White House Has Yet To Send Official Surgeon General Nomination To Senate

The White House has yet to send official notification of President Bush's choice for surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona, to the Senate for conformation, the Arizona Daily Star reports. Bush announced that he was nominating Carmona, a Tucson trauma surgeon and SWAT team member, for the post on March 26, but officials are still reviewing Carmona's background, Bill Pierce, an HHS spokesperson said. He added that the delay was "no reflection on Carmona's viability as a nominee" but was instead procedural. Jim Manley, a spokesperson for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate committee that will oversee Carmona's confirmation process, said he does not foresee any problems with the nomination. "We are not aware of any problems in his background or anything holding back his nominations. But we won't know for sure, obviously, until we receive the materials," he said (Salkowski, Arizona Daily Star, 6/16). The Daily Star on June 16 also featured a biography of Carmona, which is available online (Salkowski, Arizona Daily Star, 6/16). A June 16 Dallas Morning News profile of Carmona also is available online (Bailer, Dallas Morning News, 6/16).