Congressman Joseph Crowley, D- New York, is urging the U.S. Senate to clear President Obama’s Indian-American nominee for Surgeon General, especially in light of the Ebola crisis.
In a statement issued Oct. 17, Crowley, who is vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, said the public health crisis required a public health leader like Dr. Vivek Murthy, who was nominated by President Obama in November last year.
Crowley’s spokesperson told News India Times “there is wide support across the Democratic Caucus for Dr. Murthy to be confirmed.”
Earlier this year however, the National Rifle Association, alarmed by what it said was Murthy’s stand for “radical gun control measures,” opposed his candidacy.
“Confirmation of Dr. Murthy is a prescription for disaster for America’s gun owners,” Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislation Action told Senate leader in a letter, Medscape Medical News reported. Murthy was also seen by some Republicans as too partisan. He headed Doctors for Obama in 2008, an organization he created which later morphed into Doctors for America. Following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Doctors for America lobbied Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and in other statements Murthy has called gun violence “an important public health issue” and criticized politicization of gun control.
Murthy toned down his stand during his hearing saying he would not use his Surgeon General position as a “bully pulpit” for gun control. At the end of February, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions cleared Murthy’s nomination for consideration of the full Senate. However, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, put a procedural hold on Murthy’s nomination on account of his views on gun control.
And there the nomination languishes. Several Indian-American organizations have lobbied lawmakers to no avail so far.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is strongly behind Murthy’s confirmation. “We think that no one is more uniquely qualified than Dr. Murthy with his extensive background in public health. We always say that we trust doctors about matters of public health, not the gun lobby,” Brian Malte, senior national policy director for the Brady group told Medscape Medical News.
Congressman Crowley said it was “absurd” that the office is vacant for this long especially as the nation is confronting “very serious” public health issues. “For over 200 years, the position of the Surgeon General has been the nation’s top doctor – a qualified, medical professional who puts the health of the American people first, who can explain complex issues, and who can represent the government response in the midst of a scare or crisis,” Crowley said.
“There is no excuse for any delay,” he added, saying the health of Americans rises above partisan politics.
“A public health crisis requires a public health leader, and it is time for the Senate to confirm Dr. Murthy.”
The U.S. Surgeon General is the nation’s leading official and spokesperson on matters of public health.
Murthy is currently at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and teaches at Harvard Medical School. He founded Visions Worldwide, a non-profit that advances education for HIV/AIDS prevention in the U.S. and India.
He got his medical degree from Yale School of Medicine and earned an MBA in Health Care Management from Yale School of Management.