[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 51 (Thursday, March 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1627-S1629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Nomination of Xavier Becerra
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President and colleagues, very shortly, the Senate
will have the opportunity to confirm Attorney General Becerra to be the
next Health and Human Services Secretary, and what this means is, after
4 years of going in reverse on health policy, it will be possible to
drive and actually make progress for the American people in addressing
their healthcare needs--progress in terms of lowering the cost of
healthcare. We spent $3.8 trillion last year. So we have to lower
costs, and we have to do it in a way that enhances quality, and
Attorney General Becerra is going to be laser-focused on the key
priorities for the days ahead. We all know that at the heart of that
agenda is making it possible to end this pandemic.
Now, central to his agenda is going to be the distribution of
vaccines because there are a lot of pieces to the challenge of beating
the pandemic, but right at the heart of it is distribution of those
vaccines and PPE and bringing together all the people at Health and
Human Services and in our country to have a coordinated strategy for
dealing with the pandemic.
We didn't have that in the past. I remember--and I am sure the
Presiding Officer remembers--at one point, we didn't have any idea who
was in charge. One day it was going to be the States. The next day it
was going to be Jared Kushner. There was just bedlam for weeks and
weeks with respect to who would even coordinate this country's strategy
against the pandemic. With Xavier Becerra there, that will not be the
case.
I just want--because I see colleagues also wanting to speak--to talk
about another crucial aspect about having Xavier Becerra at the
Department of Health and Human Services. What he is going to have to do
is move quickly to reverse some of those flawed policies of the Trump
administration, like junk insurance, barely worth the paper it was
written on, the mindless restrictions that were placed on coverage. For
example, that made it harder for people to get access to Medicaid. And
some of what they did just defied common sense, making it tougher for
people to enroll in the Affordable Care Act, and having modest efforts
in New Jersey and Michigan and elsewhere to do outreach and to tell
people about the availability of coverage.
What in the world is healthcare about? It is about getting coverage
out to people, not inventing barriers to their getting care.
Finally, I just want to mention some of the exciting things from the
recovery legislation that he will be able to focus on. I am sure my
colleague from Michigan is going to be talking about these issues, as
well, in the days ahead. But what is going to be done in terms of
delivering postpartum care, an area where there has been enormous
racial injustice, is going to make a huge difference--a major part of
the recovery plan--the home and community-based services, which build
on some of the work being done in the community. I remember from my
days when I was director of the Gray Panthers, helping seniors and the
disabled. And we are so excited about mental health officials and law
enforcement officials coming together for what is known as the CAHOOTS
Program from my home State, dealing with the racial tensions on the
streets.
So Xavier Becerra has been running this mammoth agency in his State.
You know, people say: What is his experience? He was on the Ways and
Means Committee for years and years, the committee of jurisdiction as
it relates to these issues, and then has been in California taking on
monopolies, fighting those who would rip off the healthcare system,
sticking up for the Affordable Care Act. So he has had frontline
experience on these issues.
He should have been confirmed a long time ago, but now we are on the
precipice of finally getting somebody who is going to take us forward
in that key Agency in terms of meeting the healthcare needs for our
colleagues.
When we have this vote shortly, I urge in the strongest possible way
for the Senate to vote to confirm Attorney General Xavier Becerra for
this crucial position.
I yield the floor to my colleague.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, first, I have to say to my friend and
our lead on the Finance Committee how grateful I am for his leadership.
We have started out very strongly on the Finance Committee with really
important topics. I so appreciated yesterday focusing on nursing homes
and what has happened the day before, focusing on advanced
manufacturing and jobs, and your efforts today. It is just issue after
issue. It is wonderful to have you in this position.
Mr. WYDEN. I thank my colleague.
Ms. STABENOW. And to be your partner in this.
And I so appreciate the leadership of the Senator who is currently in
the Chair, from New Jersey, as well.
I rise today, as well, to speak on behalf of an outstanding nominee
to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If there ever
was a time we needed an outstanding leader, it is right now.
One of the things I find so interesting is that colleagues on the
other side of the aisle say they wish he was a doctor. Well, the
previous Health and Human Services Secretary was the former CEO of a
drug company. And so, from my
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perspective, I am much more comfortable having somebody who fought drug
companies to lower prescription drug prices than to have had the person
in that job before be the person who actually raised prices on people
in his former position and tried to block competition. So he is the
right person. Xavier Becerra is the right person for this moment, I
believe.
Our Nation is still fighting to emerge from the worst pandemic in our
lifetime. It is hard to believe now that it has been over a year that
we have been struggling and families have been struggling with this
pandemic. Nearly 540,000 American lives are lost. It is hard for me to
even say it and have a concept of what that is right now, the number of
people who have lost loved ones and friends and neighbors. Countless
more have gotten sick. Many more remain sick months later.
The cost to our economy and way of life has been massive. Millions of
workers have lost their jobs. Thousands of businesses have closed, too
many of them, permanently.
Families are struggling to pay their rent or mortgage, keep the heat
on--which is really important in a place like Michigan in the winter--
keep the lights on, put food on the table.
Schools are working hard to reopen safely. And, in the meantime,
families are doing the best they can to make sure their children can
keep up.
It is true that we are making progress. We are making progress.
Things are getting better step by step by step.
Thanks to science, we have three very effective vaccines going into
the arms of people across our country, and with the American Rescue
Plan being signed into law, in fact, help is here. It is here.
So now is the time that, as we focus on getting help to where it is
needed, Attorney General Becerra is just the leader to do this as the
head of Health and Human Services.
His experience will be a tremendous asset as he works to address the
pandemic and make healthcare more affordable. He led the defense in
court of the Affordable Care Act, which he helped to write. It was my
pleasure to work with him during that process, to work with him as
House Members and then to work with him when we were writing the ACA,
both in the Ways and Means Committee, in which he sat in the House, and
my sitting on the Finance Committee. He protected the healthcare of
millions in his position as attorney general. He has taken on drug
companies, as I said before, for their high prices and their role in
the opioid epidemic. And he has worked to enforce mental health parity
in California, which I think is so, so, so important.
So many people are living with mental illness and addiction right now
and have been. In January, 41 percent of American adults said they were
struggling with anxiety or depression. So things have gotten worse--the
pressure on people as a result of what everybody has gone through in
the last year. That is up from 11 percent before the pandemic, and more
than one in four young people have reported having suicidal thoughts.
Meanwhile, communities are seeing more people overdose. Long after the
pandemic ends, these behavioral health issues will linger.
Attorney General Becerra began his career as a legal aid attorney
supporting clients with mental health issues and substance abuse
issues. He knows in his heart and soul how important this is. He will
bring that same compassion and dedication to HHS as we work to expand
access to care, including through certified community behavioral health
clinics, on which I am so proud to have partnered with Senator Roy
Blunt and so many of our colleagues across the aisle to move forward as
the new structure for comprehensive, coordinated care in the community.
And it is beginning to make a difference, but we have a lot more to do,
and we need somebody at the head of HHS who gets it. That is why I so
strongly support Xavier Becerra, among so many other reasons.
American families deserve to know that they have someone at the
Department of Health and Human Services who has their backs. With
Attorney General Becerra, they will know they have someone who has
their back.
He is the leader we need to help us end this pandemic, to get people
the care they need, to strengthen our healthcare system, and to get our
country back on track.
So I look forward to voting for this excellent nominee and putting
him to work on behalf of the American people. I urge my colleagues to
join us in supporting this excellent nominee.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to oppose the
nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services of Xavier
Becerra.
As I stand here today, America is still fighting the worst pandemic
in a century. More than half a million Americans, as we have just
heard, have died of this coronavirus. Life expectancy in our country
has actually dropped by a full year. Now, as a doctor, I will tell you
that is a significant drop of life expectancy.
In this time of crisis, our Secretary of Health and Human Services
may be the single most important member in the President's Cabinet.
There are many well-qualified Democrats, in my opinion, who could serve
in this position. For example, I voted to confirm President Obama's
last Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Burwell. She was
confirmed by a large bipartisan majority.
That is not the kind of nominee that we have this time. In the middle
of a crisis, President Biden has chosen someone who is, in my opinion,
both unqualified and unfit for this specific job.
First, Attorney General Becerra is unqualified. Let me talk about
that. As a doctor, I am deeply concerned that President Biden has
nominated someone with no medical or public health experience. He is
not a doctor, not a scientist, not a public health official. He is a
trial lawyer and a career politician. A global pandemic is no time for
on-the-job healthcare training. The Secretary must be ready on day one.
Attorney General Becerra is not only unqualified, I say he is
radically liberal in his positions. Attorney General Becerra is the
most leftwing nominee for this job, in my opinion, in history. He is an
aggressive culture warrior from the radical left. He supports Medicare
for All, which would ban private health insurance, and 180 million
people who get their health insurance through their jobs would lose it.
If his positions go forward and he has his way, American workers would
lose that opportunity and that benefit of their jobs.
He has made a name for himself in the Democratic Party for his
extreme positions on abortion. During his 24 years in Congress,
Attorney General Becerra voted against every restriction on abortion.
During his confirmation hearing, Senator Daines even asked him to name
a single restriction he would support. He couldn't name a single one.
This record has earned him a ``100 percent'' rating from Planned
Parenthood.
As a Congressman, Mr. Becerra even voted against the ban on partial-
birth abortion. The Supreme Court, rightly, upheld banning partial-
birth abortions in the United States.
This wasn't the only time the attorney general's positions were at
odds with that of the current Supreme Court as he was attorney general
in California.
During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Becerra claimed he never sued
any nuns. That is his quote: ``never sued any nuns.'' He also said he
only sued because of California law. Well, both of these statements
stretch the truth, to put it mildly.
In 2017, the Trump administration gave a group of nuns an exception
from being required to pay for birth control. The nuns say that
violates their religious beliefs, having to pay for birth control.
Attorney General Becerra then sued the Trump administration to stop
them from giving this exemption. Attorney General of California
Becerra, the nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, lost
at the Supreme Court by a vote of 7 to 2.
One of the jobs of the Secretary of Health and Human Services is to
protect the conscience rights of doctors and nurses. Mr. Becerra's
record shows he can't be trusted to do that.
There is a well-known case involving Crisis Pregnancy Centers. Now,
these are groups that help women facing an unplanned pregnancy.
California said
[[Page S1629]]
they had to advertise where these women could go to get abortions.
Attorney General Becerra brought the full power of the State of
California against the pro-life groups. Once again, the Supreme Court
of the United States stepped in to stop him.
Mr. Becerra also used the power of his office to criminally prosecute
pro-life journalists. A pro-life activist went undercover to
investigate Planned Parenthood for trafficking in aborted body parts.
His revelations caused outrage across the country. Attorney General
Becerra charged him, the undercover reporter, with 15 felony counts.
This was too much even for Attorney General Becerra's liberal
hometown newspaper. The Los Angeles Times said:
It's disturbingly aggressive for Becerra to apply this
criminal statute to people who were trying to influence a
contested issue of public policy, regardless of how sound or
popular that policy may be.
So Attorney General Becerra is a radical liberal on a whole host of
issues. As attorney general of California, he sued the Trump
administration over 120 different times. That is quite a few. This
includes filing nine lawsuits on the very last day of President Trump's
administration--the very last day, nine more lawsuits added to the
pile.
He sued to try to stop President Trump from building the wall on the
southern border. He sued the Trump administration to try to stop
fracking on Federal lands in California. This is just the tip of the
iceberg. The list goes on and on. When you look at the record, it is
clear: Xavier Becerra is out of touch with the views of the American
people.
President Biden has chosen an extremely liberal Cabinet. He was
forced to withdraw his nominee for Budget Director. His Vice President
has been the least bipartisan, in terms of a Senator of record, of any
Senator in 2019. And now Attorney General Becerra seems to be the most
liberal of them all.
Frankly, his selection, I think, shocked a lot of people across the
country. During this pandemic, we need a leader for the Department of
Health and Human Services who brings us together as a nation. Instead,
the President has chosen a nominee with no public health experience and
an extremely partisan record, so I urge my colleagues to reject this
unqualified, incredibly liberal nominee.
Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, President Biden has a lot of duties and
obligations and a lot on his plate right now. The important thing that
we are involved in, that we are all concerned about, are the nominees,
who they are, what the process is, and what leverage do we in the
minority have to impact that.
I think that Xavier Becerra is not fit to be our Secretary of Health
and Human Services, and I say this because of his appalling track
record disrespecting the sanctity of life, blatantly attacking First
Amendment rights, and his extreme policy views.
Now, throughout his career, Mr. Becerra has proven he has no shame
when it comes to his pro-abortion beliefs. As attorney general of
California, Becerra led a yearslong lawsuit targeting the Little
Sisters of the Poor. This order of Catholic nuns is devoted to caring
for the elderly poor. All they want is to be free to operate in
accordance with their religious beliefs, and I think we can all
understand that. But Becerra sued the Federal Government to force the
nuns--and we are talking about the Little Sisters of the Poor--to
provide access to birth control and abortion-inducing drugs, completely
disrespecting their religious beliefs.
During his confirmation hearings, multiple Senators asked Mr. Becerra
about his lawsuit, and he said:
I've never sued any affiliation of nuns. [M]y actions have
always been directed at the Federal agencies.
But I think it is pretty misleading because he may have sued the
Federal Government, but his actions certainly were directed at the
nuns.
And that is not his only assault on life. Mr. Becerra also fought
against the Trump administration's title X rule in court. We all
remember this. This is where he ensured that Federal tax dollars would
only go toward family planning clinics that don't offer abortions.
And, during the pandemic, Becerra has been an aggressive advocate of
expanding access to chemical abortions, thereby providing abortions by
mail that are done at home and without the supervision of a medical
provider. And all abortions, in my view--and I know a lot of people
don't agree with this, but I think all abortions are bad. But
increasing unsupervised access to chemical abortions, which are four
times more likely to cause problems and complications for the mother
than surgical abortions, shows that Mr. Becerra's concern isn't about
health; it is about his pro-abortion agenda.
We shouldn't be surprised. During his time in Congress, Mr. Becerra
voted against multiple pro-life bills, including the partial-birth
abortion ban, and that was one that was sponsored on both sides. It was
a bipartisan bill. It banned the horrific procedure in which a baby is
partially delivered and then painfully destroyed.
But Becerra isn't just radical in his support for abortion. He also
goes after the First Amendment rights of individuals who disagree with
him. I am sure everyone here remembers the shocking, heart-wrenching
evidence collected by two undercover journalists in 2015 that showed
Planned Parenthood's involvement in selling the body parts of aborted
babies. Becerra has chosen to prosecute the journalists rather than
take the action to protect babies and investigate the evidence of this
behavior.
Becerra also targeted the California pro-life pregnancy centers by
forcing them to advertise abortions, in violation of their First
Amendment rights. Now, he fought them all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court, and he lost.
But he didn't give up. Last fall, he supported California's ban on
indoor worship services, also in violation of the First Amendment, and
he lost again in the Supreme Court. He doesn't give up. Justice Gorsuch
said--and this is a quote from Justice Gorsuch. He said:
If Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing
competition while not a single soul may enter California's
churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone
seriously awry.
I agree with Justice Gorsuch in that observation.
Becerra also wants to decriminalize illegal immigration, saying:
They are not criminals. They haven't committed a crime
against someone.
Should he be confirmed to be the HHS Secretary, he would be
positioned to give illegal immigrants access to his programs.
So, lastly, I just want to send a message to the pro-life movement,
to people in Oklahoma and Americans all around the country who really
believe in the sanctity of life. We are not going to give up in trying
to block this nomination, and we will do everything we can to stop the
confirmation of Xavier Becerra.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.