Health Secretary Called ‘Disgrace’ by Rep. Stark : Politics: Democrat accuses the black Cabinet member of appeasing the President. Sullivan calls the remarks racist.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Oakland) today said Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan is a “disgrace to his profession and his race,” charging that the lone black Cabinet member changed his views on sensitive issues to appease President Bush.

Sullivan reacted angrily to the remarks, calling them “paternalistic and frankly racist” and demanded an apology.

“I don’t live on Pete Stark’s plantation,” Sullivan said. “I wish he had the guts to say that to my face. It’s too bad ultra-liberals like Pete Stark haven’t progressed to the point that they can accept the independent thinking of a black man that does not conform to their own stereotyped views.

“I demand an apology from Congressman Stark for his intemperate remarks and personal attack.”

Stark’s unusually harsh comments came at the end of a news conference to discuss the introduction of an anti-smoking bill. He is chairman of the House Ways and Means health subcommittee.

Stark’s personal attack, rare for public officials, may have been sparked by a growing discontent with Sullivan’s views--from the secretary’s publicly stated view against abortion to his recent announcement opposing national health insurance, issues Stark supports.

“Louis Sullivan comes as close to being a disgrace to his profession and his race as anybody I have seen in the Cabinet,” said Stark, a white liberal Democrat. Stark contended that the secretary has softened and even changed his personal views so they will coincide with those of President Bush.

“It smacks to me of a person who is being used by the Administration and does not have the strength of his own convictions, as has been shown by his flip-flopping on the abortion issue, which is a position he has to know the President is wrong on. A man who wants his job so bad and won’t stand up for what is right is a pretty weak citizen.”

Some believed Sullivan, who was president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, reversed a personal pro-abortion view to win the job as Bush’s health secretary. In an interview, Sullivan said he has always opposed abortion and called the flap “old news.”

Stark also objected to Sullivan’s recent speeches outlining his opposition to national health insurance.

On Wednesday, Sullivan told the National Medical Assn., a group of black physicians, “I fear that black Americans may disproportionately suffer. The rich can always afford private care, but those who rely on a scheme of national health insurance--the poor and disadvantaged--will have to get in line.”