1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I am writing to express my serious concern about newly released documents that appear to directly contradict statements made by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his Senate confirmation hearings. Kennedy repeatedly told senators that his 2019 trip to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines.” Yet a January 2019 letter he personally wrote to Samoa’s prime minister—on Children’s Health Defense letterhead—explicitly proposed that his team study Samoa’s MMR vaccination program. The letter mentions “vaccine” or “vaccination” eight times and specifically discusses investigating the deaths of two children following improperly mixed MMR vaccinations. A colleague also described the planned trip as a vaccine-related “mission.” That evidence raises a serious question: Why did Kennedy repeatedly tell the Senate that vaccines had nothing to do with the trip? There is an important legal distinction here: Kennedy was not under oath during his confirmation hearings, so these statements would not constitute perjury simply because they were made to the Senate. However, federal law does prohibit certain knowing and willful material false statements to the government, and Congress should determine whether his conduct violated any applicable law. At the very least, deliberately misleading the senators responsible for deciding whether he was qualified to lead HHS is a profound breach of trust. The consequences of vaccine misinformation are not theoretical. Kennedy was previously chairman and chief legal counsel of Children’s Health Defense, an organization known for its anti-vaccine activism. His Samoa visit occurred shortly before a devastating measles outbreak in which 83 people died, mostly children under five. Public-health experts have raised concerns that anti-vaccine activism contributed to the crisis. We are now seeing the consequences of declining vaccine confidence here at home. The United States has experienced a major resurgence of measles, with 2,777 confirmed cases reported by the CDC as of August 20, 2026, including cases in Iowa. Measles was declared eliminated from endemic transmission in the United States in 2000. We should not be allowing a preventable disease to regain a foothold. At the same time, Americans depend on HHS and the FDA to protect them from foodborne illnesses. The current Cyclospora outbreak associated with iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico has resulted in 10,930 reported illnesses, 454 hospitalizations, and two deaths across 17 states, according to the FDA. These are exactly the circumstances in which Americans need a Secretary of Health and Human Services who follows science, listens to public-health experts, and—above all—tells Congress and the American people the truth. I urge you to support a congressional investigation into Kennedy’s statements about his Samoa trip, his relationships with anti-vaccine organizations, and whether he knowingly misled Congress during his confirmation. If the evidence establishes that he deliberately provided false or materially misleading information, there must be consequences. This should not be a partisan issue. When the person responsible for protecting the health of 340 million Americans cannot be trusted to tell Congress the truth, Congress has a responsibility to demand answers.