Schumer Floor Remarks on Tom Price for HHS Secretary

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today delivered remarks outlining his concerns over President Trump’s nomination of Rep. Tom Price for Health and Human Services Secretary. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

Mr. President, I rise this evening to oppose the confirmation of Rep. Tom Price to be Secretary of HHS and urge my colleagues to vote “No” on his nomination.

Representative Price might be the quintessence of President Trump’s cabinet – a creature of Washington, deeply conflicted, and far outside of the mainstream when it comes to his views on health care.

Like other nominees, philosophically he seems completed opposed to the very purpose of his department – the good governance of the health programs that cover tens of millions of Americans.

Mr. President, the confirmation of Secretary Price is the Republican’s first move in their  the first assault in the war on seniors.

Candidate Trump promised that he would not cut Medicare or Medicaid, but Congressman Price has spent his career trying to cut Medicare and Medicaid, and dismantle the Affordable Care Act.                               

Mr. President, just listen to these quotes:

• The nominee for Secretary of HHS has said, “Nothing has had a greater negative effect on the delivery of health care than the federal government’s intrusion into medicine through Medicare”
• He said he expects lawmakers to push forward with an overhaul of Medicare “within the first six to eight months” of this new Administration. 

Does that sound like someone who doesn’t want to cut Medicare and Medicaid? It doesn’t to me. It doesn’t to the American people. In fact, if you could pick someone who in either house of Congress was most likely to cut Medicare and Medicaid…you’d pick Congressman Price.

It could not be more of a contradiction to what candidate Trump promised in the campaign.

Mr. President, here’s what worries me: From what I know of the President, he will cede great authority to his Cabinet officials…content to jump from one topic to the next, one tweet to the next. I would put much greater stock in Rep. Price’s record than anything the President promised during the campaign.

And for that reason, every American who receives benefits from those programs…the millions of American seniors, women, families, and people living with disabilities… should be gravely concerned about what the tenure of a Secretary Tom Price will mean for their health care.

Mr. President, make no mistake: in the dark hours of the early morning, with the confirmation of Secretary Price, the Republicans launch the first assault in the war on seniors.                              

When it comes to the health care of older Americans, confirming Rep. Price to be HHS Secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the henhouse.

Moreover, Mr. President, it has been revealed that in his time in the House, Rep. Price engaged in a number of questionable practices related to the trading of stocks in issues that his legislation impacted.

These allegations alone might be enough to sink a nominee in another Administration. But it seems that this Cabinet is so rife with ethics challenges and conflicts of interest that Rep. Price’s conduct in the House doesn’t place him too far outside of the norm.

But Mr. President – that should be no excuse.

When you are a Congressman or a Senator, you must endeavor to avoid even the hint of a conflict of interest, let alone a situation where you are actively trading stocks that may be impacted by legislation in your committee.    

So Mr. President, because of his extreme views…but particularly because of his deeply questionable record on ethics, I believe Congressman Price should not be in line for a promotion sanctioned by this body.

I urge my colleagues to vote no on his nomination.