[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR DR. HENRY FOSTER, SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, ``unassuming, focused, compassionate, a 
consensus builder, a fine physician.'' Mr. Speaker, these are the words 
that people in Nashville--the people who know him best--use to describe 
Dr. Henry Foster, the nominee for U.S. Surgeon General.
  When President Clinton was considering nominees for this post, he 
said that he was looking for someone who is qualified as a top-flight 
medical professional, a strong leader, and an effective communicator. 
Dr. Henry Foster is such a person. Unfortunately, though, a controversy 
has loomed surrounding his confirmation. Along with many other medical
 procedures, Dr. Foster has administered abortions during his 30-year 
medical career in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. For this, 
some would deny him the opportunity to serve as the ``Nation's 
Doctor.''

  This debate will continue to be superficial until we move beyond the 
scratched surface. A Tuskegee, AL, woman would tell her story to the 
Charlotte Observer:

       Jeannette Hight was 3\1/2\ months pregnant when she began 
     bleeding in the middle of the night. Frantic, she called her 
     obstetrician at home. With her doctor's careful help, Hight 
     averted a miscarriage. That was more than 25 years ago. The 
     Doctor was Henry Foster. Hight wants the nation to know that 
     the man who saved the life of her only son is no ``abortion 
     doctor.'' She remembers Foster as a compassionate man 
     committed to ushering in new life. She says, ``What I've 
     heard is a one-sided story. I haven't heard anything about 
     all the lives that came into this world because of him. He is 
     a man of great integrity.''

  Another Tuskegee woman told a different story of her memorable 
experience with Dr. Foster, printed in the U.S. News & World Report:

       Joyce Carter German was a college junior, married and 
     pregnant for a second time. She wanted an abortion. Foster 
     refused. ``This is not the right choice,'' he told her. The 
     baby ``is a blessing to you.'' German is now a medical 
     technician; her daughter is in graduate school. She is glad 
     Foster said no, and like others, she is puzzled that his fate 
     may hang on how many abortions he has performed.

  It is so terribly unfortunate that the work Dr. Foster has done over 
the years to prevent teenage pregnancy through his ``I Have a Future'' 
Program is being ignored by those who would rather focus on the number 
of abortions he has performed. In his own words in a Washington Post 
Op-Ed piece, Dr. Foster said, ``It's ironic that my work fighting 
teenage 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 abortion 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.''
  Let us not muddy the waters of this confirmation process with 
partisan bickering and selective research. I urge my colleagues in the 
other Chamber not to fall victim to the empty rhetoric designed to deny 
Dr. Foster's confirmation as the U.S. Surgeon General. Doing so would 
only serve to make the Senate confirmation process less credible to an 
already suspicious public. I urge the Senate to review Dr. Foster's 
complete record. Learn who Dr. Foster really is.

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