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WASHINGTON -- In a rare show of defiance of the National Rifle Association, the Senate on Monday confirmed Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as surgeon general of the United States. Murthy's nomination had been stalled for nearly a year due to comments he made in support of stricter gun laws.
Murthy is a Harvard- and Yale-educated physician, and has identified obesity and chronic disease as areas of focus for his tenure. He will be the first Indian American to hold the position.
The Senate voted, 51-43, to confirm Murthy for the nation's top public health post, which has been vacant since July 2013.
Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.) was the lone Republican to vote for Murthy, while three Democrats voted against him: Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.). Murthy needed just a simple majority vote based on the rules changes enacted by the Senate last year.
Murthy's confirmation represents a defeat for the NRA, which mounted fierce opposition to his nomination earlier this year because of previous statements characterizing guns as a 'health care issue.' Although Murthy cleared the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in March, several Democrats who faced tough re-election battles had threatened to oppose his nomination if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brought it to the floor.
After November's midterm elections, Reid indicated he would revive Murthy's nomination, which the White House said was a top priority prior to Democrats ceding control of the upper chamber. It remained unclear in the last few weeks whether Murthy would still have enough votes to be confirmed, but several moderate Democrats came on board, as health care activists and the Indian-American community rallied in his support.
More than 100 national organizations backed Murthy's nomination, and top health administration officials under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also penned letters urging his confirmation. The crisis over Ebola also offered Murthy's supporters a notable opportunity to draw attention to the vacancy at surgeon general.
The NRA tried again on Monday to sway senators against Murthy, saying it would score the vote for future political campaigns.
'The NRA's position hasn't changed. America's next surgeon general should not be a political operative whose professional inexperience has been a source of bipartisan concern,' NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said in a statement.
Republicans also contested the nomination on the Senate floor, citing not only Murthy's views on guns but also his advocacy for the Affordable Care Act as part of a group he co-founded called Doctors for America, formerly known as Doctors for Obama.
Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, told colleagues not to succumb to pressure.
'Go to an emergency room on a Friday or Saturday night, and you tell me that gun violence isn't a public health issue,' he said. 'Gun violence is a public health issue -- no apology necessary.'
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