Bill Clinton: “Thank you very much, Madam Secretary, and let me say it's a pleasure to have Mrs. Foster and Senator Frist, Congressman…”

“Thank you very much, Madam Secretary, and let me say it's a pleasure to have Mrs. Foster and Senator Frist, Congressman Clement here. The Surgeon General of the United States has enormous responsibilities. As the public face of our Public Health Service, he or she really is the people's doctor, the person responsible for promoting good health practices and alerting the Nation when health threats exist. To fill this post, I wanted someone who is both a top-flight medical professional and a strong leader and effective communicator. Dr. Henry Foster is such a person. And I am pleased today to announce my intention to nominate him as the Surgeon General of the United States. He is widely respected in the world of medicine and science. After serving his country for 2 years as an Air Force medical officer, he became chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Andrew Memorial Hospital at Tuskegee University. For the past 21 years, he has worked at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. As the dean of the school of medicine and its acting president, he helped Meharry to lead the way to meeting the health needs of the poor and the underserved. At the moment, he is a visiting senior scholar at the Association of Academic Health Centers here in Washington. In the communities he's served, Dr. Foster has won hearts and minds for his innovation and his dedication to saving the lives of young people and vulnerable people. He's received numerous honors for his work in obstetrics and dealing with sickle cell anemia and, very notably, in the prevention of teen pregnancy. He has shown us how one person can make a difference. Eight years ago he developed and directed the ``I Have A Future'' program at Meharry to help stop teen pregnancy. It has been an unqualified success. Working with young people that others might think beyond help, he built up their self-esteem. He taught them job skills. He encouraged them to stay in school. Most important, he told them to be responsible for themselves. Thanks to Dr. Foster, these young people have a chance to live a good, full life. I want Dr. Foster to use what he's learned to help America attack the epidemic of teen pregnancies and unmarried pregnancies. We know Government can only do so much. So large a part of Dr. Foster's job obviously will be to use his enormous skills of persuasion to reach out to people in the private sector, in the religious, education, entertainment, sports, and other communities in this country. As I said in the State of the Union, when I challenged all sectors of our society to help us deal with these problems that must be dealt with one by one, we have to have help everywhere. I am convinced Dr. Foster is the person to galvanize this help and lead this charge. We want everyone to do their part to find the solution to this problem. I want Dr. Foster now to say a few words, but as I introduce him, I want to thank him for taking on a task in public service at a time when public service sometimes has prices that are clearer than rewards. I thank him for his willingness to serve, to try to make a difference in the health care of the people of this country and especially to try to make a difference in the future of the people of this country. I thank his friends and colleagues for supporting him, the marvelous letter we received from Donna Shalala's predecessor, Dr. Lou Sullivan, the letter we received from the head of the American Medical Association, and of course, the support you have from your Congressman, Bob Clement, and from Senator Frist, who just told me that he's the first doctor elected to the United States Senate since before the Depression. So I would say it is time. Now, I'm going to try to keep from feeling so poorly I need his help in any way other than a legislative sense. Dr. Foster, the podium is yours. [At this point, Dr. Foster thanked the President and made brief remarks.] Teen Pregnancy”