Sen. Carper Celebrates Senate Confirmation of Sylvia Mathews Burwell to Lead Health and Human Services Department

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement after the Senate confirmed Sylvia Mathews Burwell to become Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with a strong bipartisan vote of 78 to 17.

“I couldn’t think of a person more qualified to lead the Department of Health and Human Services during this important period than Sylvia Mathews Burwell. I appreciate her willingness to continue her service to our country in this vital role.

“I am confident Ms. Burwell will do an exceptional job in building consensus in this new position.  She is an accomplished leader in the both the public and private sector for more than 20 years, including in her most recent role as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. As the director of the Office of Management and Budget, she worked tirelessly to navigate our return from the unfortunate government shutdown we faced last October and she played a leading role in the bi-partisan budget deal reached this past December.

“I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for quickly confirming Ms. Burwell for this critical job, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with her as she tackles this new challenge leading the Department of Health and Human Services. Working together with Congress and the rest of the administration, I am confident that Sylvia can help ensure that we make important progress in effectively implementing the Affordable Care Act as well as improving.”

Before the confirmation vote, Sen. Carper spoke on the Senate floor in support of Ms. Burwell’s confirmation. Video of the floor speech is available on YouTube.

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