Dr. Debra Houry testified before a bipartisan Senate committee on Wednesday, detailing her tenure at the fractious CDC and her decision to resign in late August following the firing of CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez.
U.S. public health head honcho Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., fired Monarez over disagreements in vaccine policy, saying she was not “trustworthy.” Houry resigned from her role on August 27, part of a wave of top health officials who left the agency in protest of RFK’s management.
Joining her former colleague in appearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Houry said she could not stay at the CDC “in good conscience” because of Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agenda. She said that Kennedy has “censored CDC science, politicized its processes and stripped leaders of independence” during his tenure.
“Due to the secretary’s actions, our nation is on track to see drastic increases in preventable diseases and declines in health,” Houry said.
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Houry spoke of the “long-term consequences” of Kennedy’s handling of public health. She said that the secretary’s gutting of a vaccine advisory committee has left the nation unprepared to combat outbreaks.
“Given what I have seen, if we continue down this path, we are not prepared, not just for pandemics, but for preventing chronic health disease, and we’re going to see kids dying of vaccine-preventable diseases,” Houry said.
Houry and Monarez’s testimony brought both praise and scorn from senators on the committee. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called Houry and Monarez “public health heroes” who did not bend to “political ideology.”
“When confronted with pressure to make decisions based on political science, you chose real science,” Markey said.
