[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 53 (Monday, March 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CONFIRMATION OF XAVIER BECERRA

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, on March 18, I voted against the 
confirmation of Xavier Becerra to be Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. Mr. Becerra has no substantive experience in public health 
policy, and he has proven himself to be an extremist on the few 
occasions he has engaged on health care issues. In October 2017, he 
told FOX News, ``I've been a supporter of Medicare for All for the 24 
years that I was in Congress.'' As attorney general of California, he 
filed over 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, including 
leading a group of attorneys general in opposing Texas's legal 
challenge to Obamacare in Texas v. Azar. He also won lawsuits to 
reclassify gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft as employers. In 
response, California's Prop 22 was drafted, with a description saying 
it ``changes employment classification rules for app-based 
transportation and delivery workers.'' Becerra's office, which has 
authority to summarize ballot measures, seemingly tried to sabotage 
Prop 22 by changing its summary to say it ``exempts app-based 
transportation and delivery companies from providing employee benefits 
to certain drivers and delivery workers.'' Californians passed Prop 22 
anyway, with over 58 percent support.
  Mr. Becerra's history suggests he will use this Cabinet post for 
political activism, not for advancing our Nation's public health. For 
that reason, I opposed his confirmation.

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