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APHA Distinguished Public Health Legislator of the Year Award

The APHA Distinguished Public Health Legislator of the Year Award recognizes federal lawmakers who are public health champions.

When considering nominating federal legislators for the award, we recommend that you review APHA’s annual congressional vote record and any legislation that the legislators you wish to nominate have sponsored or cosponsored during this and previous Congresses. We also recommend that you consider and identify the leadership they have provided in protecting public health programs and funding during the budget and appropriations process and any other examples of leadership that cannot necessarily be captured in a legislator’s voting record when completing the nominations form. You can visit your senators’ and representative’s websites for additional information about their positions on important public health issues.

Previous Winners

2023    Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-WI
2022    Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY
2021    Representative Lauren Underwood, D-IL
2020    Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA
2019    Representative Frank Pallone, Jr., D-NJ
2018    Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI
2017    Senator Patty Murray, D-WA
2017    State Senator Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles
2016    Representative John Lewis, D-GA
2016    Senator Chris Murphy, D-CT
2015    Senator Edward Markey, D-MA
2014    Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa
2013    New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
2012    Representative Rosa DeLauro, D-CT
2011    Representative Jan Schakowsky, D-IL 
2010    Senator Christopher J. Dodd, D-CT
2010    Representative Lois Capps, D-CA
2009    Representative Nita Lowey, D-NY
2009    Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-CA
2008    Representative Henry Waxman, D-CA
2008    Senator Edward Kennedy, D-MA (Special Lifetime
           Achievement Award)
2007    Senator Olympia Snowe, R-ME
2007    Representative Hilda L. Solis, D-CA
2006    Senator Arlen Spector, R-PA
2006    Senator Tom Harkin, D-IA
2006    Representative Major Owens, D-NY
2005    Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-NM
2005    Senator Daniel Inouye, D-HI
2005    Governor Mike Huckabee, AR-R
2005    State Delegate Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, D-MD
2004    Representative John Conyers, Jr., D-MI
2004    Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ
2004    State Senator Ray Miller, D-OH
2003    Maine Governor John E. Baldacci
2003    Representative Barbara Lee, D-CA
2003    House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
2002    Representative Sherrod Brown, D-OH
2002    State Senator Martha Escutia, D-CA, Montebello
2001    Senator James Jeffords, I-VT
2001    Representative John Lewis, D-GA
2001    Representative Andrew Nichols, D-AZ
2000    Senator Ted Kennedy, D-MA
2000    Representative Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY
2000    Speaker of the House G. Steven Rowe, D-ME
1999    Senator Richard Durbin, D-IL
1999    Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, D-IL
1999    State Assemblywoman Carol J. Murphy, R-NY
1998    Senator John McCain, R-AZ
1998    Representative Louise M. Slaughter, D-NY
1997    Representative Henry A. Waxman, D-CA