Todays hearing to serve on secretary of health and Human Services. It will vote on the nomination. We will each have an Opening Statement and then former secretary and former governor who we welcome today good to see you and senator young will introduce him after his testimony each will have five minutes of questions. We already have a good turnout. I anticipate a good vigorous questioning period. Youll be overseeing medicare and medicaid National Institutes of health and excellent leadership. The United States is leading efforts to develop a cart for efforts. A nonaddictive painkiller and new treatment for dancer. You also have an opportunity to implement what the majority leader of the senate called the most important piece of legislation last year. The 21st century cures act which members of our committee agreed on and gave broad new powers that included the first Major Organization they worked on Mental Health programs as well as significant new funding for the Opioid Crisis you have been confirmed fwi United States senate twice. You have offered to meet with every member and have met or spoken with 15 Committee Members. You served in the Judicial Branch as law clerk for scalia. You know the private sector. You know the system of how drugs get from the manufacturer to patients. Will all of these perspectives you should need no on the job training and should be able to take advantage of this exciting time to speed safe drugs to patients more rapidly. I see it as one of your principal assets. It is an obvious asset called upon to lead the most Important Health care agency. He knows the agency and he knows the private sector well. Similarly dr. Collins knowledge of nih and experience has made him an effect ef leader at the National Institutes of health. Im glad to know people like you have issues on issues youll be dealing with every day. We plan to hold a third hearing on how the supply chain effects for what patients pay for Prescription Drugs. Given your experience i would welcome your input as we continue to examine the price patients pay when picking up their prescriptions. Only about 6 of the insured american but that is where we have had most of our debate and discussion. Many dont qualify for a subsidy and getting haermed by sky rocking prices. Premiums increased in four years and additional 58 for this coming year. Senator mur ri and i cosponsored by 11 other republicans and 11 other democrats which the Congressional Budget Office says will prevent a 25 price inkres by 2020 by paying cost sharing subsidies, decreasing the federal subsidies and as a result lower the deficit. It would also give the able to use the waiver already in the law to find other ways to lower premiums. For example alaska created a Reinsurance Program and lowered with no new federal spending. Yesterday the president said he supported the agreement by the end of the year. The senate and the chairman of the Democratic National tweeted last month alexander has widespread support tlchlt are many other steps you can do to stabilize the markets such as increasing access to lower cost plans and incentivize younger and healthier individuals to purchase insurance. The opiod crisis is a priority for every member of this committee. We are having more tomorrow. Youll be coordinating to combat the opiod drug abuse. It went up from 2015 to 2016. They have dramatically increased from 169 and to 294 in 2016. It is to provide funding on the front lines of this crisis including the protecting our infant sack, recovery act and durs act. We included 816 million in the first year to help address this growing crisis. We stand willing to work with you. Some are saying that. I hope you join me in advising the president it is a bad idea. You need to be the one to take charge in leading the federal government respon and letting us know how to help. As i mentioned, we have an exciting opportunity to represent the cures act. I hope youll work with us to take advantage of all this law offers including the Vice President s cancer moon shot and brain initiative. Cures also gave you the opportunity to hire scientists it needs to make sure it is for americans. We all thought that was a big priority. I hope you take full advantage of this exsight time in science. The law we pass to help ensure the safety. And also the patients pay to Prescription Drugs. Next year they will have to repair which provides the authority to ensure it is able to respond to Public Health emergencies such as hur danrica and bio terror attacks. And another bill to fund the fda the one on the animal drug user fee act. So theres a lot do. I look forward to working with you on this and hearing more about your priorities today. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here and your willingness to serve. In november of 2016 people started coming up to me in the Grocery Store with tears in their eyes wondering what the future health. It hasnt stopped. Because these challenges are what this congress and the department were discussing today is supposed to be focused on ill start my remarks with a few examples of the stories i have been told. She is a four time cancer survivor. She would not be able to even stay alive without Affordable Care act protections. Kim from allensburg talked about the ability to overcome it. Chris tin that said before going to planned parent had she struggled to get wirt control regularly. There are so many pressing Health Problems this administration could be selfing. It seems it has been determined to create problems. It the department has not helped her get high quality dove raj, by letting insurers cover fewer benefits. Rather than allowing women to make share own Health Care Choices the department has tried to and revent them from getting care if he twoent states like New Hampshire and ohio and he called it a prethis administration and its Health Department did the opposite. It proposed gutting medicaid which officers critical wrap around treatment to people who could not afford it. Experts say it would cripple response ft. Worths. All it took was for it to go dark despoit the kmomss. It is no, maam the department has proposed using Public Health funds to close near term budget caps rather than to prevent costly illness and disease down the road. The Public Health crisis is still going on in the quake of hurricane. Shouldnt have to be said but the absolute last thing our nations Health Department should be spending time on is encouraging more discrimination in our Health Care System. That is wrong. You and i do have stark disagreements but it could be an opportunity to put aside the extreme politics and start focusing on the mission. People across the country would be far better off if you took this opportunity. I have to say that my review of your record leaves me with. Lily is currently working to need les needlessly and made it clear on questions with Womens Health. You side with right wing politics over women. Although experts and some members of congress have reject rejected you say it would be for people with preexisting conditions, cost tens of millions of people their health care, defunded planned parenthood and more. You said it didnt go far enough. This leaves me very concerned about whether you would faithfully implement the agreement he just talked about with us. We reached earlier this year should it become law . In light of the follow through on his Campaign Promises it is deeply hasnt supported committ resources we need for this effort. So i worry about your professional history and statements that point to a continuation of some of the extreme damaging and political driven approaches we have seen so far from this administration. To make my final point. Right now, julie is traveling around raising wareness. Helping people in Central Washington to get the necessary treatment and services so they can overcome their addiction. Christina has become a vocal advocate for helping women in washington and nationwide to give care that works for their needs. Julian, kim and christina are doing more than their part to keep our communities healthy and well. My question is why isnt our nations Health Department doing the same. People should have a secretary of health who will work for and with patients and families not against them. And who is committed to making policy based on science and ideology. Im looking forward to your thoughts on the many serious concerns i have raised and how you would be appropriate choice for this position. Im concerned that President Trump has yet sent us an extreme nominee to pick up where secretary price has left off and women and families deserve a lot better. So im interested in your responses today. I hope i am pleasantly surprised and i do want to say if you are confirmed, i want to make it very clear i have not and will not let this administrations approach so far lower my expectations for any of the department this committee overseas and i will continue doing everything i can to hold hhs to the highest possible standards of ethics ask service for people in my state and across the country. With that, thank you very much br figure here. We also welcome your family and friends. We thank them all for being here. Theres pretty good group of them and you may want to introduce them when you begin. Mr. A sar will first be introduced by governor left. He served as president george w. Bushs secretary of the department of health and Human Services from 2005 to 2009. He worked closely with mr. Azar then while he served as deputy secretary. Then the nominee will be introduced by his home state senator and member of this committee todd young. Governor lev it please introduce mr. A sar. Thank you, members of the committee. Senator alexander and senator murray have very ably described the complexity and the importance of this role. And therefore, its my privilege to introduce and to recommend he is up to the task and supremely well qualified to carry out this important work. As mentioned during my service as secretary of hhs, mr. Azar was deputy secretary. He was chief operating officer of this complex department. Prior to his service, he served as the general counsel under c secretary thompson, who i believe later will also introduce and robustly recommend him to the finance committee. That plus his experience leads me to conclude that there may not have been a nominee to this office of secretary better prepared to hit the ground running than alex azar. It was mentioned that hhs is a large and complex place. While deputy secretary, alex asdzar was the manager of the daytoday operations of 90,000 employees and 1. 1 trillion budget. Just a brief example of what i think talk would illustrate his capability. President bush had a management agenda that laid out a criteria of several dozen different object i haves and had a dash board. He set an object i. The entire federal government to achieve that. He was also delegated oversight much of the regulatory process in a very skillful and lawyerly like way. He managed to carefully and ek quit bli adjudicate the process, which is robust. Hes a world class policy thinker. Youll see that today. I think its a word that will be underscored here. 911, he was part of the response. There was a point in time when katrina pandemic flu flu and the the rollout of Medicare Part b was happening at the same time. This is a person with great experience in a complex department. Most b important, and i just say hes an extraordinary good human being. Hes got the kind of compassionate heart that i believe it requires to serve to lead the mission of this important department. I commend him to urge the confirmation of the secretary of health and Human Services. Thank you, governor. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, chairman and Ranking Member murray. And fellow members of this committee. To introduce a fellow hoosier to be secretary of the department of health and Human Services. President trump made an outst d outstanding choice to lead this Critical Agency which happens to be the largest civilian Cabinet Agency in the entire u. S. Government. Alex is now an extremely qualified nominee and a well known expert in the health care industry. His previous leadership of hhs and as president of indianabased lilly incorporated, which is the largest affiliate of one of the Largest HealthCare Companies in the world will collectively be an effective combination as we work to solve our most Significant Health care challenges. Former hhs secretary Tommy Thompson said that azar is one of the most competent people i know. An experienced leader with deep health care knowledge. I agree. In addition to his impressive academic record, which includes degrees from dartmouth and yale, he clerked for the Supreme Court justice antonin scalia. He began his service in 2001, when the United StatesSenate Confirmed him to serve as the departments general counsel. The reputation is an effective leader. Hes been particularly outspoke b on the need to lower the price of Prescription Drugs saying patients are paying too much. If anyone can solve this problem, its alex azar. Hes the right person to reform our broken Health Care System and ensure the department succeeds in its mission to enhance and protect the well being of the American People. Alex was confirmed to both of his previous positions at hs with unanimous bipartisan support. Confirmed twice by the United States senate for positions at hhs with unanimous bipartisan support. Im hopeful this time will be no different. I know hes a good man with a heart for service. I have gotten to know him personally over the years. I look forward to supporting his nomination and working together to ensure all americans have access to high quality and Affordable Care. Thank you. We invite you to give you opening remarks. The full statement will be incorporated into the record. Welcome. If i could take a second to introduce my family that i have here today, im pleased to be joined today by my wife jennifer and my daughter claire, my son alex, my father dr. Alex azar as well as my sister stacey and her team. Unfortunately, my mother could not be here today. Most tragically my stepmother died of cancer just in july. Im very sad she could not be. Here for this moment. Having an opportunity such as this does not happen without a supportive family and their guidance. Thank you, mr. Chairman, members of the kmecommittee for the opportunity to appear before you today as the president s nominee to be the secretary of health and Human Services. Senator young and governor, thank you so much for those extremely kind words for your friendship, your mentoring over the years. I also thank President Trump for the confidence that he has bestowed on me in nominating tr this position. 97 years ago, my grandfather, an impoverished teen who spoke no english stepped out on the ss argentina. Completing his journey from lebanon to america. As he entered the receiving hall at ellis island, he met an individual in a military uniform. That person possessed the power to admit him or to send him back to povty and uncertainty. That person was a member of the United StatesPublic Health service. It is a testament to all that i love about this country that just 97 years after my grandfather went through his physical on ellis island with no discernible prospects other than the political, economic and religious freedom that america offers, his grandson might be. In charge of that very Public Health service as well as the other renowned components of the department of health and Human Services. The mission of hhs is to enhance and protect the health and well being of all americans. Through programs that touch every single american in some way, every single day. We are at an historic time in terms of delivering on that mission through innovation. Through its outstanding leaders and career staff, hhs is prime to meet that challenge. This task is humbling. Marshaling and leading the incredible resources of that department require innovating, never being satisfied with the status quo and preparing for the future. I think i gained these skills in the dark days after 9 11. As we faced a health and human consequences of those attacks. Through the anthrax attacks and potential future further biological, chemical, raid logical or nuclear attacks. In the implementation of our completely novel Prescription Drug benefit, by helping to build state and local pandemic preparedness p