WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) issued the following statements upon today’s nomination of Marilyn Tavenner as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:

“I applaud the nomination of Marilyn Tavenner to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” Sen. Warner said. “Marilyn is the real deal: she began her career as a nurse and rose to become CEO of a leading healthcare company. Today she serves at the highest levels of CMS, where she has garnered bipartisan support from Congress and respect from the business community. Marilyn's background provides her with the unique skills to bring together the private and public sectors to work on the challenge of overseeing our critical healthcare programs.”

“Marilyn is an exceptional choice to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and I strongly support her confirmation,” said Sen. Kaine. “As my Secretary of Health and Human Resources in Virginia, Marilyn took a creative and results-oriented approach to finding significant savings during tough fiscal times. A nurse by training, Marilyn also never lost sight of the importance of patient care. Marilyn’s experience in both the public and private sector make her uniquely qualified to manage this critical set of programs and help find ways to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid for the long term. After 7 years without a confirmed CMS Administrator, I can't imagine why Marilyn would not be confirmed promptly.”

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