[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 32 (Friday, March 12, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S2773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      NOMINATION OF DR. MARK MCCLELLAN TO BE ADMINISTRATOR OF CMS

  Mr. KENNEDY. I am pleased to support the nomination of Dr. Mark 
McClellan to be the Administrator of the Center for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services. There is no more important agency in providing 
quality health care for the American people, and Dr. McClellan is 
superbly qualified for this important post.
  Dr. McClellan has served with distinction in the Treasury Department 
during the Clinton administration and as a health policy advisor and 
commissioner of FDA in the Bush administration. He has immense 
intellectual gifts, a distinguished background as an economist and 
physician, and tremendous energy, commitment, and integrity. I am 
particularly pleased that he is an adopted son of Massachusetts, having 
received his M.D. from the Harvard Medical School.
  Mark and I have worked closely on a number of issues during his 
tenure at the White House and the FDA. While we certainly don't always 
agree, I have always felt that we were working toward the same goals of 
quality health care. At the FDA, he was committed to modernizing the 
agency to assure that it brought the best scientific tools of the new 
century of the life sciences, to regulating the drug development 
process, and speeding safe and effective products to market. He made a 
tough call to protect the health of women in his decision on silicone 
breast implants, and he has been aggressive in his attempts to remove 
dangerous dietary supplements, most notably Ephedra, from the market. 
He has been particularly generous with his time in meeting with the 
Massachusetts device and biotechnology industries, so that he could 
understand their concerns and that they could gain a deeper 
appreciation of the most productive way to work with the FDA.
  At CMS, Mark will have to implement the deeply flawed Medicare bill--
a challenging task under the best of circumstances. I was encouraged by 
his comments at his confirmation hearing indicating that, unlike others 
in the Bush administration, he understands the need to maintain 
Medicaid as an individuals entitlement guaranteeing health care for the 
poorest of the poor and to end the pernicious policy of overpaying 
Medicare HMOs because they enroll the healthiest senior citizens.
  In summary, I am pleased to support Dr. McClellan's nomination. He is 
a superb choice to head a critically important agency.

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