[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 28 (Monday, February 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2564-S2565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  CONCERNING DR. HENRY W. FOSTER, JR.

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to bring to the attention 
of my colleagues the excellent column which appeared in this morning's 
Washington Post by Dr. Henry Foster, President Clinton's nominee for 
surgeon general, entitled ``Why I Want To Be Surgeon General.''
  I support this sterling nominee. He brings the right professional 
credentials. He has an extraordinary life history and record. Dr. 
Foster has devoted years to maternal and child health, and he is 
dedicated to the prevention of 
[[Page S2565]] teen pregnancy. He has delivered approximately 10,000 
babies. He is a respected doctor for over 30 years, a medical professor 
and former dean of a medical school. He is a community leader in 
Nashville--a member of the board of the March of Dimes Birth Defects 
Foundation and the force behind a teen pregnancy prevention program, 
``I Have a Future.'' ``I Have a Future'' was recognized by the Points 
of Light Foundation and former President Bush for its efforts in 
fighting teen pregnancy and fighting drugs.
  I am very concerned about the toxic atmosphere which has accompanied 
recent nominations of distinguished professionals to high office in our 
Government. I am disturbed at the thought that Americans of great 
accomplishment will decline to serve, reluctant to undergo the invasive 
and debilitating nomination process.
  Dr. Foster is the kind of distinguished public servant our Government 
needs. I am pleased that he is telling his own story, through this 
column and through the recent speech he delivered at George Washington 
University. I believe he must have the opportunity to tell his story in 
confirmation hearings. I am asking all of my colleagues to reserve 
judgment on Dr. Foster until he has the chance to tell his own story 
through the normal committee process.
  I ask unanimous consent that Dr. Foster's column appear in the Record 
at the conclusion of these remarks, and I yield the floor.
  There being no objection, the column was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                    Why I Want To Be Surgeon General

                           (By Henry Foster)

       Just a little over a week ago, few people outside Nashville 
     knew anything about me. But after President Clinton announced 
     his intention to nominate Dr. Henry Foster for surgeon 
     general on Feb. 2, it seems like everybody thinks they know 
     everything about me.
       Two weeks ago, no one, not even my wife, St. Clair, my 
     daughter, Myrna, and my son, Wendell--as devoted as they 
     are--followed my every move and every word with rapt 
     attention. Now, when I wake up in the morning and look out my 
     window, the press is out there waiting and watching. When I 
     go to my office, they follow me into the elevator. And 
     walking down the street, I have been punched in the face, 
     inadvertently, I think, with one of those huge microphones 
     you see on TV. I have never seen anything like it.
       I have even picked up a new lexicon. Words that matter in 
     Washington are not in dictionaries in the rest of America. 
     They certainly never taught me these words in medical school 
     or the delivery room: Sound bites. Boom mikes. Stakeouts. 
     Live shots. Talking heads. On-air analysis. All dissecting me 
     over and over again. And all before I've uttered one word at 
     my confirmation hearings before the Senate.
       People who have never met me analyze my character and my 
     life's work. They attack me personally before they ever give 
     me a chance to introduce myself or tell my story. But those 
     attacks do not define me. I know who I am and what I stand 
     for. I also know that I am a symbol in a larger debate that 
     has polarized this country for many years. But the attacks do 
     hurt.
       I cannot say that my work as a doctor entirely prepared me 
     for these two turbulent weeks. But I have learned a few 
     things during my 38 years as a doctor, a teacher and a 
     crusader against teen pregnancy that have prepared me to be a 
     good surgeon general.
       I have been face to face with real life-and-death 
     challenges. When you see low birth-weight babies born to 
     mothers not yet old enough to drive a car, you have an 
     appreciation of what trauma really means. When you visit the 
     homes of families living in grinding poverty and feel the 
     palpable sense of hopelessness in their lives, you begin to 
     understand what it is to be up against the odds. Compared to 
     that, shouted questions and overheated rhetoric may be 
     uncivil, but I can handle them. When people ask me why I want 
     to be surgeon general, I know the answer.
       When you've had the good fortune to participate in the 
     miracle of birth as many times as I have, it is difficult to 
     stand on the sidelines and watch so many people wasting the 
     precious gift of life.
       It is difficult to look around America today and see so 
     much needless suffering. Too many children suffer, because 
     their parents have not been taught the value of prevention. 
     Too many people don't have access to quality health care. And 
     too many of us have turned away from those basic American 
     values that can prevent violence or abuse of any kind from 
     taking root.
       But all is not lost. America is moving forward to confront 
     both our health care crisis and the crisis of values that has 
     led to far too much irresponsibile behavior. As your surgeon 
     general, I believe I can turn the small ripples of success 
     that we have produced into great waves of progress. I believe 
     that I can draw attention and help develop lasting solutions 
     to the tragic public health problems confronting us--from the 
     epidemic of violence to the spread of AIDS to the terrible 
     problem of substance abuse. but I will be giving my greatest 
     attention to what the president has called ``our most serious 
     social problem,'' the epidemic of teen pregnancy in this 
     country.
       It's ironic that my work fighting teen pregnancy has been 
     overshadowed by my opponents' talk about abortion. I do 
     believe in the right of a woman to choose. And I also support 
     the president's belief that abortions should be safe, legal 
     and rare. But my life's work has been dedicated to making 
     sure that young people don't have to face the choice of 
     having abortions.
       I have some ideas about how young people can avoid that 
     difficult choice. We are reducing teen pregnancy in the 
     Nashville housing projects through ``I Have a Future''--a 
     program we started at Meharry Medical College back in 1987. 
     Our approach is to expand adolescent health care programs 
     beyond the schools and bring them to the Community, where 
     they can become a part of the fabric of everyday life. 
     Encouraging abstinence and involving the entire community, we 
     have begun to replace a culture of hopelessness with one that 
     gives young people clear pathways to healthy futures.
       In my work with young people in Nashville, there is one 
     lesson I stress above all others. To break the cycle of 
     despair, you must learn that there is a reward for sacrifice. 
     And earning that reward has a fringe benefit. It allows you 
     to give something back. That is a hard lesson to learn, but 
     it is one that has kept me going through these difficult 
     weeks. Having President Clinton place his faith in me is 
     something I could never had imagined as a young boy growing 
     up in the segregated South. Now, I want to give something 
     back to a country that has rewarded my work and sacrifice, 
     and God willing, I'll have that opportunity.

                          ____________________