bayou la batre. that is an alabama. bayou la batre is a rural town of about 2500 people. it is a shrimping town where a lot of people work for themselves, scrape by, and cannot easily afford health insurance. and dr. benjamin, she described the demographics of this town which are interesting. you have whites, blacks, and asians in this community. that our law laotians and cambodians who have moved there. it is a diverse but burvery poor rural communities. doctors and hospitals are hard to come by. even though she could have left the state to make more money as a specialist or as a doctor in the wealthier communion, regina benjamin returned to alabama and opened a small clinic in bayou la batre. when people could not pay, she did not charge them. when the clinic was not making money, she did not take a salary. when hurricane george destroyed the clinic in 1998, she made house calls to oliver patients while it was rebuilt. tree that destroyed it again and left most of her town homeless, she mortgage treehouse and act out her credit card to rebuild -- she mortgaged her house

i thought -- i founded the bayou la batre health clinic in alabama. my priority has always been the need of my patients. i would treat them regardless of their ability to pay. but it is not been easy. hurricanes have devastated my office and our communities. i have worked to find resources to sustain a doctor's office that treats patients without health insurance or the ability to pay out of their pockets. it should not be this hard for doctors and other health-care providers to care for their patients. it should not be this expensive for americans to get health care in this country. and, mr. president, thank you for putting health care reform at the top of your domestic agenda. my hope, if confirmed as surgeon general, is to be america's doctor, america's family physician. as we work toward a solution to this health care crisis, i promise to communicate directly with the american people, to help guide them through whatever changes may come with health care reform. i want to ensure that no one, no one, falls to the cracks as we in -- as we improve our