Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today issued the following statement in response to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar’s refusal to testify at an oversight hearing on the Trump Administration’s inhumane Family Separation Policy:
“Earlier this month, I announced one of the Committee’s first hearings would be to examine the failures of the Trump Administration’s inhumane Family Separation Policy that separated more than 2,500 children from their parents or guardians. It has been eight months since this cruel policy came to light, and Secretary Azar has yet to appear before Congress at a hearing specifically on this policy. That’s outrageous, and now this troubling report last week from HHS’s Office of Inspector General raises new questions of whether this Administration was engaging in such tactics earlier than it reported. The stonewalling must end, and Secretary Azar must agree to appear before the Committee to answer questions and take accountability for his agency’s actions. His denial to appear before the Committee in the coming weeks on the Family Separation Policy is unacceptable, and we are going to get him here at some point one way or another."
