Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Good morning. The Subcommittee will come to order.

First of all, I would like to sincerely thank all of our guests here today. We thank you for being here and taking time out of your schedule to share with us today your outlook for your departments and agencies, especially from the budget aspect.

Collectively, your offices have the responsibility for ensuring that we, as a country, are prepared to mitigate, respond to, and ideally preempt biological—and in some cases, man-made—threats to the American people.

Those of us blessed with the responsibility of public service and leadership understand that while not every choice comes with a cost, every choice comes with a price.

Sadly, I think those who will pay the price for the many mistakes made during the COVID pandemic are the most vulnerable among us.

The Subcommittee will come to order.

Good morning and thank you for being here. Mr. Secretary, it is good to have you here. It is also good to have the Budget Director from the Department here as well. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule and we appreciate your presence here. I look forward to your testimony.

I'd like to start by expressing my concern with the new rule your Department just proposed which would establish that schools violate Title Nine when they categorically ban biological male students from participating in women's sports teams. Forcing schools to allow biological teen males into girls' locker rooms is one of the greatest overreaches of the federal government I have ever seen.

Not only does this undermine decades of work in giving girls the same opportunities to compete in women's sports – the original intent of Title Nine - it creates potentially unsafe situations.

Good morning. I've really been looking forward to our hearing today. First, I would like to thank all our witnesses for taking time to come speak to us today.

Good Morning, Mr. Secretary. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education for our very first budget hearing of the year, which happens to also be my first budget hearing as Chairman. We are looking forward to hearing your testimony.

Mr. Secretary, as I've been coming up to speed as the new Chairman, I've been learning more about the incredible breadth of programs under your jurisdiction. From overseeing research that we hope will cure diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's, providing childcare and early learning for our littlest Americans, training our next generation of medical professionals, and administering health insurance for our Nation's poor and aging populations, it is clear that your responsibilities are many.