[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 47 (Monday, November 27, 2000)]
[Pages 2907-2908]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Appointment of Donna Shalala as President of the 
University of Miami

November 19, 2000

    I congratulate Secretary Shalala on her appointment as president of 
the University of Miami, a post she will assume on June 1. She is a 
talented manager and an energetic leader who will bring great experience 
to the

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task of leading the university, its students, its faculty, and its 
alumni. I have no doubt she will be a real asset to the university and 
its community.
    For almost 8 years, Secretary Shalala has led the Department of 
Health and Human Services with vigor and skill, always focused on 
meeting the needs of the American people. During her tenure as the 
longest serving Secretary in the history of the Department, she has 
directed the welfare reform process; made health insurance available to 
2.5 million children through the State Children's Health Insurance 
Program (SCHIP); raised immunization rates to the highest levels in 
history; and led major reforms of FDA's drug approval process and food 
safety system.
    As a Medicare trustee, she helped extend the solvency of the 
Medicare Trust Fund, directing management reforms and launching a 
campaign against waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid 
programs that has already paid enormous dividends. She has strengthened 
the scientific leadership and budget of the National Institutes of 
Health, and she has reinvigorated the Federal role in public health.
    I am also pleased that Secretary Shalala intends to complete her 
term, staying through January 20 to finish the work we have to do for 
the American people. I look forward to working with her to protect the 
privacy of medical records and to win congressional approval of a budget 
that increases our investment in biomedical research and other critical 
public health priorities as well as health insurance coverage to the 
uninsured.