tim kane, to also lend my support, i think the president has made a great choice in nominating marilyn tavenner to be head of semester i've no marilyn for over 20 years, and can echo firsthand that she is the real deal. and i think is a phenomenal choice to lead to cms. as a naked i think will probably come back and question time and again, she brings i think a pretty unique set of skills to the job. she grew up in southside virginia and a real community can work away to school. has been mentioned already she started as a nurse, worked her way up to administrator of a major hospital company. but marilyn has always had a commitment to public service, always had a commitment to the people that she served. she has, i know tend will make mention of them did a great, great job as the commonwealth secretary of health. she came in direct content with the kind of administrating, at least medicaid programs, beginning at the administration she joins cms where she served as the highest levels. so what i think she'll bring to this job is not only a depth of background on the public sector side, but at goin

testifying before today is marilyn tavenner, nominated to be the administrator of the centers for medicare and medicaid services, otherwise known as cms. ms. tavenner, you are being asked to draw on years of extensive expense to lead this agency and administer programs upon which millions of americans rely. you will surely need confidence, courage, and compassion in this role. ahead of cms has a great responsibility. cms administers health coverage to roughly one in three americans. that includes 50 million medicare patients, 56 million medicaid patients and more than 5.5.5 million children through the children's health insurance program. 167,000 seniors and 8300 no to retirees in montana rely on medicare, the largest program you will oversee at cms. these montanans are my employers, and they are employers as well -- excuse me, they are my employers and they as well as millions more across the nation are your employers as well, this data. so i encourage you to never forget that. you were working for them. it's also important to remember who works for. the administrator of cms overseas 5800