Washington, DC — The Senate just voted to confirm President Biden’s historic pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra. Becerra is a highly-qualified nominee with decades of health care experience and a strong advocate of the Affordable Care Act. In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“Facing a historic pandemic, Xavier Becerra is the right person at the right time for this job. He is ready to hit the ground running and lead Americans out of this pandemic. In Congress, Becerra worked to expand access and lower costs for health care, and as attorney general, he defended our health care against attacks. Now, as HHS secretary, he’ll do both. Vast majorities of voters in both parties support this administration’s health care agenda, and Republicans who made this a partisan vote are repeating the mistakes that cost them the House, the Senate, and the White House.”
“The son of working class parents living in a one room apartment, Secretary Becerra knows what Americans who work for a living are going through. He’s dedicated his career to fighting to expand access to health care, protecting underserved communities, and taking on powerful special interests to lower costs. His historic confirmation comes at a time when Americans are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted communities of color. Secretary Becerra was instrumental in the passage of the Affordable Care Act when he was a member of Congress and worked to defend the health care law from baseless Republican attacks as California’s attorney general. As HHS secretary, he will partner with President Biden to get the pandemic under control and build on the success of the ACA by expanding coverage and lowering health care costs.”