Business Meeting on Math, Financial Aid, Homeschool, Transplants, Cybersecurity

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will please come to order. It is the view of this chair, and I think the view of my down-diased members, that our job as legislators is to legislate, which is why we were elected. And as chair, I want us all to work together to pass legislation that makes The life of an American citizen better. That should be our goal. The bills before us are not controversial. We wrote these bills together. This is the low hanging fruit on us working together to make life better for our fellow Americans. Not partisan. We just pulled it off. There's no reason why what we're discussing today should not become law. I thank Senators Collins, Marshall, Moody, Banks, Tuberville, Kane, Murphy, also Brooks and Kim on this committee and Senators Cotton, Gillibrand, Cornyn and Warner outside the committee for working across the aisle to come up with these bills. Now, speaking of the living Living Donor Protection Act, I am a doctor who treated patients who were on the organ transplant list, knowing that sometimes people die on the organ transplant list because an organ does not become available. If we can make a living donation more possible, that is something we should do. Cotton and Gillibrand's Living Donor Protection Act protects the selfless individuals who choose to donate one or part of their organs. It safeguards their right to time off, to recover and protect them, and it protects them from future insurance coverage denials. By making it more appealing to donate organs, more people will donate, more lives will be saved. Another issue we address is the threat of cyber attacks on the healthcare system. Last year there were more than seven hundred and thirty cyber breaches affecting over two hundred and seventy million Americans. There's I think three hundred and forty million of us, and so that's by far most of us. The biggest attack happened to change healthcare, exposing a hundred and ninety million people's data. and delaying access to care. As technology continues to advance, so does the risk of cyber attacks. My healthcare Cybersecurity and Resilience Act, with Senators Hassan, Cornyn and Warner, better prepares us to address future cyber attacks from adversaries. Senator Hassan's and Blackburn's Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act modernizes how math is taught to better prepare students. Clearly, What we're doing now is not working. At the beginning of the year, I launched an inquiry into thirty-five selective colleges to better understand the prevalence and root causes of declines in math preparedness for college-level math classes. Current K through twelve mathematics instruction is not keeping pace with the evolving needs of employers especially in data-driven industries. And this mismatch contributes to a growing STEM talent grant, The talent gap enforces employers to spend time and resources on retraining workers, training workers, or hiring talent from overseas. Senator Moody's, Senator, Senator Moody's Homeschool Graduation Recognition Act ensures that colleges recognize students who are homeschooled in high school. And this simply clarifies existing law. It does not create new mandates, new spending, or new federal standards. more and more parents are homeschooling, that choice and those parents should be supported, which this bill does. These bills advance a pro-patient, pro-worker, pro-family agenda. I look forward to supporting them. I hope you all do. With that, I recognize Senator Sanders.

Uh, thank you, Mister Chairman. Uh, I have no problems uh with uh the four pieces of legislation you discussed. I think they're all important and I think they're non-controversial. But I do have problems on other issues related to this committee, and maybe you can help me out here. Uh, it has been two hundred and eighty-eight days since Robert F. Kennedy, the secretary of health and human services, has testified in front of our committee. And I think that is of concern to all members, uh, of this committee. Obviously, there have been a lot of changes. Uh, I am deeply concerned about what Kennedy and his team are doing with regard to vaccines and other areas. Can you give us an update as to whether or not Kennedy is about gonna keep his word? I think he made a commitment to you that he would come before this committee. Can you give us a status revo on that?

He did make a commitment to all of us that he would come to this committee. We have requested his presence. Of course, I cannot put a gun to his head and show up, but they have assured us that they will come, uh, and we anticipate that in the near future. that's the best i can do for you but we continue to ask the secretary to honor that commitment

alright i trust and i know that your staff is working hard to make that happen uh but i think i think i would hope i speak to every member of this committee uh that he has an obligation uh to come before this committee and to respond to the questions that the american people have so i look forward working with you on that well let's see if we can get him here uh in a similar way i have concerns about the secretary of education uh there is another issue and i think it is also an issue that every member of the uh committee uh is concerned with and it's kind of bipartisan and that is we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs i live fifty miles away from the canadian border uh on several occasions i have taken Vermonters and americans over the border uh to buy drugs for one tenth the price that they're being sold in america and i think Nobody in this committee, I think, thinks that makes any sense whatsoever. We've made progress under the Biden administration, beginning first time, to negotiate prescription drug prices clearly. We have a long way to go. I have legislation, which is somewhat in the ballpark of what Trump is talking about. It basically says that in the United States we should not be paying more on average than what other major countries pay for prescription drugs. I was gonna offer that amendment, but I understand we have a commitment that we will at least have a uh a hearing to talk about the high cost of prescription drugs is that correct

we absolutely will have a hearing about the high cost of prescription drugs

and we got a date i think established for that

and we have a date

good ok well with those commitments that we're gonna work together to make sure that secretary mcmahon and secretary kennedy come here they will have a hearing uh on the high cost of prescription drugs legislation that i've offered i am not gonna offer amendments i think there may be some other democrats who will but that's where i'm coming from thank you

Thank you. We'll now begin consideration of today's bills. For the awareness of all senators and staff, we intend to vote on amendments as they are raised, but will hold a vote on final passage of both bills to the end of the session. We'll keep members and staff updated on the timing of vote on the final passage. I do ask colleagues to limit remarks to two minutes when discussing either of the bills they're offered in an amendment. As we have lots of, well, maybe not amendments to get through. Uh, as a reminder, when discussing an amendment, please identify which you're um discussing by its name and by its number. We'll now begin consideration of S sixteen O two, the Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act. I'm trying to figure out if that is an acronym, but I can't quite pull it off. Um, the National Science Foundation exists to support America's scientific and technical workforce. S sixteen O two supports that mission. Students need skills in mathematical modeling and statistics to engage in a competitive workforce that demands data-driven problem-solving and analytical reasoning. This bill makes a federal investment to better prepare students by connecting classroom learning with real-world skills, and helps to build a national STEM talent pipeline across state, schools, universities, and industry. I thank Senators Hasson and Blackburn for their work on this bill. Um, um, I would urge all members to join in tabling amendments if offer, if those amendments are offered, and support passage of sixteen O two without amendment, as this is a product of weeks of negotiation. Now, does anyone have an amendment which they would like to offer? It appears not. That concludes consideration of S sixteen O two. Should I just go to the next?

Yep, it's next.

We'll now begin consideration of S thirty-seven forty-seven, the home school graduation, excuse me, recognition act. This bill ensures that no additional burdens are placed on home school students seeking admission to college such as requiring completion of a GED course. It also clarifies existing law related to home school recognition without creating new mandates, new spending or new federal standards. In the twenty, twenty-two to twenty-three school year, about three point four percent of K through twelve students were homeschooled, which was a point six percent increase from twenty-eighteen through nineteen, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics data. As homeschooling continues to grow, Congress has a responsibility to ensure laws reflect that reality. I thank Senator Moody for her work on this legislation. Uh, Florida is obviously a leader in this, and she reflects her state but also our country. It passed the House Education and Workforce Committee thirty three to zero, uh obviously obviously bipartisan. I urge all members to join in tabling amendments to the bill, which again is a product of weeks of negotiation, and support S thirty seven forty seven without amendment. We'll now begin consideration, should someone have an amendment.

Mister Chair.

Senator Koehn.

Um, Mister Chair, I su- support the bill and Virginia's law is in accord with the provisions in the bill but I do have two somewhat overlapping amendments and as an inducement to pass them rather than take one if you vote yes on the first one I won't offer the second one um but if i could call up first um Sanders amendment three to the bill and if i could explain briefly and i i thank uh the ranking member Sanders for letting me call this up this is an amendment to the bill that would prohibit the department of education from transferring out programs that congress put within the department without getting congressional approval. On November eighteenth, twenty twenty five, the department announced that it had entered into six inter-agency agreements to transfer over fifty elementary, secondary, and post-secondary ed programs, covering thirty four billion in annual funding to other federal agencies with no capacity or expertise. They didn't let Congress know till seven weeks after they had done that. They put programs in agencies that had no expertise. They later did the same thing with all career and technical education programs, sending them to the Department of Labor. Just this week on Monday, the department decided that the K-twelve programs that were originally moved to the Department of Labor

Mm-hmm.

aren't a good fit and should be moved to HHS instead. So of the fifty plus career in tech that were sent, they're now pulling five and sending to other agencies. Congress created the Department of Education. Only Congress can eliminate it. If you want to abolish it or move programs, you should seek our approval rather than doing them and telling about us later. And for that reason, I believe Sanders' Amendment three makes a lot of sense.

The amendment is unrelated to the homeschooling bill being considered. If Democrats wish to discuss this with the Trump administration productively, The ranking member is fully aware that I'm working to schedule another appearance for secretary McMahon before this committee. And I have personally spoken to the secretary regarding that. I will vote to table this amendment and encourage colleagues to do the same. Um. The clerk shall call the roll.

Mr.

No, I'm sorry. Hold on. Does anybody else wish to speak?

Mr. Pres- Mr. Chairman. Um, I'm sympathetic to a lot of what Senator Kaine has said. Uh, there are certain programs, for example, title one and IDEA that I do not think are a good fit for being transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services. There are other programs, such as certain uh workforce training programs that i do think the department of labor can administer in a appropriate way without undermining those programs. So it my dilemma on an amendment like this is the breadth of the amendment because if on some of the more narrowly tailored amendments. I believe the senator from Virginia and I would agree. And indeed, I've talked with the secretary um and expressed my concerns, particularly about title one and IDA. Um so I'm I'm wondering if the better approach is to have the hearing with the secretary and go over um what her plans are rather than trying to do this on a piecemeal basis on a bill that is not related and that's my dilemma this morning

if i could mister chair i i appreciate that and i think many of us might agree that some moving of some programs could make sense and you could get congressional approval for that i think the willy-nilly moving of fifty into all these other agencies, some of which have now been retracted from DOL over to HHS without telling us, without seeking our permission is the problem. And so I do, I would like to pursue this, but I would be amenable to a voice vote on the motion at table. And and if we ever get that hearing, that would be the line of questions that I would intend to pursue with the secretary.

And is my commitment to try and get that hearing i i i firmly believe in our responsibility in oversight so um senator kane is ok with a voice vote uh would all those in favor say aye

aye

and all those uh uh to to table now all those in favor of tabling say aye

aye

aye all those opposed say nay

nay ok

the i's appear to have it the i's do have it the the motion is tabled

And and, Mister Chair, I'll just briefly make the narrower motion, but would also accept a voice vote on the narrower motion. And that is just to restrict my motion to prohibiting the secretive education uh I'm sorry let me call it Cain amendment seven. And the purpose is to restrict the secretive education from transferring IDEA or vocational rehab programs run by the office of special education to any other agency without congressional approval. narrowing it just to rehab services and the idea. And again, if my colleagues are amenable, I would accept a voice vote on the motion to table.

And and I will again say that this is not related to the homeschooling bill being considered. Uh, I I would I do move to table, and with Senator Cain's permission, we'll take it to voice vote. Uh, will all those in favor of tabling please say aye? Aye. will all those uh opposed tabling please say nay

nay nay uh-huh

the ayes appear to have it the ayes have it we shall table thank you senator k let's conclude this concludes consideration of s thirty seven forty seven Um, next we will go to consideration of S fifteen fifty-two, the living donor protection act of twenty twenty five. Uh, I'll just say again as I spoke earlier, having personal experience with people who volunteer to give their organs for a loved one, a living organ donor is a hero. They donate one or part of their own organ to save a life. And they should not face discrimination or punishment for making this life-giving choice. I'm proud of this committee's bipartisan work to improve organ donation and transplantation including recent passage of the Honor Our Living Donors Act and the OPTN Fee Collection Authority Act. I look forward to building on that record by supporting this legislation. I encourage colleagues to support the Manager's Amendment and in joining in tabling other amendments. We do have a Manager's Amendment S fifteen fifty-two i move to adopt the manager's amendment in the nature of a substitute and have it considered original text for the purpose of further amendments all those in favor please say aye

aye aye

all opposed say nay the ayes have it the motion is agreed to we'll now begin considerations of any amendments to the bill this concludes consideration of s fifteen fifty two

i can't click because i'm sorry

OK. So let's go now quickly to S thirty three fifteen, uh the Healthcare Cybersecurity Resiliency Act of twenty twenty five. I thank Senators Hassan, Cornyn and Warner for joining, uh in their leadership on this issue. Improving cybersecurity resilience is essential to safeguard patients and ensure that healthcare providers can deliver care without disruption. The change healthcare cyber-attack in twenty twenty four had widespread impacts on patient care. This bill enhances cyber security across the healthcare system to better withstand these attacks. I urge colleagues enjoining to support the manager's amendment and tabling other amendments. Now, on to the manager's amendment S thirty three fifteen. I move to adopt it in the nature of a substitute and have it considered original text for the purpose of further amendments. All in favor please say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say nay. The ayes have it, the motions agreed to. We'll now begin consideration of any amendments.

Chairman.

Senator Murphy.

Uh, Mister Chairman, um, I have an amendment, I'm not gonna call it up to spare the clerk. Um, the hassle of distributing it, I'm gonna follow. Uh, the ranking members lead here. Um, but I just did wanna, um, note for the committee the substance of the amendment because I think it's still incredibly relevant for this committee. Um, this committee did not do any hearings on the big beautiful bill. We did not hold a mark-up, and yet we will be responsible for Um, hospitals all across this country begged us not to pass that piece of legislation. They told us that it would end up in massive closures of hospitals writ large, but also many departments in those hospitals. I I support the underlying bill. I don't deny that cyber security uh, is an important challenges, uh, challenge that hospitals face. But the primary challenge they face is the withdrawal of one trillion dollars from the health care system and the loss of Medicaid coverage for fifteen million of their patients. Um, one study suggests there are seven hundred hospitals all across the country right now that are at risk of cloture. Not because of cyber security costs, but because of the legislation that this Congress passed, which undermines in a dramatic way their revenue streams. Already, twenty-five maternity care providers and maternity departments and hospitals have closed all across this country, just in a handful of months since this bill went into effect. My amendment would have just said, let's do a study. Um, let's ask GAO to do an ongoing study so we can assess what the state of uh hospital care is in this country and what impact that legislation had on it. Um, I I appreciate the discussions that our ranking member and chair have had. I look forward to having uh, Secretary Kennedy before the committee so that we can ask some of these questions directly of him. But I do hope that um this committee will do work to try to understand the the crisis that is slowly unfolding in our hospitals all across the country as a result of this massive cut in medicaid funding

senator sanders

i agree with senator murphy i appreciate his withdrawing not asking for a vote today we need to have that serious discussion that's all i know there are differences of opinion but when you cut healthcare by a trillion dollars throw fifteen million people off the healthcare they have there are consequences to that And I hope we can address those consequences, but they have to be discussed. So I support where Senator Murphy is coming from, and I hope we can have that discussion.

This concludes consideration of S thirty-three fifteen. We'll now move to final passage on S sixteen O two as amended. I move to favorably report S sixteen O two as amended. The clerk will call the roll.

Senator Paul?

No, by proxy.

center collins

aye

center mccousi center mullen

yes by proxy

center marshall

aye

center scott

yes by proxy

center holly center tuberville center banks center houston center moody

oh she's yes by proxy

center sanders

aye

senator murray

aye by proxy um

senator baldwin

aye

senator murphy senator kain

aye

senator hassan

aye by proxy any any any

senator hickenlooper

uh he did a you know

senator markey

he said he said he thought we already aye by proxy

senator kim

we have a specific meeting to go around aye by proxy

senator blount rochester

aye by proxy we have to have a free meeting

senator altschulbuchs

if you think it's aye by proxy

yes

it's important

chairman cassidy

aye

Have twenty two ayes. One nay.

The ayes have it, the bill is agreed to, and will be favorably reported as amendment. As amended, we now move to final passage of S thirty seven forty seven as amended. I move to favorably report S thirty seven forty seven as amended. The clerk shall call the roll.

Senator Paul.

Aye by proxy.

Senator Collins.

Aye.

Senator Murkowski. Senator Mullen.

Aye by proxy.

Senator Marshall. sir scott

aye by proxy

senator holey

aye

senator tuberville

aye

senator banks

aye

senator houston

aye

senator moody

aye by proxy

senator sanders

aye

senator murray

aye by proxy

senator baldwin

aye

senator murphy senator kane

aye

senator hassin

aye by proxy

senator hickenlooper senator markey

aye by proxy

senator kim

aye by proxy

senator blount rochester

aye by proxy

Senator Alster-Brooks.

Aye, by proxy.

Yes.

Chairman Cassidy.

Aye.

Have twenty-three ayes and zero nays.

The ayes have it,

Aye.

the bill is agreed to, and will be favorably reported as amendment. We now move to final passage of S fifteen fifty-two as amended. I move to favorably report S fifteen fifty-two as amended. The clerk shall call the roll.

Senator Paul.

No, by proxy.

Senator Collins.

Aye.

Senator Rakowski.

Aye.

Senator Mullen.

yes by proxy

senator marshall

aye

senator scott

yes by proxy

senator holly senator tupperville senator banks senator houston

aye

senator moody

yes by proxy

senator sanders

aye

senator murray

aye by proxy

senator bulwin

aye

senator murphy

aye

senator kain

aye

senator hassan

aye by proxy

senator hickenlooper

aye by proxy

senator markey

aye by proxy

senator kim

aye by proxy

senator ballant rochester

aye by proxy

senator Altschulbuchs

aye by proxy

chairman cassidy

aye

have twenty two ayes one nay

the ayes have it the bill is agreed to and will be favorably reported this what we just did right now we do the healthcare cyber security and resiliency act of twenty twenty five uh we move to its final passage as amended i move to favorably report as amended the clerk will call the roll

senator paul

he is a no by proxy

senator collins

aye

senator wachowski

aye

senator mullen

oh i by uh i by proxy

senator marshall senator scott

i by proxy

senator holly senator tuberville

aye

senator banks

aye

senator houston

aye

senator moody

aye by proxy

senator sanders

aye

senator murray

aye by proxy

senator baldwin

aye

senator murphy

aye

senator kane

aye

senator hassin

aye by proxy

senator hickenlooper

aye by proxy

senator markey

aye by proxy

senator kim

aye by proxy

senator boland rochester

aye by proxy

senator ulster brooks

aye by proxy

Chairman Cassidy.

Aye.

Have twenty-two ayes, one nay.

Ayes, have it, the bill is agreed to and will be favorably reported. I now move to authorize staff to make any required technical and conforming changes when preparing S sixteen O two S thirty-seven forty-seven S fifteen fifty-two, and S thirty-three one five. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed say nay. The ayes have it, the motion is agreed to. Um. Is that it? Committee stands adjourned.