Democrats are grasping at straws in a feeble attempt to derail Dr. Tom Price’s nomination to be our next Department of Health and Human Services Secretary. They know full well that Dr. Price represents the biggest threat to repealing and replacing their “Unaffordable” Care Act. A proven and effective leader, Dr. Price is by far the most competent choice to deliver on the promise to repeal a law that has inflicted real pain upon America’s families.

Having known Dr. Price for decades, I can attest that he’s a man of upstanding character and someone who has dedicated his life’s work to serving others. A physician for more than 30 years, Dr. Price cared for patients as an orthopaedic surgeon both at a major hospital that met the needs of our community’s poor and working class families, as well as in his private practice that has become one of the country’s largest non-academic orthopedic surgery facilities in America. The takeaway from his time as a physician is simple: patients should have the power to make their own healthcare decisions, not Washington, DC bureaucrats.

This is the exact kind of practical experience the American people need and deserve as we transition from the “Unaffordable” Care Act to a system centered around individual patient choice. We’ve seen what happens when the federal government steps in to make our healthcare decisions: middle class Americans have been crippled by soaring premiums, millions of Americans who wanted to keep their plan simply lost their preferred choice for health insurance coverage and patients suffered as a result of a wrongheaded Washington policy. Dr. Price is the perfect person to shepherd sweeping healthcare reforms into law that actually help people live their best lives.

Dr. Price has proven his leadership skills on policy by taking action, introducing his own healthcare ideas even before then-President Obama signed the “Unaffordable” Care Act into law. He has fought with the conservative movement every step of the way as we shone a light on the compounding problems with the law, as well as offered patient-centered solutions that would actually reform health care.

Further, his exemplary character earned him a reputation as one of the most ethical Members of Congress, earning the respect and admiration of Democrat colleagues during a time when the Left and Right don’t work well together in Washington. Now, Democrats are attempting a character assassination of Dr. Price, not because they believe him to be unethical, but because they are painfully desperate to stop someone they know is truly competent, and thus, a threat to their power.

It is time the Democrats stop playing politics and act swiftly to confirm Dr. Price. It is the best interest of their constituents to have quality health care, and his confirmation would bring them one step closer to a system that prioritizes patients, families and doctors over politicians and bureaucrats in Washington.

There are so many of us from across the country who are proud to call Dr. Price a friend. We eagerly await his confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and we stand ready to affirm all we know about him to be true: that the country would be well-served with a leader as wise, experienced and reputable as Dr. Tom Price.