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