[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4885-S4886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NOMINATION OF GOVERNOR KATHLEEN SEBELIUS

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I strongly supported the 
confirmation of Governor Kathleen Sebelius to the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services.
  America needs strong and effective leadership in public health. That 
is true at all times but never more so than when the Nation faces a 
grave threat from a serious disease epidemic. We face such a threat now 
from swine flu. The world has looked on with growing apprehension as 
cases of this deadly new illness appeared first in one nation, then in 
another, and another. Yesterday, Spain reported its first case. Today, 
New Zealand. Tomorrow, who knows where the epidemic will have spread.
  In our own Nation, we have seen cases of swine flu in New York, 
California, Texas, Kansas, and Ohio. The disease will surely become 
more widespread before it abates.
  That is why we need effective leadership at the helm of our public 
health agencies with the authority that only Senate approval can 
confer. To have delayed this vote would make no sense--the epidemic 
would grow and more cases would be reported. The Nation urgently needs 
Governor Sebelius' leadership at HHS in the fight against this deadly 
epidemic.
  Governor Sebelius will face other important challenges as well. None 
of these is more pressing or more urgent than the need to reform 
America's broken health care system.
  Today we stand at a historic crossroads in health care in America. 
The United States spends more than $2 trillion a year on health care, 
accounting for roughly one-sixth of our entire economy. We spend more 
per person on health care than any other country. Yet our health 
outcomes, as measured by key benchmarks like infant mortality and life 
expectancy, lag behind other developed countries. Nearly 47 million 
Americans are uninsured including over 8 million children and a 
disproportionate share of minorities. 25 million more of our citizens 
remain underinsured, and even those with insurance often receive 
substandard or inappropriate care. Our health care system cries out for 
reform, and now is the time.
  Governor Sebelius has the experience, compassion and steady hand to 
take the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services and help 
lead our Nation toward high-quality, affordable health care for all. 
She has served the people in Kansas well for over 20 years as State 
legislator, as insurance commissioner and as Governor, and she has 
demonstrated deep knowledge of the problems plaguing our health care 
system, and the vision and skill to fix them. Time and time again she 
has reached across the aisle and achieved practical solutions that have 
resulted in tangible benefits to families and businesses.
  She was asked by former Republican Governor Bill Graves to design and 
lead the Kansas Children's Health Insurance Program in 1998, and she 
led an expansion of coverage from 15,000 to over 51,000 children. As 
Governor, her Healthy Kansas Initiative has helped to contain runaway 
health care costs, streamline the bureaucracy, and make health 
insurance and prescription drugs more affordable for thousands of 
children, working parents and small

[[Page S4886]]

businesses. To give all children a healthy start on life, she further 
proposed providing health insurance to every uninsured child from birth 
to age five.
  Governor Sebelius set up counseling programs as well to help senior 
citizens navigate the complexities of the Medicare prescription drug 
benefit plan and choose the best plan for their needs. She also 
established a multistakeholder group of business leaders, consumer 
groups, health care providers and private insurers to make 
recommendations on modernizing the health system, promoting 
coordination and consistency of care and reducing administrative 
burdens on patients and providers alike.
  Through this broad consultative process, Governor Sebelius created a 
public-private partnership to build and install nationally-recognized 
health information technology systems, and she pioneered the Kansas 
``smart card'' the first health insurance ID card to implement state-
wide standards.
  Achievements such as these have brought wide accolades. Governor 
magazine named her as one of its Public Officials of the Year when she 
served as Kansas insurance commissioner in 2001. Time magazine named 
her one of the Nation's top five Governors in 2005. Her nomination is 
supported by the American Medical Association, the AFL-CIO, and scores 
of other stakeholders. As Warren Buffet said, ``With this appointment, 
the President just hit one out of the park.''
  I thank my Senate colleagues for confirming Governor Sebelius' 
nomination as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, 
and I look forward to working with her in the months ahead to achieve 
real health reform for the American people this year at long 
last.

                          ____________________