Former Surgeon General Says Bush Administration ‘Ignoring Science’

Richard Carmona testified to House panel that Bush appointees wanted to make him ‘the doctor of a political party’.Former Surgeon General Says Bush Administration ‘Ignoring Science’By Cliff Montgomery – July 23rd, 2007There’s been much talk about the recent testimony of former Surgeon General (2002-2006) Richard Carmona before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The good doctor’s diagnosis is that the Bush Administration is more interested in making the Surgeon General “the doctor of a political party”, rather than “the doctor of the nation”.But very few people know what Dr. Carmona actually said before the House panel. That’s why we’re quoting the segment of his testimony which started all the ruckus, so you can decide the matter for yourself.This is from Dr. Carmona’s testimony as found in the Congressional Record, and released on July 10th, 2007:“Being nominated and confirmed as the United States Surgeon General is still a surreal event for me. I will never forget the extraordinary privilege that the President of the United States and the Senate extended to me in allowing me to serve my country once again in uniform.”I am truly grateful for the opportunities that have been afforded to me by our great nation to work hard, study harder, and gain expertise in my chosen fields. That expertise brought me the opportunity to be considered and then nominated for the position of U.S. Surgeon General. I was humbled to be nominated and confirmed soon after 9-11–at a time when our nation needed leadership in public health and preparedness perhaps more than ever before.”As grateful as I am to my country for the opportunities that I have been afforded, that sense of appreciation will never allow me to become complacent in my commitment to continue to improve the health, safety, and security of our nation and the world. For as members of a very small and unique fraternity of Surgeons General, we all believe that ‘Once a Surgeon General, always a Surgeon General.'”Before serving as Surgeon General, I did not know the President, or any member of his cabinet or other advisors. I knew my local elected and appointed leaders in Arizona, whom I worked with on many community efforts to improve the economic, health, and education infrastructure of our communities and our state.”I came to Washington, D.C., having served as a U.S. Army Special Forces medic and weapons specialist, a registered nurse, police officer and SWAT team leader, surgeon, CEO of a public hospital and health system, and a university professor.”I also came to the Office of the Surgeon General knowing what it feels like to be a poor child, whose family sometimes had to stand in line at public hospitals, waiting for health care, not knowing how we would pay the doctor’s bill, and sometimes not even knowing where our next meal would come from.”I came to our nation’s capital ready to serve all people, and prepared to carry on what I believed was a tradition of implementing non-partisan, evidence-based solutions to public health challenges.”My fellow U.S. Surgeons General warned me that partisan political agendas often undermine the public health and well-being of our nation.”During my first year as Surgeon General, I was still quite politically naïve in the ways of the Beltway. As I witnessed partisanship and political manipulation, I was astounded but also unsure of what I was witnessing–for I had no reference point. I asked myself whether this was just happening to me as the new Surgeon General, or whether this was the norm for all Surgeons General.”I turned to my fellow Surgeons General, the men and women who came before me and had made tremendous positive contributions to the science and practice of public health, who had saved and improved millions of lives through their work and dedication. They became my mentors.”They said that they had all been challenged and had to fight political battles in order to do their job as ‘the doctor of the nation.’ But each agreed that never had they seen Washington, D.C. so partisan or a new Surgeon General so politically challenged and marginalized as during my tenure.”They told me that although most Americans believe that their Surgeon General has the ability to impact the course of public health as ‘the nation’s doctor,’ the reality is that the nation’s doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with  supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas.”Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological, or political  agenda is ignored, marginalized, or simply buried.”The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science, or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds.”The job of Surgeon General is to be ‘the doctor of the nation’–not ‘the doctor of a political party.'”Like what you’re reading so far? 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