[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2242-S2243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       NOMINATION OF DR. HENRY FOSTER, JR., TO BE SURGEON GENERAL

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to 
withhold judgment on Dr. Henry Foster, Jr., the nominee for Surgeon 
General, until we know all the facts. I do not believe that performing 
a legal medical procedure should be a litmus test for confirmation for 
Surgeon General of the United States.
  According to news reports, Dr. Foster flatly denies what purports to 
be a transcript of his statement that he performed ``a lot of 
amniocentesis and therapeutic abortions, probably near 700.''
  I am very much concerned about allegations that Dr. Foster 
misrepresented his record. If the issue is veracity and character, that 
may be a basis for disqualification. If the facts support Dr. Foster's 
statement that he has ``performed fewer than a dozen pregnancy 
terminations, all in hospitals, and were primarily to save the lives of 
women or because the women had been the victims of rape or incest,'' 
then his status looks much stronger, although the White House still has 
to answer for its representation that he had performed only one 
abortion.
  If some wish to deny Dr. Foster confirmation because he has performed 
any abortions, then I believe the Senate should debate and carefully 
consider whether a nominee should be disqualified where he has 
performed a 
[[Page S2243]] medical procedure which is legal under the U.S. 
Constitution.
  I do not believe that there ought to be a litmus test which would 
disqualify a person from being Surgeon General if he/she has performed 
a medical procedure which is legal under the U.S. Constitution. It is 
already difficult to persuade qualified people to accept governmental 
appointments because so often the character of an individual is 
irreparably damaged by charges before the facts are known. What is 
printed in the newspaper, uttered on television, or heard on the radio 
simply cannot be erased. The facts cannot catch up with that.
  I hope that the President and the Senate will give Dr. Foster an 
opportunity to state his case before we rush to judgment.
  I thank the Chair, and again I thank my colleague from Minnesota for 
permitting the interruption.

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