During Tuesday's House Ways And Means Committee hearing, Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) asked President Trump to withdraw the nomination of HHS Inspector General Thomas March Bell for previous mishandling of taxpayer dollars.
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00:00And with that, I'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from Illinois, the ranking member, and my friend, Representative Davis, for his opening statement.
00:07Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank you for this hearing.
00:13I also want to thank all of our witnesses for coming and sharing with us.
00:18I greatly appreciate our subcommittee's bipartisan work on home visiting and child welfare in particular.
00:26But I can't sit here this afternoon and pretend that this hearing is anything but a preemptive justification to support cuts that will keep struggling families struggling and secure the wealthiest and most secure people in our country.
00:50Nor can I ignore that our Republican partners remain silent while Secretary Kennedy took Elon Musk's chainsaw to the Department of Health and Human Services, put in implementation of all our work at risk.
01:10If our goal is truly to discuss TANF reform, why do my Republican colleagues continue promising deep cuts in TANF and similar programs like the Social Services Block Grant to pay for tax giveaways to the wealthy?
01:30Cutting TANF funding will cut child care, child welfare services, and help for struggling parents, making the lives of children and families worse, not better.
01:45If the goal is to make TANF accountable, I urge my colleagues to support the bill Representative Chu and I introduced to give HHS the tools they need to penalize states for gross malfeasance.
02:03State accountability was left out of the original law by design of its Republican drafters, and only Congress can fix that.
02:13If accountability is important, I urge my colleagues to join me in calling on President Trump to withdraw his nomination of Thomas March bail for HHS Inspector General, given that he was fired from a previous job for mishandling taxpayer dollars.
02:38Focusing on the minutiae of TANF policy seemed to sidestep our subcommittee's obligation to ask more important questions.
02:49Are families better off than they were four months ago?
02:53And will the Republican Congress provide the supports Americans need to survive the recession and harm caused by the Trump policies?
03:04Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding no.
03:09The Trump tariff tax is making the cost of basic necessities like food, housing, and utilities spike,
03:18while savings and retirement balances have plummeted by trillions of dollars,
03:25while retirees fear their survival, as President Trump and Elon Musk work to dismantle the Social Security Administration.
03:37I appreciate the work of the experts here before us, and I thank you.
03:43But focusing on narrow process issues instead of protecting the people we represent from cruel and chaotic policies
03:53is like focusing on the details of a fire truck while the house burns down.
04:01Seniors, children, and families need us to act to protect them.
04:08I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and yield back.
04:10Thank you, Mr. Chairman.