Cassidy Seated as Ranking Member of Senate HELP Committee, Announces GOP Members
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) was officially seated as the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) for the 118th Congress. Cassidy will lead Republicans on the HELP Committee, which include U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), and Ted Budd (R-NC).
“This is about doing something positive to serve the people of Louisiana and the United States of America,” said Dr. Cassidy. “I look forward to representing conservative principles on the committee and securing real solutions to the issues facing Americans.”
Cassidy is the first medical doctor to serve as HELP Ranking Member or Chairman since 1933, when the committee was named “Education and Labor.”
A member of the HELP Committee since joining the Senate, Cassidy has been instrumental in prior committee efforts to lower the price of prescription drugs, prevent patients from receiving surprise medical bills, reform America’s mental health care system, address disparities in the health care field, increase access to in-school mental health services for students, and shield pregnant mothers from workplace discrimination. He has also engaged in extensive oversight of the administration and has sought to improve accountability and transparency into taxpayer-funded programs.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will serve as Chair of the committee. U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Edward Markey (D-MA) will also represent Senate Democrats on the dais.
Prior to his career in public service, Cassidy worked for over 25 years in the Louisiana charity hospital system to ensure Louisiana families could access quality health care, regardless of income. He also joined LSU Medical School teaching medical students and residents. He also created a private-public partnership to vaccinate 36,000 greater Baton Rouge area children against Hepatitis B at no cost to the schools or parents. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he led a group of health care volunteers to convert an abandoned K-Mart building into an emergency health care facility, providing basic health care to hurricane evacuees.
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