{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-releases-new-data-revealing-rfk-jrs-fluoride-crusade-threatens-military-readiness", "Warren Releases New Data Revealing RFK Jr.\u2019s Fluoride Crusade Threatens Military Readiness", "2025-11-07", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren Releases New Data Revealing RFK Jr.\u2019s Fluoride Crusade Threatens Military Readiness\n\nPentagon data shows nearly 10% of service members cannot be deployed due to dental issues\n\nDepartment of Health and Human Services did not consult with the military before announcing intention to direct CDC to stop recommending fluoridation of drinking water\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released new data from the Department of Defense (DoD) revealing the impact of dental emergencies on military readiness. The new data also makes clear that Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s reported plan to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending water fluoridation may lead to a substantial rise in dental decay for service members and their families. Senator Warren first pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about this concern in May 2025.\n\nThe Pentagon\u2019s responses revealed:\n\nDental emergencies account for 20-30 percent of all Disease Non-Battle Injuries among deployed service members;\n\nDental issues leave nearly 10 percent of service members \u201cnot medically ready to deploy;\u201d\n\nThe military was not consulted by HHS or Secretary Kennedy on the plan to direct the CDC to stop recommending water fluoridation;\n\nFluoridation has contributed to improved dental readiness across the military; and\n\nRemoving fluoridation would likely lead to increased rates of dental decay.\n\n\u201cOur military is already falling short on delivering high quality dental care for our service members, and Secretary Kennedy\u2019s fluoride crusade is threatening to worsen this crisis and hurt our military\u2019s ability to deploy where they\u2019re needed,\u201d said Senator Warren. \u201cOur government should be focused on improving dental health access for our service members, not pushing anti-science conspiracies. I\u2019m going to continue holding Secretary Kennedy accountable for his disastrous policies.\u201d\n\nIn 2011, the Department of Defense found that \u201cdental decay continues to be a major problem for military personnel and is a significant reason for personnel to be classified as non-deployable.\u201d President Trump\u2019s Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness recently told Senator Warren that, \u201cdental health issues are often the largest cause of non-deployability within a military unit.\u201d Until now, the extent of the burden of dental issues on military readiness was not known.\n\nIn response to the Pentagon\u2019s findings, Air Force Chief of Staff General Kenneth Wilsbach said, \u201c[B]enefits of optimally fluoridated drinking water have been proven repeatedly\u2026The Air Force Surgeon General supports maintaining fluoridated water systems in accordance with the 2013 DoW policy and the AF dental community strongly advocates to continue the policy of optimally fluoridated water on DoW installations.\u201d\n\nSenator Warren has led work to improve servicemembers\u2019 access to health care:\n\nIn May 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), ranking member of the Personnel subcommittee for the Senate Armed Services Committee, pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on the harmful impact that Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy\u2019s work to remove fluoride from drinking water would have on our military readiness.\n\nIn December 2024, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Acting Under Secretary Vazirani raising continued concerns about the Department of Defense\u2019s (DoD) failure to prevent price gouging and overpayments in the military\u2019s TRICARE health program.\n\nIn June 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), and 20 other lawmakers sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez and Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Lieutenant General Telita Crosland, raising concerns over Express Scripts\u2019 exclusive contract to administer TRICARE\u2019s pharmacy program, the healthcare system for the military, retirees, and their families.\n\nIn July 2023, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren chaired a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel. She called out the Department of Defense (DoD) for wasting billions in taxpayers dollars due to price gouging by defense contractors for services and in health care, and identified opportunities for cost savings when DoD buys personnel-related goods and services.\n\nIn July 2023, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Lieutenant General Telita Crosland, regarding a series of DoD Inspector General (IG) reports finding that the Department of Defense (DoD) is failing to prevent price gouging and overpayments to contractors in the TRICARE health program.\n\nOn March 2, 2022, Senator Warren and her colleagues called out drug manufacturers for squeezing American families with rapid and widespread price hikes on prescription drugs.\n\nIn February 2022, at a hearing, Senator Warren called out corporations for abusing their market power to raise consumer prices and boost profits.\n\nIn May 2020, Senator Warren wrote to the Department requesting clarification on how the Department would prevent profiteering following a recent change to increase payments to contractors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nIn March 2020, Senator Warren joined her colleagues in urging the FTC to use its full authority to prevent abusive price gouging on consumer health products during the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-releases-new-data-revealing-rfk-jrs-fluoride-crusade-threatens-military-readiness"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8296901360154152, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}