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    • RFK Jr. of the federal research budget allocated to Lynch, Mass. He said it could slow down under his administration.
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    RFK Jr. of the federal research budget allocated to Lynch, Mass. He said it could slow down under his administration.

    Harry Posted on

    U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said Monday that President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services gives him “great concern” and believes it could negatively impact Greater Boston’s federal funding.

    Trump announced last week that Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic whose “Make America Healthy Again” movement is focused on eliminating the lobbying power of the food and drug industries in Washington, would lead the agency that oversees drug approvals, food safety and disease. Surveillance in addition to Medicare and Medicaid.

    At an event at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Lynch said he was disappointed in the results of the presidential election but hoped Congress would find ways toward bipartisan solutions to move the United States forward.

    “But it would be disastrous if, as some of the recent appointments may indicate, there is a narrowing of the rule of law or a departure from peer review of science, for example in health care,” Lynch said.

    Lynch noted the importance of federal funding for Boston, whose economy is fueled by world-renowned healthcare and research facilities. With Kennedy in charge, he seemed skeptical about whether those dollars would continue to flow to Massachusetts.

    “Ironically, I remember Ted Kennedy’s last active session; we were able to pass an NIH funding bill, the largest funding bill for research at the National Institutes of Health,” Lynch said.

    He said the Boston area received 30 to 40 percent of the $9 billion allocation because of the abundance of research institutes in the area.

    “So the presence of Robert Kennedy Jr. causes me great concern,” he said. “We have to be protectionist against this. And of course, that requires relentless resistance to this agenda, considering that the people the administration appoints are hostile to science and protecting these institutions.”

    Harry
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