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Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, in a few minutes, I am going to put forward a request for the Senate to confirm the nomination of Rebecca Jones Gaston to serve as Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families within the Department of Health and Human Services. I briefly want to talk about why her confirmation is so important and what makes her the right person for the job.

The Administration on Children, Youth, and Families may not grab national headlines every day, but its work is essential to the well- being of millions of young people and families across the land. That is particularly true for vulnerable children, including those in the child welfare system.

One of its big jobs over the last few years has been the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act. The landmark reform of the child welfare system was written by the Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis. And for colleagues who remember the late Orrin Hatch, who cared so much about children and particularly welfare reform, this and the extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program for 10 years--the longest extension ever--were the two bills for children that Chairman Hatch really felt strongly about.

The underlying goal of the legislation, which I was proud to cosponsor with him, was simple. The foster care system was breaking families up too often. We designed the Family First Act to keep families together whenever it was safe and possible to do so. Maybe a grandparent is the right person to step in as a caretaker for their grandkids. I have been particularly involved in having grandparents play a bigger role in our human services programs. It is known as kinship care. We have been working on it for well over a decade. Chairman Hatch helped us expand it. Maybe all that is needed for a family to thrive is to help with mental healthcare for mom or dad. And with a little more flexibility in the program, a little more support, more families stay together and get ahead.

The underlying goal that Chairman Hatch and I had was simple, but implementation has certainly been a challenge. It has required a lot of close collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services, the Finance Committee, and State and local agencies.

My view is, when you are talking about reforms dealing with the well- being of our youngest, particularly most vulnerable kids, it is just critical to get it right. That is why Rebecca Jones Gaston is the right person to lead the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. She serves as the child welfare director for Oregon's Department of Human Services. She is showing herself to be an effective leader and a strong advocate for the vulnerable. She served in a similar role in the State of Maryland under a Republican Governor. So this is somebody who shows up every single day, willing to work with elected officials on both sides of the aisle. All in all, she brings nearly 25 years of experience in public policy dealing with support for families and children.

The Finance Committee approved her nomination on a bipartisan basis in March. My view is, the full Senate has waited long enough. Ms. Gaston is a highly qualified nominee, and the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families needs a confirmed leader.

763, Rebecca E. Jones Gaston to be Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families, Department of Health and Human Services; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; and that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record.

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, just speaking briefly again, let me tell my colleague from Tennessee that I have very much enjoyed working with him on various policies here in the Senate.

My understanding is that my colleague believes that his State has some ideas for showing that you can essentially meet Medicaid standards for health services for vulnerable people and that the State of Tennessee is interested in trying out some new approaches. I want to assure my colleague that we are interested in hearing more about this. There is a specific waiver provision, for example, in the Affordable Care Act to try out new approaches consistent with these guardrails so that people actually get healthcare coverage. My colleague has said to me that he is interested in pursuing those kinds of ideas. I want him to know that the Finance Democratic staff is available to hear his staff out on this, and I hope we can work it out, and I hope we can move Rebecca Gaston quickly.

This is a program that really makes a difference. Prior to Chairman Hatch working with me on this, we had essentially two alternatives for these vulnerable kids, neither of them particularly valuable. One was just sending the kids off to foster care--some of those facilities are good; some of them, not so good--or keeping them at home in a less than desirable situation. What we did on a bipartisan basis is find a third path for these vulnerable youngsters, where, for example, if a parent was having difficulty with alcohol or drugs, they could get treatment and stay as the parent.

So this is an important program. Rebecca Gaston knows how to run it well. I want to see her confirmed as quickly as possible, and I want to tell my colleague I recognize his concern today and will be interested in following up with him and his staff to hear more about the program in the days ahead.

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