Rep. Schrier: Vaccinating Children is No Laughing Matter

Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA) wants to hold new Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accountable.

During Tuesday's Energy and Commerce Committee markup, Rep. Schrier pressed Republican colleagues to hold Kennedy Jr. accountable for pushing "debunked conspiracy theories," namely about vaccines.

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Republicans in committee laughed when Rep. Schrier asked the question during the markup aimed at oversight of federal agencies and the White House.

"My colleagues are laughing," Rep. Schrier said. "I just wanna be really clear again as a pediatrician: we should not have to wait for kids to get sick and die because you think this is some sort of joke."

Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reports the first child has died of measles in Texas amid an outbreak spreading in a Mennonite population.

Kennedy Jr. described the outbreak as "not unusual," and added he is watching the outbreak.

"When there are experts representing public health in this country who sow doubt about proven science about vaccines, cause parents to hesitate, and some of them to not vaccinate their children, and their children get sick, potentially die, or their children bring diseases to school to the child in that classroom with leukemia," Rep. Schrier said. "This is not a laughing matter."

Rep. Schrier's remarks come as vaccination rates in the U.S. have declined nationwide since the pandemic. Most states are below the 95 percent vaccination threshold for kidnergartners, which is the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.

Kennedy said a panel will look into the child vaccine panel, which includes measles.

There have been no cases of measels in Washington this year. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows less than 10 cases in 2024.