Murray: Asking Trusted Public Health Voice Like Dr. Murthy to Return as Surgeon General “Sends Exactly the Right Message”

Murray: “ At a time when we absolutely need to be listening to experts and having them lead our response to this pandemic, nominating an experienced public health official like Dr. Murthy to return as Surgeon General sends exactly the right message.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after meeting by phone with Dr. Vivek Murthy, President-elect Biden’s nominee to serve as Surgeon General.

“At a time when we absolutely need to be listening to experts and having them lead our response to this pandemic, nominating an experienced public health official like Dr. Murthy to return as Surgeon General sends exactly the right message. Having formerly served in this role, there can be no question Dr. Murthy is already an established, trusted voice on critical matters of public health.

“Dr. Murthy has a record that shows he understands the public health challenges facing our nation—the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health crisis, the scourge of opioid addiction, the threat of rising youth tobacco use, the injustice of health disparities driven by systemic racism—as well as the important role public trust must play in fighting them. I walked away from our conversation confident he is an excellent choice to help our nation tackle these issues, as well as to help us build public confidence in one of the most ambitious, and important, vaccination campaigns in our nation’s history.

“I look forward to working with Dr. Murthy in the years ahead to help keep families across the nation safe and healthy, and will be pushing for Congress to let him start in his role as soon as possible. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage at a deadly pace, it is important we move swiftly to consider the nominees who will be central to the Biden-Harris Administration’s pandemic response efforts so they can hit the ground running.”

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