{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://meng.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/meng-applauds-us-senate-confirmation-of-dr-vivek-murthy-as-surgeon", "Meng Applauds U.S. Senate Confirmation of Dr. Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General", "2014-12-16", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "NY", "Grace Meng", "M001188", "meng.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) today hailed the Senate\u2019s confirmation of Dr. Vivek Murthy as U.S. Surgeon General.\n\u00a0\n\"Dr. Murthy will make an outstanding Surgeon General and I applaud the Senate for confirming him,\u201d said Meng. \u201cAlthough the vote was long overdue and never should have taken this long, I am happy that it finally occurred. I now look forward to him getting to work to address the important health needs of Americans.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u201cI am also excited to share this historic moment with the Indian-American community,\u201d Meng added. \u201cLess than a week after the Senate approved Richard Verma as the first American of Indian descent to serve as Ambassador to India, Dr. Murthy was confirmed as the first Indian-American to be Surgeon General. These outstanding, back-to-back accomplishments illustrate the continued growth and influence of Indian-American community, and highlights the exceptional contributions that Indian-Americans make to our nation.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u201cI am proud to congratulate Dr. Murthy,\u201d said Meng \u201cand cannot wait to work with him to improve the lives of Americans.\u201d\n\u00a0\nMeng called on the Senate to confirm Dr. Murthy in June after she met with him on Capitol Hill where the two discussed the nomination process, and what his priorities would be as Surgeon General, specifically mentioning obesity, tobacco and mental health issues in diverse communities.\n\u00a0\nPresident Obama nominated Dr. Murthy in November 2013 and the Senate confirmed him this evening.\n\u00a0\nSee below photo of Meng meeting with Dr. Murthy this past June.", 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": ["http://meng.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/meng-applauds-us-senate-confirmation-of-dr-vivek-murthy-as-surgeon"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4342979993671179, "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"}