This is an archive page.  The links are no longer being updated.
REMARKS BY:  DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE: HHS HONOR AWARDS, WASHINGTON, DC
DATE: MAY 21, 1998

Thank you Kevin for that introduction. Kevin likes to talk about baseball. You know I can throw a mean pitch. But you probably didn't know that I'm also an avid basketball fan -- and not a bad shooter.

So, in honor of the NBA playoffs, I'll begin with a story I once heard about an NBA scout who was attending a college game. One of the players was so eager to catch the scout's eye that he went up to him and asked point blank: "What do I have to do to prove to you that I can make it in the NBA?" The scout looked him over and said, "Grow two feet."

I don't want to know what he would have said to me, but I know what you're thinking. Don't even say it. But, thankfully, the only thing required to make it to the HHS Honor Awards is hard work and excellence.

Every year we gather in late Spring to recognize hard work and excellence in our ranks, and to celebrate the best of public service. This year, you helped me become the longest serving HHS Secretary ever.

Year after year, I am reminded of why I came to work with you in the first place. During the last five years, we've seen each other through some tough times, the nationwide furlough of federal employees, the terror and after-math of Oklahoma City, the re-organizations and re-inventions of all of government - and our Department in particular. Time and again, I have seen you forge through the adversity, and come out on top. Time and again, I have seen you accept the challenge to do more, to give more, to produce more and do it with less resources. You have never let me down.

After five years in this administration, I can honestly say that I've seen the best public servants of my generation and the next. You prove how much government can do when we are allowed to do it right.

What former Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter said years ago about government is still true today. He said, "It's a pretty complex thing and it requires the dedication, devotion and idealism of our most gifted men and women." Our country is fortunate to have the dedication, devotion and idealism of so many gifted public servants at HHS. When people ask you what do you do for a living, you look them in the eye and simply say: I save lives. I help people make the most of their lives.

In the past year alone, we took important steps to improve health care access and quality. We launched an historic expansion of health care for our nation's children. We strengthened Medicare and Medicaid programs, adding important new benefits and extending the life of the Medicare Trust Fund. And, we put forward an historic budget that not only takes strong steps for healthy Americans, and strong steps to invest in a healthier future, but also takes strong steps to ensure a healthy economy, by helping to keep the federal budget in balance.

In short, we focused on our challenges, and we overcame them. And, the results have been spectacular. Last year we reported that AIDS deaths declined for the first time in the history of the epidemic. Teen birth rates declined for the fifth straight year. Infant mortality rates reached a new record low. Childhood immunization rates reached a record high. More than ever before, this year, we have great cause for celebration.

Fittingly, today we celebrate the stand-out performances in our Department during a stand-out year. We celebrate the National Medicare Mammography Team for crafting a national strategy to encourage women enrolled in Medicare to get mammograms. We celebrate the National Hepatitis A Outbreak Investigation Team for being part of our nation's quick response to the outbreak of disease caused by frozen strawberries. We celebrate the members of the Initiative on Substance Abuse Youth Prevention for their tireless work to reduce illegal drug use among young people.

We celebrate the team from Operation Restore Trust for their continuing success in cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse. We celebrate the team from the Indian Health Service for establishing the first Women's Health Clinic at the Alaska Veteran Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center. We also celebrate the work of individuals, like Dr. Frank Vinicor at the Office of Diabetes Translation in CDC for his visionary leadership in building our country's capacity to respond to this devastating disease.

All told, today we celebrate the hard work and excellence of over 29 groups and 25 individuals from through-out the Department -- over nine hundred public servants altogether. Your professionalism, your courage and your caring have inspired your colleagues, and have bettered our nation.

I will never be tall enough to play in the NBA, but being here, makes me feel a lot taller everyday. Today, on behalf of all the people who are living longer and living better because of your creativity and your innovation, your caring and your commitment, on behalf of all the American people I thank you, and I congratulate you.