{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=85bbc9b4-0816-4796-bb2a-199cc7dda8c6", "Alexander Opposes Obama Nominee for Surgeon General", "2014-12-13", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "www.alexander.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "***\r\n\u201cThe surgeon general is known as \u2018the nation\u2019s doctor.\u2019 He leads a professional corps of 6,800 commissioned public-health officers. \u2026Unfortunately, Dr. Murthy\u2019s experience does not demonstrate the leadership and knowledge of public health that we expect from our surgeons general.\u201d \u00a0\u2013Lamar Alexander\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 13\u00a0\u2013U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said he opposes President Obama\u2019s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, citing the nominee\u2019s lack of public health and management experience as well as his advocacy for gun control legislation that would infringe on Americans\u2019 Second Amendment rights.\r\n\u201cThe surgeon general is known as \u2018the nation\u2019s doctor.\u2019 He leads a professional corps of 6,800 commissioned public-health officers\u2014including 75 corps members currently deployed to Liberia to provide critical medical care for healthcare workers infected with Ebola,\u201d said Alexander, the top Republican on the Senate health committee. \u201cUnfortunately, Dr. Murthy\u2019s experience does not demonstrate the leadership and knowledge of public health that we expect from our surgeons general.\u201d\r\nIn a committee hearing in February, Alexander pressed Murthy on whether he would use the position to advance his ideological goals, saying, \u201cMy concern is much of your credential, it seems to me, is a political credential. Much of your work has been devoted to electing the current president and advocating the new health care law \u2026 I\u2019d be reluctant to put into the surgeon general\u2019s office someone who would use that as a bully pulpit to promote a law I think is an historic mistake.\u201d\r\nAt that hearing, the senator also noted that Murthy is an advocate of gun control, once saying on the social media website Twitter that he was \u201ctired of politicians\u2026[who are] scared of the NRA.\u201d\r\n\u201cI would hope you know that Americans have a First Amendment right to advocate the Second Amendment or any other amendment, and the Second Amendment is not a special interest group\u2014it\u2019s part of our Constitution,\u201d Alexander told Murthy at the Feb. 4 hearing.\r\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=85bbc9b4-0816-4796-bb2a-199cc7dda8c6"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.806909054517746, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}