“The American people deserve a Surgeon General who has proven, throughout his or her career that their main focus is a commitment to patients, not a commitment to politics. This is just another example of President Obama giving someone an important job based solely upon their support of the President’s political career.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) called on the Senate to defeat the nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. Barrasso specifically points out that this important position should be served by a qualified, strong and professional leader – not an inexperienced, unqualified, political appointee.
Excerpts of his remarks:
“I rise today to oppose the nomination of Dr. Dr. Vivek Murthy to be Surgeon General of the United States.
“The Surgeon General is known as America’s doctor.
“Americans have great respect for this important position.
“They expect their Surgeon General to be someone who has substantial experience in helping patients, helping them improve their health and in helping them reduce their risk of illness and injury.
“This important position has been vacant since July of 2013, so about a year and a half.
“It’s far too long, and it’s been completely avoidable.
“Now, we have seen how the Obama administration has struggled in response to important health issues like the Ebola crisis.
“America should have had an experienced doctor in the job as Surgeon General to lead our fight against Ebola. And to take on other serious health challenges as well.
“Dr. Murthy is a smart man, very well educated, has an undergraduate degree from Harvard, an M.B.A. From Yale, an M.D. From Yale school of medicine.
“These are impressive academic credentials and I’m sure he will be a fine doctor.
“They are simply not sufficient qualifications for this important job.
“Is Dr. Murthy a renowned expert in treating patients or researching diseases?
“No, not at all. He’s not.
“Has he actually built a career teaching medicine or leading public health organizations?
“No, not yet.
“In fact, Dr. Murthy only completed his medical training, his residency, in 2006, just eight years ago.
“Now, I speak as someone who has actually practiced medicine for 25 years, who has been an instructor of surgery at Yale Medical School that Dr. Murthy attended.
“And I saw that being a doctor is about much more than going to school.
“Doctors learn more and more as they progress through their careers, and they spend more time with their patients, listening to patients and the patients’ families.
“Dr. Murthy has just not had the time to develop these kinds of skills.
“So what qualifies him to be Surgeon General of the United States?
“Well, in 2008, just two years out of his residency, he founded a group called doctors for Obama.
“The purpose? To elect a president.
“The majority of his career has been spent not as a doctor treating patients but as an activist, an activist focused on gun control and political campaigns.
“Even former Surgeon General Richard Carmona has said that Dr. Murthy doesn’t have the medical experience to serve in such an important position.
“Let me point out, Dr. Carmona is a Democrat.
“He wrote an article for ‘The Huffington post’ on December 4th.
“It was titled ‘In search of a Surgeon General’. I want to read a little bit about what he wrote.
“He says we don’t appoint doctors early in their career to be a university dean or chairman.
“He said graduate business students at the top of their class don’t become instant C.E.O’s.
“Top law graduates of elite law schools don’t get nominated to be U.S. Attorney general or a Supreme Court justice.
“He asks, why should the U.S. Surgeon General are any different?
“He concludes by asking the question, is the health, safety and security of the nation any less important?
“Well, no. The health, safety, and security of the nation are not less important and the job of Surgeon General is not less important.
“Americans want the same thing from a Surgeon General that they all want from their own doctors. People want honest and straightforward advice about medical dangers like cancer, like heart attacks, like stroke.
“They don’t want an inexperienced, unqualified political appointee.
“Patients don’t want a doctor who might let political ideology get in the way of treatment and their best interest.
“Americans don’t want a Surgeon General who might use this position of trust to promote his own personal campaign against the second amendment of the constitution.
“This is just another example of President Obama giving someone an important job based solely on their support of the President’s political career.
“Just like his nomination of a soap opera producer to be ambassador to Hungary or the President’s nomination of a man to be ambassador to Norway when the person didn’t know the first thing about the country.
“Now, of course, both those nominations to be ambassadors had funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to the President’s campaigns.
“Well, those nominations were embarrassing.
“And so is this nomination, to be Surgeon General.
“This office of Surgeon General is not just an honorary title.
“It is not just a figurehead position.
“The Surgeon General commands the entire commissioned corps of the uniformed public health officers.
“There are 6,700 people that the Surgeon General commands.
“It is one of the key positions leading America’s public health efforts.
“America has a long history of qualified and talented people filling this job.
“When President Bill Clinton nominated David Satcher in 1998 he had already searched as president of a medical school and as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“C. Everett Koop had spent 35 years as a leading world renowned pediatric surgeon.
“They were substantial candidates who brought serious experience to the job.
“The responsibilities of being America’s Surgeon General require a strong professional leader, and the American people deserve a qualified nominee.
“Now, there’s a long list of capable doctors who could meet those requirements.
“The President should pick one of them.
“We’ve seen over the years that when the President nominates qualified people for this position, the Senate has approved their nominations on overwhelmingly bipartisan votes.
“Now, when President Obama nominated Regina Benjamin to be Surgeon General, she was confirmed unanimously.
“So was Richard Carmona when President Bush nominated him.
“Now, today even Democrats have objected to the nomination of Dr. Murthy.
“So why are we wasting the Senate’s time talking about this now?
“Well, if President Obama thinks Dr. Murthy is qualified, why haven’t we voted on him?
“He was nominated more than a year ago.
“We’ve had no Surgeon General, we’ve had the Ebola crisis.
“He was nominated more than a year ago.
“His confirmation in the committee was last February.
“The majority leader could have brought this up for a vote at any time in the past nine months but he didn’t do it. Why?
“Because he knew this nominee, this unqualified nominee, this partisan nominee, didn’t have the votes, couldn’t get the votes on the democrat side of the aisle, and the nomination would have been an embarrassment before the election.
“Now is not the right time for this nomination, and it is not the right job for Dr. Murthy.
“The Ebola problem and the other health crises facing our nation are enormous challenges.
“They require skills, they require talents that this nominee has simply not had time to develop.
“And which he has so far not demonstrated in his career.
“Now, I want to close by quoting from a letter that former Surgeon General Carmona sent to all the members of this Senate earlier this month, sent it to each and every one of us.
“This is what he wrote about Dr. Murthy.
“This is a former Surgeon General, Democrat, about this current Surgeon General nominee who we’re going to vote on later today. Dr. Carmona writes: his partisanship and lack of qualifications for the job of Surgeon General gives this nomination the scent of political patronage.
“That’s from someone who has actually served as Surgeon General, a Democrat, who knows what it takes to do the job well.
“Dr. Carmona added in his letter to all the members of the United States Senate, he said his confirmation would undermine the credibility and the authenticity of the office of Surgeon General.
“Undermine the credibility and the authenticity of the office of Surgeon General.
“While demeaning, demeaning the selfless service of qualified career uniformed officers who merit consideration.
“That’s who the President of the United States has chosen to nominate.
“Someone who would undermine the credibility and the authenticity of the office of Surgeon General while demeaning the selfless service of qualified career uniformed officers who merit consideration.
“Americans deserve a Surgeon General who has substantial experience in managing complex crises and delivering patient care.
“The American people deserve a Surgeon General who has proven throughout his or her career that their main focus is a commitment to patients, not a commitment to politics.
“Dr. Murthy has time to learn, time to gain experience, and that may make him a fine Surgeon General someday, but that day is not today.
“I call on the Senate to defeat the nomination of Dr. Murthy for Surgeon General of the United States.”
###