[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Xavier Becerra

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, today, the HELP Committee considered 
the nomination of Xavier Becerra, our former House colleague, to head 
the Department of Health and Human Services, and tomorrow the Finance 
Committee will take their turn at examining his record.
  It is hard to think of a nominee more notorious for actively seeking 
out ways to undermine religious freedom and our religious liberty. His 
contempt for those whose beliefs differ from his own is well 
documented, and, in many cases, his positions on those issues are far 
more radical than those held by the majority in his own party.
  He supports abortion up to the moment of birth, and, in 2003, 
actively opposed the partial-birth abortion ban. He cosponsored 
legislation that would have forced religious employers to provide 
insurance that covers the morning-after pill, in spite of their 
mainstream and sincerely held religious beliefs. Bear in mind I said 
the legislation would have forced--not an option--forced religious 
employers to provide insurance that covered the morning-after pill.
  In fact, Mr. Becerra has been so antagonistic toward fundamental 
constitutional principles that you could almost forget he doesn't have 
the public health experience most Americans would expect the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services to possess. In fact, he has no meaningful 
experience in healthcare at all--zero, none, not in public health or 
large-scale logistical operations or in any other area that might be 
helpful as we navigate our way out of a global pandemic. That is right. 
He has no healthcare experience.
  This lack of experience, combined with his desire to destroy those 
who disagree with him, places him among the most unqualified and 
dangerous nominees ever to come before the Senate for consideration, 
and I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing his confirmation.