients and serve them in a more dignified manner. I want to thank Governor Kathy Hochul, Commissioner McDonald, and our entire NYS legislative delegation for their support, commitment and leadership in getting this across the finish line.”
Cityblock Health CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Toyin Ajayi said, “Cityblock’s mission to provide radically different healthcare built on trust, empathy, and understanding began right here in the communities of New York City. We commend Governor Hochul for launching this transformative program that aligns with our mission – enhancing access to care, improving quality of care, and driving better outcomes for those who need it most. The Bronx community we serve through our collaboration with St. Barnabas Hospital will benefit greatly from the state’s investment in both emergency department care as well as critical behavioral health and care management services. With the New York State Department of Health’s support, Cityblock and St. Barnabas will be able to focus on improving health outcomes for thousands of Bronx residents.”
Union Community Health Center President and Chief Executive Officer Douglas L. York, Ph.D., M.P.H. said, “Union Community Health Center (UNION) extends great appreciation and thanks to Governor Hochul and applauds her commitment to strengthening healthcare access in the Bronx and across New York State. This investment in UNION recognizes the critical role of public-private partnerships in delivering high-quality, community-based care to our most vulnerable populations. By supporting safety net providers like UNION and SBH Health System, in conjunction with private mission-aligned organizations like Cityblock Health, New York State is ensuring that frontline primary care remains a pillar of our healthcare system. Community health centers serve as a trusted resource, addressing social drivers of health and keeping patients healthy, engaged in their care, and accessing preventive services that reduce costly complications and improve long-term health outcomes. Debt retirement allows UNION to make significant reinvestments in much-needed primary care and specialty services, expanding access and enhancing the quality of care for the communities we serve. Union Community Health Center looks forward to working alongside our partners to advance this initiative and expand access to equitable, comprehensive healthcare for all.”
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “St. Barnabas Hospital was the first hospital I visited as Health Commissioner, and it makes me proud to see that the hospital continues to enhance and provide critical services to Bronx residents. I thank Governor Hochul for her unwavering commitment to provide essential services to vulnerable communities and improve the health of all New Yorkers.”
New York State Office for the Aging Director Greg Olsen said, “Governor Hochul recognizes the immense contributions of older adults to communities in the Bronx and statewide. The Governor’s budget and State of the State agenda advance historic funding increases for community-based services to help individuals achieve what we all want as we age: to remain independent in our community of choice. These investments are coupled with bold measures for affordability, safety, and health that create new opportunities for older adults – and people of all ages – to succeed.”
SBH Health System, Cityblock Health and Union Community Health Center Through a partnership with Cityblock Health and Union Community Health Center, SBH Health System will improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary emergency department visits, while also helping provide the Bronx Community with greater access to local behavioral health services. Plans include launching a value-based partnership to manage the complex health needs of approximately 35,000 Healthfirst members — 50 percent of whom have behavioral health needs. This project will include an upgrade to St. Barnabas’ emergency department, which currently sees 75,000 visits each year in a space designed to accommodate only 55,000 visits annually.
Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program Award Governor Hochul established the Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program in the FY25 Executive Budget and announced additional funding for the program in her 2025 State of the State address. Through this program, New York encourages partnerships between safety net hospitals and health care partners that improve the resilience of safety-net institutions by providing strategic capital and operating support, in addition to required regulatory flexibility.
Expanding Funding for Home-Based and Community-Based Services for Older Adults Governor Hochul’s FY26 Executive Budget provides $45 million of funding for non-medical home- and community-based services for older adults – the largest investment in community-based aging services in New York State history. This funding will help more older adults age in the environment of their preference, and provides resources to the families and caregivers they rely on. It will also help alleviate wait lists that many older adults statewide face for in-home services such as delivered meals, personal care and case management.
State Senator Luis R. Sepúlveda said, “I want to express my deepest gratitude to Governor Kathy Hochul for her steadfast commitment to improving the health and well-being of all New Yorkers, especially those in underserved communities like the Bronx. I was proud to work alongside the Governor to ensure SBH was selected for the Safety Net Transformation Initiative. Through this critical initiative, and in partnership with Cityblock Health and Union Community Health Center, SBH will receive vital investments that will significantly enhance care for our community. These improvements, including upgrades to the emergency department, will make a direct and positive impact on the thousands of Bronx residents who rely on SBH for their healthcare needs. I look forward to seeing the positive change all these initiatives will bring to the Bronx and beyond.”
Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia said, “I applaud Governor Hochul for allocating over $140 million to St. Barnabas Hospital through the Safety Net Transformation Program Award. This funding will make transformative improvements to the SBH emergency room and expand partnerships with other community organizations. Bronx residents will be able to access more high-quality health care services through these investments.”
Assemblymember John Zaccaro, Jr. said, “Today’s announcement by Governor Hochul marks the beginning of a long battle to measurably improve the health of our Bronx community and allow our seniors to age gracefully and respectfully in the environment of their choosing,” said Assemblymember John Zaccaro, Jr. (AD-80). “I would like to thank the Governor for investing in our often-forgotten community to ensure that future generations live healthier lives and that our cherished senior population and their caregivers have the resources they deserve.”
1199SIEU United Healthcare Workers East President George Gresham said, “Investing in our safety net hospitals, home care and community-based services is crucial to reducing healthcare inequities and supporting the wellbeing of New Yorkers at every age. The caregivers of 1199SEIU applaud Governor Hochul for this initiative, which brings crucial funding to meet the needs of Bronx residents.”
These investments complement ongoing work by the State and stakeholders to develop the Governor’s Master Plan for Aging (MPA), established by Governor Kathy Hochul under Executive Order 23 in November 2022 with the goals of improving the lives of today’s older New Yorkers and people with disabilities, and building a better system of care and more inclusive communities for the future.
Shane Getson, MLA for Lac. Ste. Anne-Parkland and Justin Wright, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat will spearhead this mission to the U.S. as they rejoin U.S. legislators and officials for the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) 2025 capital visits. Their time in Salem will build on conversations that MLAs had with key decision makers and delegates during the first round of PNWER Capital Visits held throughout the month of January.
MLAs Getson and Wright will help to reinforce conversations that Premier Smith had with lawmakers and officials in the U.S. capital during the week of President Trump’s inauguration, further solidifying Alberta as the answer to North American energy, food and data security.
“Alberta’s membership in PNWER has offered us a valuable platform for forging partnerships and having important conversations that have helped form the foundations of our long-standing, mutually beneficial relationship with the U.S. – a relationship that is more important than ever. The economies of Alberta and the U.S. are highly integrated, which is why Alberta has found, and will continue to find allies at the state level on issues of importance to our province – particularly energy security.”
“I look forward to this opportunity to lend my voice to the important conversation we are having with our U.S. friends and allies as Alberta’s government continues its efforts to enhance this important trade relationship and promote the common interests that bring Albertans and Americans together.”
While in Salem, MLAs Getson and Wright will participate in meetings with state leadership, Pacific Northwest legislators, academia and corporate leaders to promote the valuable role Alberta can play in supporting North American energy dominance. Other priority topics will include addressing border issues, securing supply chains and economic corridors, and enhancing mutually beneficial trade and investment that will ensure our economies churn out the jobs and goods Americans and Canadians rely on.
PNWER is a non-partisan, public/private partnership that was established in 1991 to advance the economic well-being, quality of life and common interests of its 10 member jurisdictions, which include the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington, the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Mission expenses will be posted on the travel and expense disclosure page.
Quick facts
The U.S. is Alberta’s largest trading partner and Alberta is the second-largest provincial exporter to the U.S.
In 2023, Alberta’s exports to the U.S. totalled C$156 billion, accounting for about 90 per cent of total provincial exports in 2023.
Energy products accounted for about C$127.5 billion, or 82 per cent, of the province’s exports to the U.S.
Other important export sectors included plastics, forestry, meat and machinery.
In 2023, Alberta imported about C$25.8 billion in products from the U.S., including energy, machinery, aircrafts, vehicles and plastics.
The Pacific Northwest is an important trade region for Alberta. In 2023, bilateral trade between Alberta and the PNWER U.S. member states totalled C$25.7 billion.
Alberta’s government takes comments made by President Donald Trump about imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian exports to the U.S. very seriously.
Alberta’s government does not support tariffs on Canadian exports or U.S. imports. Tariffs on Canadian and U.S. goods make life more expensive for everyday Canadians and everyday Americans.
Itinerary for MLAs Getson and Wright*
Feb. 3
Travel to Salem, OR.
Feb. 4-5
Meet with U.S. legislators and officials as part of the PNWER 2025 Capital Visits.
Feb. 6
Travel to Alberta.
*Subject to change.
Related information
Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER)
Related news
Championing unity with our partners in the U.S. (Jan. 10, 2025)
Promoting an era of parnership with the U.S. (Jan. 17, 2025)
Alberta’s government is committed to making sure front-line health care workers have the tools necessary to deliver the highest quality of care, especially in emergencies where every second counts. By improving access to critical patient information, this initiative will strengthen the efficiency and quality of emergency care for all Albertans.
Starting Jan. 30, paramedics providing front-line care will have view-only access to Connect Care. They will be able to look up the most up-to-date health information, including medication lists, lab results, electrocardiograms and medical imaging. Allowing paramedics to view patient records on site will empower them to make informed clinical decisions and improve patient outcomes during critical moments.
“The introduction of Connect Care view-only access is a crucial advancement for our emergency medical services. This initiative reflects our commitment to equipping our paramedics with the necessary tools to deliver timely and informed care, ensuring the safety and well-being of Albertans in their most vulnerable moments.”
From June to August 2024, Alberta Health Services (AHS) piloted Connect Care view-only access with fixed-wing air ambulance paramedics stationed in Calgary and Medicine Hat. The pilot assessed the training, access and use of Connect Care, with paramedics providing positive feedback. The trial demonstrated improvements in clinical decision-making and patient safety, leading to the decision for a provincewide rollout.
“Paramedics have a multitude of abilities that make them a valuable part of the health care system. Having swift access to additional tools/data will notably assist them in providing enhanced care to all Albertans.”
Connect Care operates with rigorous oversight, including a 24-hour Smart Audit system, which flags any unusual activities for immediate review by the AHS privacy breach team. Comprehensive training and support will be provided to ensure a smooth transition, including user guides and other resources to help paramedics access the system.
“Paramedics are highly skilled health professionals who deliver exceptional care, relying both on their clinical expertise and information gathered from patients and bystanders. The expansion of Connect Care view-only access represents a transformative advancement in emergency medical services, enhancing their ability to deliver even higher levels of care.”
Alberta’s government recognizes the essential role a fully integrated clinical documentation system plays in promoting collaboration among health care providers. This expansion of Connect Care access is a significant step forward in ensuring paramedics have timely access to patient health information when it’s most crucial for Albertans.
Quick facts
Connect Care view-only access will be provided to both AHS emergency medical services paramedics as well as contract service providers delivering front-line care.
Source: United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas-21) introduced the Personalized Care Act (PCA). The bill makes Americans’ health care more portable, accessible, and tailored to meet their unique needs. It expands Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), enabling millions of Americans to access and utilize these tax advantaged savings tools to manage their health care costs.
Upon introduction, Sen. Cruz said, “I’m fighting to return control to patients and their doctors—not Washington bureaucrats. Democrats are pushing for full government control of America’s health care. The Personalized Care Act expands Health Savings Accounts, increases portability, and makes it easier for families to make health care decisions for themselves. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation expeditiously.”
Rep. Roy said, “Every year America’s healt hcare system becomes more expensive and less accessible due to the crony capitalist swamp of corporate and government interests that prioritizes power and profits over patients and doctors. The Personalized Care Act would re-empower the American people to break out of this broken system to make their own health care decisions with control over their health care dollars — as outlined in my recent report on America’s health care system. I am proud to introduce this bill with my friend Senator Ted Cruz to take on the Big Health Care racket. If we want to Make America Healthy Again — if we want to make care truly affordable — the answer is health care freedom. The Personalized Care Act is a needed step towards that goal.”
This legislation was cosponsored by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.).
Rep. Roy (R-Texas-21) introduced the companion legislation in the House.
Read the bill text here.
BACKGROUND
Sen. Cruz has led this effort to provide greater health care freedom since 2019.
The PCA would:
Offer millions of Americans access to Health Savings Accounts. Decouples HSAs from high deductible health insurance plans, expands HSAs for individuals with Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, direct medical care, health care sharing ministries, short-term limited-duration plans, and medical indemnity plans.
Increase annual contributions. Increases HSA contribution limits from $3,550 (2020 limit) to $10,800 for individuals and from $7,100 (2020 limit) to $29,500 for families.
Expand eligible usage. Extends allowable HSA withdrawals to include direct medical care fees, health care sharing ministry fees, insurance premiums, and over the counter medications.
Eliminate regulatory confusion for patients and doctors. Defines direct medical care and health care sharing ministries as qualified medical expenses and not health plans or insurance plans.
Decrease tax penalty for nonqualified distributions. Reduces the penalty for nonqualified distributions from 20 percent to 10 percent.
This legislation is endorsed by Direct Primary Care Council, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, Heritage Action, Americans for Prosperity, Association of Mature American Citizens, Independent Medical Alliance, Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, and Health Savings Account Council.
Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) led 11 colleagues in reintroducing the Halt Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act. This legislation makes permanent the temporary classification of fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Drug overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, are the leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 45 years old. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl account for 66 percent of the total U.S. overdose deaths. The drug’s Schedule I classification is set to expire on March 31, 2025.
“The Biden administration’s open border was an invitation to drug cartels smuggling Chinese fentanyl into the U.S., fueling the U.S. overdose epidemic,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Law enforcement must have the tools necessary to combat this trend. We cannot let this Schedule I classification lapse.”
“Today, roughly 150 Americans will die from fentanyl poisoning. Cartels’ fuel this crisis by marketing their poison as legitimate prescription pills. They also avoid regulation by chemically altering the drugs to create powerful fentanyl knock-offs,” said Senator Grassley. “Congress closed that loophole by temporarily classifying fentanyl related substances under Schedule 1. The HALT Fentanyl Act would make permanent fentanyl related substances’ Schedule 1 classification and ensure law enforcement has the tools they need to combat these deadly drugs.”
“We’re losing more than 100,000 Americans each year to illicit fentanyl overdoses. I refuse to accept this reality, and that’s why I’m working to deliver tools law enforcement personnel need to keep deadly fentanyl off our streets and out of our communities,” said Senator Heinrich. “Permanently scheduling fentanyl and its analogues will help federal and local law enforcement crack down on illegal trafficking and allow prosecutors to build stronger, longer-term criminal cases. Our HALT Fentanyl Act will help stop the flow of these deadly drugs into our communities and save lives.”
Cassidy, Grassley, and Heinrich were joined by U.S. Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS), Todd Young (R-IN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-VW), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mike Rounds (R-SD), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in introducing the legislation.
The legislation also removes barriers that impede the ability of researchers to conduct studies on fentanyl-related substances and allows for exemptions if such research provides evidence that it would be beneficial for specific substances to be classified differently than Schedule I, such as for medical purposes.
From August 2021 to August 2022, a record-breaking 107,735 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses. The surge was primarily fueled by synthetic opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China. In 2022, there were over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), more than doubling the amount seized in 2021.
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Background
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2023. This was primarily fueled by synthetic opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China. In 2022, there were over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), more than doubling the amount seized in 2021.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the HALT Fentanyl Act in March 2023.