The following letter, authored by members of the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Board of Directors, was sent to the Senate Finance and HELP Committees on January 29, 2025.
Senator William Cassidy
Chairman
Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions
Senator Bernard Sanders
Ranking Member
Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions
Senator Michael Crapo
Chair
Committee on Finance
Senator Ron Wyden
Ranking Member
Committee on Finance
Dear Senators,
The National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) is writing to oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Kennedy is not only unqualified to lead the nation’s health care agencies but also actively dangerous to public health and to the millions of breast cancer patients in this country and all those at risk.
NBCC is a coalition of hundreds of nonpartisan member organizations from across the country representing millions of individuals, including women and men with breast cancer, their families, and friends. NBCC’s mission is to end breast cancer. We empower advocates to bring an informed patient perspective in designing research, determining quality care, establishing a legislative agenda, and other highly specialized areas of breast cancer activism. Science education programs like Project LEAD®, public policy academies, and leadership training sessions prepare lay advocates to meaningfully impact research, public policy, and healthcare.
As science-trained healthcare advocates, and as organizations that dedicate themselves to saving lives, we deserve and demand a qualified leader to serve as the top public health official in the nation.
Mr. Kennedy has a longstanding public record of taking dangerous anti-science and anti-public health views. He actively spreads false and misleading public health information. This behavior is antithetical to the mission of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is to protect and enhance the well-being of all of us. Mr. Kennedy’s actions will achieve the opposite. He will destroy the framework of health and research in this country by undermining the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and all entities whose work has saved countless lives.
As informed science advocates, as breast cancer advocates and on behalf of our families and friends, we are deeply concerned about this nomination and urge you to oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leading the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sincerely,
National Breast Cancer Coalition Board of Directors
National Breast Cancer Coalition
Frances M. Visco
ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Bonnie Anderson
Linda Hansen
Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation
Jerry Worden
Beth Emery
Breast Cancer Care and Research Fund
Michele Rakoff
Michele Atlan
Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester
Holly Anderson
Renee Nearpass
CARE Advocates Network
Carol Matyka
Karen Poliseno
Cedar Valley Cancer Committee: Beyond Pink TEAM
Christine Carpenter
Lori Seawel
Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Inc.
Francesca Vogel
Susan Murray
Dr. Susan Love Breast Cancer Advocacy
Judi Hirshfield-Bartek
Florida Breast Cancer Foundation
Valencia Robinson
Judy Perkins
Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance
Laurie Hutcheson
Brenda Sulick
Metropolitan Washington, DC Chapter of NBCC
Tania Chomiak-Salvi
Wanda Lucas
Minnesota Breast Cancer Coalition
Christine Norton
Pat Haugen
Nueva Vida
Astrid Jiménez
Laura Logie
SHARE
Jennie Santiago
Stephanie Poland
The Pink Fund
Molly MacDonald
Fran Parsons
Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation
Marylinn Minor
Katy Sawyer
Young Survival Coalition
Joy Simha
CC:
Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions
428 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Senate Committee on Finance
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
