Senate sets confirmation hearing for Holsinger
Originally printed 07-12-2007 (Issue 1527 - Between The Lines News)
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - James Holsinger, President Bush's choice for surgeon general, will face a U.S. Senate committee whose chairman has already expressed disappointment in the nomination.
Holsinger's confirmation hearing is set for 10 a.m. on July 12 in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to a statement released Friday. Democrats control the Senate, which must vote to confirm him for the nomination to become official.
After President Bush tapped Holsinger for the job as the nation's top doctor last month, chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., raised concerns about some of Holsinger's past writings and positions on homosexuality.
"The nation needs a surgeon general who can bring people together to meet these critical challenges," Kennedy wrote. "I am disappointed that the administration looked past the many talented physicians who have a record of bringing people together and instead chose an individual whose record appears to guarantee a polarizing and divisive nomination process."
Kennedy has not said whether he will oppose the nomination, and his office didn't immediately return calls for comment Friday. Holsinger has declined interview requests pending confirmation.
Gay rights groups have attacked Holsinger for voting to expel a lesbian pastor from the United Methodist Church and writing in 1991 that gay sex is unnatural and unhealthy. His supporters say he is a respected doctor who believes in treating all people equally, regardless of his theological beliefs.
Holsinger served as Kentucky's health secretary and chancellor of the University of Kentucky's medical center. He taught at several medical schools and spent more than three decades in the Army Reserve, retiring in 1993 as a major general.
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