[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2377-S2378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Remembering Dr. Irwin Schatz

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I came across an article in the New York 
Times on Sunday that called my attention to the passing of an amazing 
man, a man who has a connection to the U.S. Senate.
  I rise to pay my respects to a man of uncommon integrity. Dr. Irwin 
Schatz passed away on April 1 at the age of 83. Beloved and respected 
in the medical community, Dr. Schatz spent his career helping people. 
He was a major contributor to the Honolulu Heart Program, a landmark 
study with half a century of followup on Japanese American men in 
Hawaii.
  Dr. Schatz was the rare critic of the notorious Tuskegee, AL, 
syphilis medical experiments.
  From 1952 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted the 
Tuskegee clinical study on poor African-American sharecroppers. They 
wanted to know about untreated syphilis on African Americans. There 
were 600 men enrolled in the study. Almost two-thirds had syphilis, 
while the rest were used as control subjects. Between 1932 and 1947, 
the date when penicillin was determined to be the cure for the disease, 
at least seven men died, and their wives, children, and untold number 
of others had been infected.
  Men participating in the study were told they were being treated for 
bad blood. Bad blood wasn't running in the veins of these men, it was 
running in the veins of those who decided this study was worth more 
than their humanity.
  Dr. Irwin Schatz was 4 years out of medical school working as a 
cardiologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit when he came across the 
December 1964 issue of the journal ``Archives of Internal Medicine,'' 
which mentioned the Tuskegee study. We cannot be sure how many other 
people read this issue, but Dr. Schatz read it, and he was horrified.
  Dr. Schatz wrote to the study's senior author, Dr. Donald Rockwell. 
His letter was only three sentences long. These three sentences could 
have put his career at risk. Here was this young doctor criticizing an 
investigation overseen by some of the leading figures in the American 
Public Health Service.
  Here is what he wrote:

       I am utterly astounded by the fact that physicians allow 
     patients with a potentially fatal diseases to remain 
     untreated when effective therapy is available. I assume you 
     feel the information which is extracted from observations of 
     this untreated group is their sacrifice. If this is the case, 
     then I suggest the United States Public Health Service and 
     those physicians associated with it in this study need to 
     reevaluate their moral judgment in this regard.

  The sad reality is that the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention buried Dr. Schatz' letter, and it would sit in their 
archives until 1972. A Wall Street Journal reporter found the letter 
the same year that Peter Buxtun, health service employee turned 
whistleblower, told the world about this horrific study.
  Dr. Schatz went on to serve in a variety of hospitals. In 1975 he 
joined the University of Hawaii and eventually became chairman of their 
department of medicine. In 2009, he was named a medical hero by the 
Mayo Clinic because of his career but also because of the moral fury he 
expressed in that three-sentence letter.
  Irwin Schatz was truly a hero. My prayers and thoughts go out to his 
sons, Jacob, Edward, Stephen, and our colleague Senator Brian Schatz, 
his nine grandchildren and his family.
  Mr. President, I would like to speak on a separate topic very 
briefly.
  The moment is going to finally arrive in just a few minutes when we 
are going to, I hope, approve by a bipartisan vote the nomination of 
Loretta Lynch to be our next Attorney General. This is a milestone in 
the history of the United States--the first African-American woman to 
become Attorney General of this country.
  I would like to say that I am sorry--and I am--for the delay in 
bringing this nomination before the Senate. It should have been done 
long ago. She is an extraordinary person from an extraordinary family. 
We have been blessed with her public service for so many years, and now 
she has reached the top in her career to be able to serve as our next 
Attorney General.
  I will, with a great deal of admiration and respect, be voting in 
favor of this nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I eagerly echo the words of my dear friend, 
the senior Senator from Illinois. This is a great, historic moment. 
Earlier today, we ended the filibuster on this woman, Loretta Lynch. We 
ended the filibuster of her nomination to be Attorney General of the 
United States.
  The good news is that we ended the filibuster. The bad news is that 
for the first time in our Nation's history, we had to overcome a 
filibuster for an Attorney General nominee--of either party. Eighty-two 
prior Attorneys General, going back to George Washington straight 
through, and not one of them has been treated the way Loretta Lynch has 
been treated.
  I have come to know what a strong and good woman she is from her time 
as U.S. attorney and straight through to her confirmation hearing. At 
her confirmation hearing, those opposed to her brought witnesses but 
when I asked them, are there any of you who would vote against her, not 
a single hand went up.
  You see, I know her strengths. I know she has persevered through much 
more difficult circumstances in her life. I believe this will make her 
even stronger. But do I hope after this extended delay, that Senate 
Republicans will show her more respect as Attorney General of the 
United States than she has received as a nominee.
  She deserves all of America's respect and our gratitude for being 
willing to continue to serve our Nation. Loretta Lynch is eminently 
qualified to be Attorney General. She has twice been unanimously 
confirmed by the Senate to be U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of 
New York. Her record as a top Federal prosecutor in Brooklyn is 
unimpeachable.
  I have no doubt that as Attorney General, Ms. Lynch will effectively, 
fairly, and independently enforce the law.

[[Page S2378]]

  She has received the highest praise from those on both sides of the 
aisle. A group of 26 former United States Attorneys from both 
Republican and Democratic administrations have written, ``Ms. Lynch has 
the experience, temperament, independence, integrity, and judgment to 
immediately assume this critically important position.'' A former 
Associate Attorney General serving at the Justice Department under 
President Bush wrote to me saying that ``[Ms. Lynch is] uniquely 
qualified to serve as Attorney General.'' Former Republican mayor of 
New York City, Rudy Guiliani, said, ``If I were in the Senate, I would 
confirm her,'' and Louis Freeh, former director of the FBI and Federal 
judge, has written ``[i]n my twenty-five years of public service--23 in 
the Department of Justice--I cannot think of a more qualified nominee 
to be America's chief law enforcement officer.'' This is just a glimpse 
of the broad support she has received.
  Loretta Lynch deserves to be considered by this Chamber based on her 
record, her accomplishments, and her extraordinary character. Let us 
come together. Let us make history by confirming Loretta Lynch to be 
the first African-American woman to serve as Attorney General of the 
United States.
  I ask unanimous consent to yield back all time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, all time is yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Loretta E. Lynch, of New York, to be 
Attorney General?
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Texas (Mr. Cruz).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Boozman). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 56, nays 43, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 165 Ex.]

                                YEAS--56

     Ayotte
     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Boxer
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Donnelly
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Flake
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Hirono
     Johnson
     Kaine
     King
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Reid
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--43

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Coats
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Grassley
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Lankford
     Lee
     McCain
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Perdue
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Cruz
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. As a reminder, expressions of approval or 
disapproval are not permitted from the gallery.
  The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion 
to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the 
President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I appreciate the majority leader making the 
usual request that the President be notified, but I have a sneaky 
suspicion the President knows what the final vote was.

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