Nomination of Rachel Leland Levine

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise today to strongly urge my colleagues to support the nomination of Dr. Rachel Levine. She is a highly qualified public health expert to serve as Assistant Secretary for Health.

As the highest ranking health official in Pennsylvania, she led the State's COVID-19 response by focusing on transparency and clear, science-based communication; giving daily briefings on the status of the pandemic; and advocating for the resources and support Pennsylvanians needed.

Dr. Levine has been on the frontlines of this pandemic, which is why she knows firsthand what our States and communities need from the Department of Health and Human Services. Even before this crisis, Dr. Levine established herself as a trusted voice to the people of Pennsylvania on matters of public health through her work to establish opioid prescribing guidelines and education for medical students, make lifesaving treatment for opioid overdoses widely available, combat eating disorders, increase health equity, and help the LGBTQ community get healthcare.

She was confirmed to both of her positions in the State with broad bipartisan support. She passed out of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee with support from Republican colleagues last week, and I hope she will be confirmed today in a strong bipartisan vote as well.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge what her confirmation today would represent for our country because, in addition to being a high qualified nominee, Dr. Levine is also a historic one. Upon confirmation, she will be the highest ranking openly transgender official in our government and the first one ever confirmed by the Senate.

I have always said the people in our government should reflect the people it serves, and today we will take a new, historic step toward making that a reality.

I am proud to vote for Dr. Levine and incredibly proud of the progress this confirmation will represent for our country and for transgender people all across it who are watching today. I hope all my colleagues are as well.

I would also say how glad I am that yesterday we voted to confirm Dr. Murthy as Surgeon General.

During his last tenure as Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy established himself as a trusted voice on matters of public health, helped see our Nation through the Zika outbreak, and published groundbreaking reports on the opioid epidemic and rising youth tobacco use.

I am pleased to have Dr. Murthy returning to the role of Surgeon General at this critical time.

When it comes to ending this pandemic, we have a lot of work to do and no time to waste. We are going to need all the help we can get, particularly from experts like Dr. Murthy and Dr. Levine to get it done.

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