President Bush's
nominee for surgeon general insisted Thursday that he
harbors no bias against homosexuals in spite of his 1991
writings viewed by some as antigay.
James Holsinger
faced tough questioning at his Senate confirmation
hearing over his views on homosexuality and how he would
react if he were pressured to put politics ahead of
science in his role as the nation's doctor.
''I would
resign,'' Holsinger said emphatically.
Concerns about
his independence were spurred by former surgeon general
Richard Carmona, who testified two days earlier that
the Bush administration muzzled him on issues such as
abstinence education and stem cell research because of
politics.
A vote on the
nomination of Holsinger, a Kentucky doctor, wasn't expected
for several weeks.
At Thursday's
hearing he distanced himself from a paper he wrote 16 years
ago that has been attacked by gay rights organizations and
public-health experts as inaccurate and inflammatory.
The paper cited data showing elevated rates of disease
among gay men, but some medical experts say he
completely ignored other data that would contradict the
paper's point that homosexuality is an abnormal
function.
Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions Committee, asked Holsinger on several occasions
to address various aspects of his paper on
homosexuality for a study committee of the United
Methodist Church.
''Dr. Holsinger's
paper cherry-picks and misuses data to support his
thesis that homosexuality is unhealthy and unnatural,''
Kennedy (D-Mass.) said.
Holsinger said it
was not intended to be a scientific paper and that he
relied on the information available to him at the time.
''First of all,
the paper does not represent where I am today. It does
not represent who I am today,'' Holsinger said.
Holsinger
emphasized that the data he relied on came from the mid
1980s. He also said it represents a literature search
that was done for him through a library.
''The issues that
appeared in the review would not even be the major
issues in front of our gay and lesbian community today,'' he
said.
Holsinger told
the committee that he fought to ensure that a conference
on women's health included segments on the health needs of
lesbians. At the time he was chancellor of the
University of Kentucky Medical Center.
''I fought
fiercely for that even though I had a huge political
pushback. In fact, our budget was being threatened in
the state legislature,'' Holsinger said.
Kennedy also
raised the issue of Carmona's allegations.
''His testimony
showed that the office of the surgeon general has become
a morass of shameful political manipulation and distortion
of science,'' Kennedy said. ''Dr. Holsinger has a
responsibility to provide strong assurances and a
clear plan for seeing that these abuses are not repeated
during his tenure, if he is confirmed.''
Sen. Mike Enzi
(R-Wyo.) said there was little doubt that Holsinger would
be a strong administrator given his experience as
undersecretary for the Veterans Affairs Department. He
said some of the comments made about Holsinger make
him wonder why anyone would allow their name to be
submitted to the Senate for a position requiring
confirmation.
''I'm deeply
troubled, personally, as you might guess, by these
allegations. Because I don't feel that they represent who I
am, what I believe, or how I have practiced medicine
for the past 40 years,'' Holsinger said.
''I can only say
that I have a deep, deep appreciation for the essential
humanity of everyone, regardless of their personal
circumstances or their sexual orientation,'' he said.
Holsinger said if
confirmed, one of his first priorities would be to
tackle the issue of childhood obesity. He talked about how
in Kentucky, where he was secretary of the state's
Cabinet for Health and Family Services, he made an
effort to put healthier foods in school vending
machines and cafeterias.
Before the Senate
hearing, gay rights groups, the American Public Health
Association, and 35 members of the House lined up in
opposition to Holsinger's nomination. The Kentucky
doctor garnered the support of a prominent former
surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, as well as the
American College of Physicians.
Kennedy
introduced a bill on Thursday that would require a surgeon
general nominee to be drawn from a list prepared by the
Institute of Medicine. The legislation would let the
surgeon general submit budget requests publicly and
hire his or her own staff.
Holsinger is a
professor from the University of Kentucky's College of
Public Health. He worked for 26 years in a variety of
positions at the Veterans Affairs Department,
including stints as chief of staff or director at
several VA medical centers. (Kevin Freking, AP)