RFK Jr. says {that a} lead poisoning prevention crew is working. Senators say it is not : Photographs

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4386x2924+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6d%2F17%2F26e7d9754c82a569d679f14fa06e%2Fgettyimages-2216099156.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4386x2924+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6d%2F17%2F26e7d9754c82a569d679f14fa06e%2Fgettyimages-2216099156.jpg" class="img" alt="Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is shown in a close up photo in a congressional hearing room. He's wearing a blue jacket, blue shirt and blue tie. " fetchpriority="high"/> Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified earlier than the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, Might 20 in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Photos cover caption

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Tasos Katopodis/Getty Photos "We've got a crew in Milwaukee," Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified to senators in a listening to on Tuesday.

He was talking a couple of lead publicity disaster within the public colleges there. Town well being division had requested help from specialists on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention to handle it. "We're giving laboratory help to the analytics in Milwaukee and we're working with the well being division in Milwaukee," Kennedy added.

However Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, from Wisconsin, had a distinct story. "There are not any employees on the bottom deployed to Milwaukee to handle the lead publicity of youngsters in colleges," she mentioned. Six colleges within the metropolis have needed to shut due to lead, she mentioned, displacing 1,800 college students.

So is there a crew of federal lead specialists in Milwaukee or not?

"There isn't a crew in Milwaukee," Milwaukee Well being Commissioner Mike Totoraitis tells NPR. "We had a single [federal] employees individual come to Milwaukee for a quick interval to assist validate a machine, however that was separate from the formal request that we had for a small crew to truly come to Milwaukee for our Milwaukee Public Faculties investigation and ongoing help there."

Totoraitis says Secretary Kennedy could have been misinformed.

The contradictions about this program that had been on show on Capitol Hill Tuesday are emblematic of Kennedy's strategy to the well being businesses. He speaks passionately concerning the well being of youngsters and the threats of environmental toxins to People' well being, however he is struggled to elucidate particular actions his company has taken to downsize and restructure even in these areas that he says are his precedence.

Fired employees, however this system's 'persevering with' Lead is a neurotoxin that's frequent in older buildings, particularly in paint and pipes. It might trigger developmental issues in kids.

On April 1, the employees of the CDC's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program was fired as a part of the company's discount in power. This system included epidemiologists, statisticians and advisors who specialised in lead poisoning — from detecting the supply of publicity to planning an efficient response.

At an occasion a number of days after that, an ABC Information reporter requested Kennedy about that lead crew being reduce. "There have been some applications that had been cuts which are being reinstated. I consider that that is a kind of," he mentioned.

Not so, CDC employees that had labored on that crew advised NPR, as none of them had heard something about being reinstated. Kennedy's personal communications employees at HHS additionally advised ABC, "The personnel for that present division, of the way it exists now, will not be being reinstated. The work will proceed elsewhere at HHS."

Final week in a congressional price range listening to, Kennedy was requested concerning the cuts by Baldwin. "Do you plan to get rid of this department at CDC?" she requested.

Kennedy responded, "No, we don't." He additionally mentioned he thought lead poisoning in kids was an "extraordinarily important concern."

On Tuesday, Kennedy appeared earlier than a distinct Senate committee, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., requested Kennedy to make clear what was happening. "So far as we will inform, employees has not but been employed, and I've seen no statements reversing your determination to get rid of this system."

So, Reed mentioned, "Which is it?"

Kennedy responded: "We're persevering with to fund this system." He later added, "my understanding is that program is continuous," and he provided to speak to Reed after the listening to to "discover out what the main points are."

NPR requested HHS whether or not any of the firings for the CDC employees that had labored on that crew had been revoked. In an announcement, HHS responded: "As HHS finalizes its detailed reorganization plans, the Division will probably be wanting into all strategic applications and priorities for the Secretary and the nation. The work of this program will proceed."

HHS didn't reply a follow-up query to make clear whether or not which means rehiring employees or doing the work with contractors or one thing else.

HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard wrote, "CDC is helping with validating new lab instrumentation used for environmental lead testing" on the request of the Milwaukee Well being Division.

Kennedy mentioned all through his testimony earlier than three totally different congressional panels that he can't converse intimately concerning the reorganization due to ongoing litigation. He has beforehand mentioned that CDC had "mission creep" and can solely handle infectious illnesses going ahead.

Kennedy intends to open a brand new company referred to as the Administration for a Wholesome America — AHA — to work on continual illnesses, psychological well being, and different well being points, however particulars of the timeline for when will probably be lively and who will employees it haven't been made public.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F26%2F90%2F67a7b8cc470e8db71097fff3953c%2Fgettyimages-2215577984.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8192x5464+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F26%2F90%2F67a7b8cc470e8db71097fff3953c%2Fgettyimages-2215577984.jpg" class="img" alt="U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D.-Wis., is shown in a close up photo in the Capitol. " loading="lazy"/> U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D.-Wis., speaks with the press after the Democrats' coverage luncheon on Tuesday. Nathan Posner/Anadolu through Getty Photos cover caption

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Nathan Posner/Anadolu through Getty Photos "You may't simply slash funding, hearth everybody, slap a slogan on a brand new company and say that work will proceed," Baldwin advised Kennedy within the listening to. "Your determination to fireplace employees and get rid of workplaces is endangering kids, together with hundreds of youngsters in Milwaukee. If in case you have a proposal to make these applications work higher, current it and justify it."

Milwaukee says it nonetheless wants help Totoraitis, Milwaukee's well being commissioner, says it is unusual that the native lead response has been the middle of this nationwide story concerning the restructuring of federal well being businesses.

"I see this disaster, sadly, as this canary within the coal mine of what's being dismantled and what might probably grow to be actually catastrophic for our nation," he says.

At this level, a number of school-aged kids have been discovered to have excessive ranges of lead of their blood, which has been traced again to varsities. Previously, the well being division has handled lead poisoning taking place in residential houses. "This can be a large pivot for our division to need to now be investigating colleges," he says. "The district has over 140 college buildings that each one have some various ranges of lead paint hazards."

They needed CDC experience to assist handle this disaster and had labored for months on a proper request for CDC employees help, he says.

"They had been going to ship that crew to Milwaukee to assist us with the investigation, screening, information administration," he says. As soon as the federal employees was all laid off, the request was formally denied, he explains, "as a result of they did not have any material specialists inside the whole CDC to help the childhood lead investigation that we had been doing."

Totoraitis says the general public college lead disaster in his metropolis hasn't stopped, and now his native crew is scrambling to determine how one can handle with out the professional help from CDC.