Rep. Tom Cotton (R-CA) speaking on May 5, 2020
Biden recently nominated Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general and a far-leftist, to be U.S. health secretary. In response to this decision, 75 members of Congress (11 Senators and 64 Representatives) and experts voiced strong opposition on Monday, February 22.
Members of Congress, led by Tom Cotton, sent a letter to Biden on Monday expressing “deep concern” about his nomination. They argued that Becerra is unsuitable for the role because of his record of “extremism and contempt for those with different views” in public service.
The letter was co-signed by Senators Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, Steve Daines, Bill Hagerty, John Kennedy, James Lankford, Mike Lee and Jim Risch. Lee, Jim Risch, Mike Rounds and Roger Wicker. In addition, a number of Representatives, led by Dan Bishop (D-CA), also expressed the same opinion.
The senators wrote: “Mr. Becerra’s lack of health care experience, his zeal to replace private health insurance with government-run universal health care, and his embrace of radical policies on immigration, abortion, and religious freedom make him unfit to hold any position of public trust, especially Secretary of Health and Human Services.”
The letter also reads, “Since the Secretary of Health will play an important role in developing and distributing vaccines, coordinating research, and working to rebuild America and draft key regulations, Mr. Becerra’s lack of qualifications is particularly egregious.”
They said, “At a Time when Americans could least afford it, Mr. Becerra enthusiastically supported eliminating the private health insurance market for 160 million Americans and replacing it with universal government health insurance. Becerra’s move resulted in compensation cuts that hit rural health care providers hard who struggled to stay solvent during the pandemic and was a blatant insult to the doctors, nurses and other health care workers who keep our communities healthy and safe.”
The legislators argued that “Becerra has no meaningful experience in health care, public health, large-scale logistics or other important areas of addressing current challenges.” They questioned Becerra’s support for radical leftist policies that would “cause great harm to millions of Americans.” They told Biden that the appointment would “contradict your call for unity.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said, “The Biden Administration likes to talk about how they are [science-based] and they are making it a priority to stop the New crown outbreak (COVID-19), but …… he [Becerra] is not a doctor.” He emphasized that Becerra only has a background as a trial lawyer. “If a Republican nominated a trial lawyer to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in a global pandemic, they would be laughed at because it’s ridiculous. But the Biden administration’s focus is on liberal special interests, not based on science and defeating pandemics.”
Becerra needs 51 votes in the Senate to be confirmed. With a background in economics and law, Becerra has served 12 terms in Congress, held leadership positions on several committees and chaired the House Democratic Caucus. He also served one term in the California State Assembly. So these lawmakers who oppose him are familiar with his credentials and background.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that Biden supports Becerra because of his “decades of health policy experience” and because he led the defense of Obama’s Affordable Care Act before the Supreme Court last November.
Professor Hansen: If confirmed, Becerra will become the U.S. version of “Tandusse”
Professor Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, told The Ingraham Angle on Monday that if the Senate confirms Becerra as secretary of health and human services, it would create a U.S. version of WHO Director-General Tan Desai.
Hansen said of Becerra: “He’s a very efficient hard left-wing politician. He spent 40 years just running the office or being an elected official or an appointed official. He has zero experience in the private sector. He doesn’t know anything about health care.” He believes that if confirmed, Becerra would be the first U.S. health secretary without an M.D. degree.
He added: “I fear that Bessera during the (viral) pandemic will say that health care will be defined as immigration (services) or will use his position for gun control …… Becerra will use his role to interpret what liberals want to achieve.”
Becerra’s stance on abortion draws concern from many quarters
When he was a U.S. Representative, Becerra voted against a bill designed to protect minors from driving across state lines to have abortions without parental consent. He also voted against a bill to ban partial-birth abortion. In addition, he voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The bill protects unborn children by recognizing the embryo or fetus in the womb as a legitimate victim.In 2017, Becerra also showed a lack of respect for the freedom of religious institutions in society during his confirmation hearings to take office as California’s attorney general.
Some religious liberty groups and anti-abortion advocates argue that Becerra’s record as California’s attorney general shows that he is hostile to the “anti-abortion movement” (pro-Life) and religious beliefs and is unfit to serve as health secretary.
Becerra’s extreme stance on abortion is particularly troubling,” said Matt Sharp, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and national director of state government relations. While most Americans support at least some restrictions on abortion, Becerra has a record of expanding access to abortion, challenging laws that protect women, and consistently opposing the Protection of Women and Unborn Children Act.”
Thomas More Society Professor Edward A. Morse, a board member of the Thomas More Society, also said, “Not only did Becerra sue the Little Sisters of the Poor to coerce them to give up their abortions, but she also sued them. the Poor’ to coerce them to abandon their religious commitments that conflict with the Obama administration’s policies on contraception and abortion, but has also been an advocate and supporter of Planned Parenthood.”
Professor Morse said, “Becerra has worked to focus state prosecutorial power on members of the anti-abortion movement, including David Daleiden (D). Daleiden has exposed Planned Parenthood and other abortion industry business practices.”
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