“Attorney General of the United States and secretary of Health and Human Services—they are big jobs, they are important jobs, they are necessary jobs. It’s time for the Senate to move as soon as possible to confirm both Jeff Sessions and Tom Price to the cabinet.”

Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor in support of Senator Jeff Session’s nomination to be U.S. attorney general, and Representative Tom Price’s nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services.

Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:

“I come to the floor about what is going on in the Senate with regard to confirming nominations and a cabinet that I believe is truly an all-star cabinet.

“And I think it just keeps getting better as we keep confirming one nominee after another.

“Last week, I spoke on the floor about what a great job I believe Scott Pruitt is going to do as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Today, I want to talk about two more examples.

Senator Jeff Sessions

“First, there’s the nomination of our friend and colleague, Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama to be attorney general.

“Those of us who have served with Senator Sessions over the years know that he is a man of uncommon decency, of fairness, and of integrity.

“We know that his dedication to the law is absolute.

“In 1999, Senator Sessions came to the floor to speak in support of awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Rosa Parks.

“In that speech, he said: ‘Equal treatment under the law is a fundamental pillar upon which our republic rests.’

“We saw Senator Sessions’ devotion to this idea again, again and again.

“He introduced legislation to reduce the differences in the kinds of sentences that could be handed out to people convicted of similar drug crimes.

“He teamed up with Senator Ted Kennedy to pass legislation protecting prisoners from sexual assault behind bars.

“The job of Attorney General is to be America’s top law enforcement officer and attorney. Jeff Sessions has shown himself to be an outstanding attorney.

“He worked as a front line prosecutor. He spent 12 years as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.

“He was Attorney General of the state of Alabama – and he’s spent 20 years here as a United States Senator.

“If confirmed as Attorney General, he will be one of the most qualified people ever to hold this job.

“These qualifications include an exceptional knowledge of how the Justice Department works, and of the priorities of the people who work there.

“The attorney general oversees the work of more than 100,000 people.

“Most of them are law enforcement, working for agencies like the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“I think that these men and women are going to find that Jeff Sessions is their greatest champion – and I think they’re going to greet his arrival at the Justice Department with a wonderful ovation.

“National law enforcement groups have already endorsed his nomination – and so have groups representing federal and local prosecutors.

“He’s going to enforce the laws passed by Congress in a fair and impartial manner. That’s exactly what America needs in an Attorney General.

Dr. Tom Price

“The second person I want to talk about today is Congressman Tom Price.

“Tom has been nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“Just as Jeff Sessions has devoted his life to the law, Tom Price has devoted his life to caring for the health of patients and the American people.

“Dr. Price practiced medicine for 20 years.

“He was medical director of the orthopedic clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

“Now Grady Hospital is a public safety-net hospital in Atlanta – and many of its patients are low-income.

“Doctor Price saw each and every day the challenges that people faced in America’s broken health care system – both the patients and the people who were trying to provide care.

“That’s why he’s taken health care reform so seriously here as a member of Congress.

“He understood immediately why so many parts of Obamacare simply would not work when they were passed and signed into law some six years ago.

“Like a lot of us, he warned the health care law would actually make things worse for millions of Americans – and Tom Price was proven right.

“It’s time for the Department of Health and Human Services to have leadership that understands that patients should not become a political tool.

“Congressman Price is actually the first medical doctor to be nominated to head this department of Health and Human Services since 1989.

“That kind of knowledge that he has and the background that he has is essential for dealing with the challenges the department faces today.

“The wheels are falling off of America’s health care system.

“We need leaders—leaders who are more than just professional bureaucrats. We need someone who understands health care deeply – and who cares about putting patients first, not politics.

“Tom Price has shown that he can reach across the aisle to get things done.

“It’s what he did in the state legislature in Georgia – and it’s what he’s done in the House of Representatives here in Washington.

“He worked with Democrats to make sure that Medicare patients could continue to get access to medical equipment like blood sugar monitors and oxygen tanks.

“He did the same thing when he introduced a bipartisan measure to stop burdensome new regulations affecting patients who need a new hip or a new knee joint.

“As secretary of Health and Human Services, he going to listen—listen to the best arguments of both sides, and then he’s going to do what’s right for the health of the American people.

“Obamacare has got to go. It has failed miserably.

“We all know that, even the Democrats in Congress who wrote the law realize how flawed it really is.

“It’s time for us to focus on what can be done to replace Obamacare and make American health care work once again.

“Now, I’ve seen media reports that Democrats want to obstruct the nomination of Tom Price as well as Jeff Sessions.

“I expect Democrats will plan to grandstand for political purposes – because they have no real objections to either person’s qualifications or credentials.

“Democrats’ complain that they lost the presidential election.

“Well, the president deserves to have his cabinet in place.

“That’s why Republicans didn’t object to President Obama getting seven of his cabinet members on his very first day in office in 2009.

“It is unfortunate that Democrats have decided not to follow the example that Republicans placed when Barack Obama came to the White House.

“Political spite isn’t a good enough reason for delay. Democrats need to get over it, and get on with it.

“Attorney General of the United States and secretary of Health and Human Services—they are big jobs, they are important jobs, they are necessary jobs.

“It’s time for the Senate to move as soon as possible to confirm both Jeff Sessions and Tom Price to the cabinet.”

###