[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H105-H106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CONFIRMATION OF DR. SATCHER AS U.S. SURGEON GENERAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997 the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.

[[Page H106]]

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as a student of the 
Constitution, I am reminded of the wisdom of the Founding Fathers in 
establishing three branches of government. Also recognizing as the 
President is the head of this Nation that there should be advice and 
consent from the other body of this Congress. All of us as Americans 
respect that process and have watched that process help govern this 
Nation for the years that it has been a Nation under our Constitution.
  But, Mr. Speaker, I would argue very vigorously today that there is a 
crisis in government and one that must be remedied by the people. We 
recognize that in this three branches of government there are checks 
and balances. But there should not be a runaway government.
  We understand through statistical analysis and polls that this 
President was reelected because there were the view of the American 
people that they wanted to go in a direction of moderation, not in a 
radical right direction. And so they voted for a President that they 
thought would have the powers to select the judiciary for the 21st 
century. In that judiciary would be combined individuals who would 
decide cases in a moderate and respectful manner of the law. It would 
include judges who affirmed and approved and understood that 
affirmative action was still legal.
  But it seems, however, that the other body refuses to confirm and 
affirm those appointments by the President of the United States who 
cannot pass their own political litmus test. This is a travesty and 
this is against the underpinnings of advice and consent that have been 
given under the Constitution. We need to stop this runaway process. We 
need to allow the President of the United States to appoint those 
judges that are needed, some 81 vacancies, denying the American people 
their justice and saying to those who believe under the Constitution 
that issues like affirmative action and choice are the law of the land 
being rejected because they do not pass a political litmus test.
  We come again to another crisis, Mr. Speaker. That is the 
confirmation of Dr. Satcher, Dr. Satcher, who has been nominated by the 
President of the United States to be the U.S. Surgeon General and be 
the Assistant Secretary of Health at the Department of Health and Human 
Services, someone who is a fine scholar but also a medical 
professional.
  The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all 
their happiness and all their powers as a State depends. This was 
spoken by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, in a speech in 1877.
  What we find here is a bottleneck in the other body, using an 
unfortunate and negative litmus test to refuse to confirm Dr. Satcher. 
He has had a distinguished career, an eloquent spokesperson and a 
proven health professional. He qualifies to succeed in this role.
  The surgeon general's job is to develop medical consensus and 
articulate a broad public health vision, tasks for which Dr. Satcher is 
well prepared. As Director of the Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention, the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Diseases Registry, and as the former president of Meharry Medical 
College, Dr. Satcher has made a lasting impression on the public health 
of this Nation. In fact, through his leadership at the CDC, childhood 
immunization rates have increased dramatically, growing from 55 percent 
in 1992 to 78 percent, and vaccine-preventable childhood diseases have 
been reduced to the lowest level in American history.
  Under Dr. Satcher's direction, the CDC has also placed a greater 
emphasis on prevention. For example, the CDC's comprehensive breast and 
cervical cancer screening program increased from 18 to 50 States, and 
the agency highlighted the importance of physical activity and good 
health by encouraging Americans to become more physically active.
  Why, however, is Dr. Satcher's confirmation being held up? Because of 
some false litmus test about abortion. Because of some belief that he 
may be prochoice or pro a procedure, none of which should have anything 
to do with the head of this country's medical message being confirmed 
or not confirmed, particularly when Dr. Satcher has indicated that it 
is his desire to lead this country in a comprehensive way of providing 
an opportunity for more Americans to be healthy.
  He is highly respected and supported by the American Medical 
Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American 
Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Louis Sullivan, the President of Morehouse 
School of Medicine and former Secretary of Health and Human Services 
under Republican administrations, and numerous other medical groups.
  The Office of Surgeon General has been vacant too long. This is a 
travesty.
  Dr. Satcher wrote in 1977 to Senator William Frist, himself a doctor: 
Let me state unequivocally that I have no intention of using the 
position of Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General to 
promote issues related to abortion. That is it, plain and simple. What 
more do you need? You cannot take away from an individual his right to 
his opinions and his belief. Stop the travesty. Follow the 
Constitution. Proceed with the advice and consent from the other body, 
proceed to nominate and affirm judges that can be independent and 
Surgeon Generals that can be independent.

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