As officers of the Commissioned Corps, whatever you do and wherever you're stationed in one of more than 800 locations around the world, each of you helps to fulfill our mission at HHS, to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans.
Thank you to everyone for joining us here at HHS, and thank you to everyone who's tuning in from across the country and maybe from around the world.
I want to begin just by saying thank you for your service to our country.
As officers of the Commissioned Corps, whatever you do and wherever you're stationed in one of more than 800 locations around the world, each of you helps to fulfill our mission at HHS, to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans.
When our country faces a health emergency or a gap in our health system, we so often depend on Commissioned Corps officers to respond. So, thank you for your service.
As you all know, the Commissioned Corps' role as the frontline defender of public health goes back more than two centuries, to the creation of its predecessor agency, the U.S. Marine Hospital Service, organized in 1798 to treat sick and injured sailors.
In fact, it's because of this cherished history of our department that I actually have a gripe about the order of precedence among Cabinet departments.
Since HHS was officially founded with the creation of HEW in 1953, we rank ninth by precedence among the Cabinet departments.
This is most obvious when the President holds a Cabinet meeting, where everyone from Commerce to Interior gets seated closer to the action.
Now, I assure you that order doesn't reflect the relative interest of President Trump in our work.
He is deeply interested in healthcare and public health, and he asks for an update at nearly every Cabinet meeting.
But I'm nonetheless a little peeved that we don't get the recognition for the august history that the Marine Hospital Service and the Commissioned Corps should give us, which would place us Number 5.
As some of you have heard me share, the Public Health Service's history is also especially meaningful to me personally.
When my grandfather arrived at Ellis Island in 1920, stepping off the S.S. Argentina as an impoverished teenager from Amioun, Lebanon, who spoke no English, one of the very first people he encountered was a uniformed member of the Public Health Service—who delivered the six-second physical that every arriving passenger went through, to check for diseases like trachoma.
It is a tremendous honor now to lead the department that is home to the vital institution of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
Today, most of you don't have to worry about trachoma, but you have plenty of responsibilities to replace it.
Those range from providing lifesaving support after natural and manmade disasters and helping combat infectious disease outbreaks, to protecting the public health at FDA and CDC and delivering vital care in tribal communities and at other federal agencies, like the Bureau of Prisons.
Throughout the breadth of this work, officers of the Commissioned Corps epitomize what it means to be public servants.
I particularly want to congratulate the Commissioned Corps on the work you've done in recent years to provide care to underserved communities and respond to emergencies.
Over the past several years, officers have participated in several missions with Remote Area Medical, sending over 400 officers to provide dental, vision, medical and health education services for underserved and rural communities in Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas.
You have helped support communities in the wake of hurricanes and tropical storms. In 2017 and 2018, nearly 1,500 Commissioned Corps officers were deployed to respond to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, with hundreds of officers deploying twice.
These officers supported case management for evacuees, provided direct patient care, helped with recovery operations and rebuilding local health infrastructure, and identified other critical unmet needs.
I was pleased to be here last year when, to recognize that work, the Commissioned Corps was honored with the Joint Services Humanitarian Award from the Department of Defense, the first time it's received that award for a large-scale deployment.
I want to offer a round of applause for everyone who served in that mission—it was a proud moment for the Commissioned Corps.
While I'm on recognitions, I also want to offer congratulations to Principal Deputy Surgeon General Sylvia Trent-Adams, on her official induction into the National Academy of Medicine this past weekend.
This well-deserved honor is a credit to the accomplishments of Rear Admiral Trent-Adams and should make the entire Commissioned Corps proud.
The Commissioned Corps have also built a reputation providing care around the world.
That included an important role in responding to the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, where Commissioned Corps officers helped provide care on the ground in such challenging circumstances.
Today, Commissioned Corps officers are now helping to respond to the largest humanitarian crisis that the Americas have ever seen, the Venezuelan refugee crisis.
Twenty-six officers have helped staff the current mission of the USNS Comfort as it sails through Latin America.
Alongside Vice President Pence, I was able to help send them off when they left Miami this summer, and then saw firsthand the kind of miraculous care being delivered by the Comfort on a trip to Colombia.
I even got to assist in a cataract/IOL procedure!
While the situation remains dire, I was greatly encouraged by what the United States can do to provide care in such challenging circumstances—thanks in part to the work of our officers.
We look forward to the final Commissioned Corps team completing their mission on the Comfort and returning home next month.
Since the Commissioned Corps is such a critical asset for our country's public health—and for the health of the entire world—we've been working to strengthen and modernize it to meet the demands of the 21st century.
We are committed to making the Commissioned Corps stronger and more capable of responding to the situations where we need it most.
That's the thinking behind the establishment of the Ready Reserve Corps, which will emulate the success of the reserve components of our armed forces, by providing a ready and nimble surge capacity.
As Admiral Giroir will explain to you, this is part of broader work to ensure that the Commissioned Corps is designed and supported as necessary to meet its mission, and I will always make it a priority to see that this is the case.
I was also pleased to hear that Admiral Giroir will be announcing the official new motto of the Commissioned Corps at this town hall, creating a motto just like each of the armed services has.
I look forward to finding out about this new tradition for the Corps, and I expect to be receiving new challenge coins from Admiral Giroir and the Surgeon General in short order.
You'll often hear that Americans should rest easy at night because they know they are protected by the world's greatest military.
But Americans should also rest easy knowing that, in the event of a disaster or public health crisis, the men and women of the Commissioned Corps, and all the resources of HHS, collectively represent one of the world's great humanitarian institutions, and that you stand ready to provide them with the care they may need.
That fact should be a point of pride for our country, for HHS, and especially for every officer of the Commissioned Corps.
So I'm glad to have the chance to thank you for your work, thank you for making our whole department proud, and again, thank you for having me here today.
