Cassidy, Bill: The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order. Good afternoon. You came in just as I walked away, so greetings. I'm sorry to have missed shaking your hands down there. Thanks for appearing before the committee and for your willingness to serve the people of the United States and this administration. And by the way, congratulations on your baby.
Casey Means, MD: Thank you.
Cassidy, Bill: It gives you a great perspective on life, and I trust all as well. And for the diocese on both sides, well, we'll take a break at 11 to allow Dr. Means to care for her child. So just a 15-minute break at 11. You will be the nation's doctor. We've got some serious health problems in our country. High rates of mental health and substance use disorders, widespread chronic disease, reemergence of deadly outbreaks, which are preventable by safe, effective vaccines, but unfortunately there's been a lot of promotion of vaccine skepticism. At the same time, many Americans have lost faith in public health leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic, and families can be confused by the whiplash of conflicting medical guidance. President Trump is committed to rebuilding trust in our health institutions and restoring radical transparency, and that should be how we protect children's health. If you confirm, Dr. Means, you'll have an important platform as the nation's doctor. Americans will look to you for clear medical guidance and direction to protect and promote families' health. Your writings express concern regarding chronic disease, and you speak to mothers and their The Surgeon General needs to be an effective and truthful communicator, a calming voice of reason, a steady hand of experience at a time when so many, for whatever reason, sow distrust and confusion. The Surgeon General must be someone who can execute on President Trump's commitment to restoring confidence in public health and to assure the American people that our institutions are making science-based decisions rooted in data that puts families' health first. This is especially important as HHS undergoes substantial personnel and policy changes. Dr. Means, it should be your mission and the mission of every HHS official to restore stability and assure Americans that protecting health is a top priority. With that, I recognize Senator Sanders.
Sanders, Bernard: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Dr. Means, for being here. Congratulations on your baby. Thank you. Today we are considering President Trump's nominee to be the next Surgeon General of the United States. The Surgeon General is considered the nation's doctor, a trusted leader who tells the American people the truth about science and medicine. Previous Surgeon Generals have warned the American people over the years about the dangers of smoking, drunk driving, loneliness, providing recommendations based on scientific evidence, not ideology. Dr. Means, you have made it clear to us that you believe it's time to quote-unquote make America healthy again. That is a great slogan that I expect that everybody up here agrees with. In America today, we have...