Murray Praises President Biden’s Pick For Key Role In Pandemic Response

President Biden announced his intent to nominate Dawn O’Connell to serve as Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response

O’Connell is a Senior Counselor at HHS, and has been a key advisor on the U.S. response to COVID-19, Zika, Ebola, and other public health threats

Murray: “Dawn O’Connell has helped guide our nation’s response to some of the biggest global health threats of the last decade, and is exactly the kind of leader we need serving as Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement in response to President Biden announcing he would nominate Dawn O’Connell to serve as Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). O’Connell is currently Senior Counselor to the Secretary for the COVID Response at HHS.

“President Biden has made an excellent choice to fill a position critical to our work to end this pandemic. Dawn O’Connell has helped guide our nation’s response to some of the biggest global health threats of the last decade, and is exactly the kind of leader we need serving as Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. I will be pushing for a swift, fair confirmation process so O’Connell can start in this new role and expand on the important work she has been doing as a Senior Counselor at the Department of Health and Human Services to see our nation through this pandemic and prepare it for future health threats.”

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