Health, Energy Secretaries Win Senate Confirmation
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WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly confirmed Louis W. Sullivan as health and human services secretary and James D. Watkins as energy secretary. In back-to-back ballots, senators voted 98 to 1 for Sullivan, a physician who was the only black nominated for a Cabinet post, and 99 to 0 for Watkins, a retired admiral who led former President Ronald Reagan’s AIDS commission.
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N. C.) cast the vote against Sullivan. He charged that the head of Atlanta’s Morehouse College medical school had ducked questions about issues such as fetal research and AIDS confidentiality.
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