Good morning. Good morning. The hearing on the senate labor and Pensions Committee will please come to order. We want to thank our staff for working through some technical difficulties this morning and thank thean senators and our witnesses who are joining us from around the country in various offices where we are all following the attending physicians protocol for safe us whoing and those of are here Wearing Masks on our way in and sitting 6 feet apart while we are here. Senator murray and i will have an Opening Statement then we will turn to our witnesses for of about fivets minutes each, if they could please summarize them, there it ais. Senators will each have five minutes rounds of questions and we have a vote at 11 40 so we will need to finish this hearing by about noon and all the senators will have had that time and chance to ask theires questions. The question for administrators of the 6000 colleges and universities is not whether to reopen in august but how to do it safely. M
Next, a forum on the federal governments response on the coronavirus. Former lawmakers and federal officials talk about the need for bipartisan leadership and the role of past crises in determining future actions. Welcome to a unique event to discuss the critical need for a healthy, bipartisan leadership at this time of covid19. And Christine Todd whitman im delighted to be cochair of the National Institute for civil discourse. The am tom daschle, one of cochairs as well. Along with christine im delighted to join her and keith to discuss the critical nature of bipartisanship as we look to our response to the covid19 crisis we are all facing. Ofad the responsibility being majority later during one of our last crises after 911. We learned the value, the importance, the critical nature of bipartisanship then. We hope we can apply those lessons and many more as we look to the challenges at we face in our country today. Already, and icd executive director. Capacityon is to build to engage d
Prostate surgery. Reporters asked where President Biden and the white house knew about secretary austins position . This is about an hour. As part of sec. Austins routinely recommended health screening, he has undergone regular antigen tsa surveillance. Changes in his Laboratory Evaluation in early december of 2023 identified Prostate Cancer, which required treatment. On december 22, 20 23, after consultation with his medical team, he was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center and underwent a minimally Invasive Surgery to treat and cure Prostate Cancer. He was under general anesthesia during this procedure. Secretary austin recovered from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His Prostate Cancer was detected early in his prognosis is excellent. On january 1, 2024, secretary austin was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center with complications from the december 22 procedure. Including nausea with severe abdominal hip and leg pain. Initial evaluation revealed a urinary tract inf
Nomination of mr. Alex azar to serve as secretary of health and Human Services, one of the most important jobs in any government anywhere in the world. Id like to welcome mr. Azar to the finance committee this morning. I want to thank you for being here and for your willingness to serve in this important capacity. Mr. Azar certainly has his work cut out for him. Health and Human Services is a massive, Sprawling Department that overseas trillions of dollars in spending and liabilities and encompasses all areas of our Nations Health care system. As a result, if confirmed, mr. Azars work will impact the lives of every single american. Now, thats a big job. It requires knowledge, experience, and, most important, strong leadership. Fortunately, our nominee brings all of this to the table having nearly two decades of experience in the health care sector, including about six years working at the highest levels of hhs. During his time at hhs, mr. Azar played key roles in implementing new polic
Here. And for your willi in ingness t serve in this important capacity. Mr. Azar certainly has his work cut out for him. Health and Human Services is a massive, Sprawling Department that oversees trillions of dollars in spending and liabilities and encompasses all areas of our Nations Health care system. As a result, if confirmed, mr. Azars work will impact the lives of every single american. Now, thats a big job. It requires knowledge, experience, and most important, strong leadership. Fortunately, our nominee brings all of this to the table, having nearly two decades of experience in the health care sector, including about six years working at the highest levels of hhs. During his time at hhs, mr. Azar play eed key roles in implementg new policies including Medicare Part d and the Medicare Advantage program. He was also a leader in hhs responses to the anthrax attacks shortly after 9 11, the sars and monkey pox crisis, and hurricane katrina, just to mention a few. If confirmed, mr. A