Physician Vivek Murthy, President Barack Obama’s nominee for U.S. Surgeon General, is scheduled for confirmation by the Senate this week.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Mark Warner’s office told India-West that Murthy’s confirmation, which has been delayed by more than a year, was scheduled for a floor vote Dec. 11 or 12. Warner – a Democrat from Virginia who co-chairs the Senate India Caucus with Sen John Cornyn, R-Texas – lauded Murthy’s nomination in a press statement released Dec. 1.
“Dr. Murthy brings an entrepreneurial focus, and he is committed to using technology to expand our outreach on health and wellness in innovative ways. I believe he will make an excellent surgeon general,” said Warner.
A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – who would bring the confirmation to a full Senate vote – told India-West she could not confirm whether Murthy’s vote would be held this week. She added that Reid would first focus on judicial nominations in the final days before the Congressional session ends.
But The Hill, a D.C. insider Web site, reported Dec. 5 that the Senate is expected to decide Dec. 8 whether to take up the nomination. Citing sources from the Center for American Progress and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the publication reported that the vote is expected to take place three or four days later.
If Murthy’s nomination is not taken up during this Senate session, it is unlikely that the next Republican-majority controlled Senate would prioritize Murthy’s confirmation, leaders of several Indian American organizations told India-West. Murthy himself has been mum on the issue: On the sidelines of an Indians for Collective Action banquet held at the India Community Center in Milpitas Oct. 12, the England-born, Miami, Fla., native told India-West he could not comment on his nomination, as his confirmation process was still underway.
Obama nominated the Indian American public health advocate in October 2013, and in February this year, a bi-partisan group Senate panel voted to bring his confirmation to the full Senate floor.
But a group of Senate Republicans then pounced on a statement Murthy had tweeted in 2012, in which the founder of Doctors for America had stated: “Tired of politicians playing politics w/ guns, putting lives at risk b/c they’re scared of NRA. Guns are a health care issue.”
The tweet was brought up during his confirmation hearing; Murthy stated to the panel that he would not use the surgeon general’s role to advocate for gun control.
But the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action sent a letter Feb. 26 to all Senate members, opposing Murthy’s nomination because of his support for a federal ban on semi-automatic weapons.
The NRA-ILA letter noted that Doctors for America had sent two letters to Vice President Joe Biden in January 2013 urging mandatory licensing for anyone purchasing guns, including mandatory safety training and testing. The DFA letter also advocated for a “buy-back” policy to reduce the numbers of fire-arms in circulation. Both letters were signed by Murthy, noted the powerful gun lobby.
“Dr. Murthy’s record of political activism in support of radical gun control measures raises significant concerns about his ability to objectively examine issues pertinent to America’s 100 million firearm owners and the likelihood he would use the office of Surgeon General to further his pre-existing campaign against gun ownership,” wrote the NRA-ILA.
Murthy has also advocated that the Centers for Disease Control must be allowed to fund “anti-gun” advocacy research, noted the organization.
The National Journal – a conservative publication – reported that former Surgeon Generals C. Everett Koop and Louis W. Sullivan professed much the same view during their tenure in the post, “without ruffling feathers.”
Indian American organizations and influential community leaders have pressed the Senate to confirm Murthy before the year ends. The leadership of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin flew to Washington, D.C., in November to meet Senate members and advocate for Murthy’s confirmation.
“Dr. Murthy’s appointment has been hanging for over a year for no justifiable reason,” said AAPI president Ravi Jahagirdar in a press statement after the D.C. trip.
“With no leadership to guide the nation at critical times, there is an urgency in confirming his appointment. America and its medical establishment has no one at the helm,” he asserted.
AAPI is the largest organization in the nation for Indian American physicians.
The U.S. India Political Action Committee has also expressed its support for Murthy’s confirmation. “As a leader in the medical community, he is extremely well qualified to take on the role, and I am looking forward to his confirmation,” said USINPAC chairman Sanjay Puri.
“I would also like to congratulate President Obama for reaching out to the best and brightest to serve in his administration,” Puri added.
Murthy has been involved in innovative solutions to public health care crises since his undergraduate days at Harvard. On a trip home to Karnataka one summer, he and his sister Rashmi, who is also a physician, found an acute lack of HIV/AIDS information amongst young people living in rural India, and were inspired to found VISION Worldwide, aimed at promoting education and prevention of the disease.
While attending medical school at Yale, Murthy founded the Swasthya Community Health Partnership, a grassroots initiative that trains young Indian women to serve as health care workers in their villages.
In 2008, during President Barack Obama’s first election campaign, Murthy, who practices internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass., co-founded Doctors for Obama, which was later re-named Doctors for America. The organization aims to promote health care and preventive care for all U.S. residents through a network of more than 15,000 physicians.
Source: India West
