Political Quotes

On the recordSeptember 26, 2023
in March of 2021, I came to the floor and spoke about Xavier Becerra's abysmal record before voting to confirm him as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Here is what I pointed out to my colleagues: He had no meaningful experience in public health, no meaningful experience in running a large-scale logistical operation, and a career's worth of hostility toward basic constitutional rights. My colleagues across the aisle didn't listen on this, and now his record as Secretary is worse than anyone could have imagined or predicted. My colleagues who helped confirm him entrusted him with the lives of some of the world's most vulnerable children. Unaccompanied minors who are apprehended by Border Patrol are transferred to the care of Health and Human Services. This is clearly a big job considering that the Biden border crisis has led to over 300,000 encounters with unaccompanied children at our Nation's southern border. I am sure that these precious children thought they would finally be safe under the care of Health and Human Services and the sponsors they were ultimately going to be released to. But Secretary Becerra proved what we already knew; that he was not up to the challenge of such a large Department with such expansive authority and that he had no experience that was relative. Without explanation, HHS loosened the vetting requirements for sponsors, eliminating certain background checks and reviews of the children's files.…
Said by
Marsha Blackburn
Republican · Tennessee

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