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Senate confirms Jindal in one voice

Aziz Haniffa
India Abroad Correspondent in Washington

Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal, 29, quintessential child prodigy, has been confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate to the post of assistant secretary of health and human services for planning and evaluation.

Jindal thus becomes one of the youngest Asian Americans to be appointed to such a senior administration job by any president.

In a rare 100-0 vote, the full Senate endorsed the strong recommendation of the Senate Finance Committee, which heard testimony from Jindal earlier this month, that he was the right man for the job and would be an asset to the HHS in developing dynamic policy.

During his confirmation hearing, Jindal received an enthusiastic welcome from the finance committee, with members gushing over him and his achievements.

In an interview with India Abroad just after his confirmation by the Senate, Jindal said, "I am so happy at the unanimous vote. I am absolutely humbled and honoured to have been approved by the Senate and selected by the President for this position."

About his priorities, Jindal said, "The administration -- both the President [George W Bush] and the secretary [of HHS Tommy G Thompson] -- have talked about the need to reform and modernise Medicare, to add prescription drug coverage for seniors, to address the problems of the uninsured, to improve the quality of care for all Americans, and to also look at other issues like welfare reauthorization, which the department will be facing over the next several months.

Jindal declared that "the good news is with this position, I will be able to look at all issues confronting the department, but these are the issues identified by both the President and the secretary as being the top issues for the administration, so that's where my immediate focus will be on".

"Of course, add to this, making the department run more efficiently," he added.

Jindal explained that his mandate in his new position "is very much policy development, very policy-oriented, and giving advice to the President and the secretary and the rest of the administration on these and other matters".

He acknowledged that "I am absolutely fortunate that the secretary has welcomed me to this role and he has absolutely asked for my thoughts, ideas and leadership, and that's a very positive thing".

EARLIER REPORT:
Senate panel gives Jindal enthusiastic welcome

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