{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-statement-on-confirmation-of-dr-vivek-murthy", "Blumenthal Statement On Confirmation Of Dr. Vivek Murthy", "2014-12-15", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Richard Blumenthal", "B001277", "www.blumenthal.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Blumenthal Statement On Confirmation Of Dr. Vivek Murthy\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Tweet\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tMonday, December 15, 2014\n\t\t\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMurthy Will Be Country\u2019s\u00a0 First Senate-Confirmed Surgeon General Since July 2013\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today released the following statement after the Senate confirmed Dr. Vivek Murthy to be the Surgeon General of the United States. There has been no full-time, Senate-confirmed Surgeon General since July 2013 when Dr. Regina Benjamin resigned.\u00a0\r\n\u201cDoctor Vivek Murthy is a supremely qualified doctor, and he will be a strong and effective Surgeon General. There were no serious questions about his experience or expertise on public health issues. Unfortunately, the NRA has spun a specious smokescreen \u2013 even in the face of an Ebola public health crisis \u2013 working shamefully and tirelessly to block him simply because he stated the obvious fact that gun violence is a public health issue. Despite the NRA\u2019s negative onslaught, today the United States gets a great surgeon general and a superbly qualified public health leader.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPress Contact\n\t\t\t\t\tJosh Zembik (DC) - 202-224-6452 Josh_Zembik@blumenthal.senate.gov Elizabeth Benton (CT) - 860-729-3589 Elizabeth_Benton@blumenthal.senate.gov", 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://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-statement-on-confirmation-of-dr-vivek-murthy"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5510499943047762, "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"}