Ulla Schmidt Explained

Ulla Schmidt
Office:Vice President of the Bundestag
(on proposal of the SPD group)
Term Start:22 October 2013
Term End:24 October 2017
Predecessor:none (second VP post for the SPD-group was created after the 2013 election)
Successor:none (the SPD group was not allowed to propose a second VP after the 2017 election)
Office1:Federal Minister of Health
Term Start1:22 November 2005
Term End1:27 October 2009
Predecessor1:Herself (Health and Social Security)
Successor1:Philipp Rösler
Chancellor1:Angela Merkel
Term Start2:12 January 2001
Term End2:22 October 2002
Successor2:Herself (Health and Social Security)
Predecessor2:Andrea Fischer
Chancellor2:Gerhard Schröder
Office3:Federal Minister of Health and Social Security
Term Start3:22 October 2002
Term End3:22 November 2005
Predecessor3:Walter Riester (Social Affairs)
Herself (Health)
Successor3:Franz Müntefering (Social Affairs)
Herself (Health)
Chancellor3:Gerhard Schröder
Office4:Member of the Bundestag
for North Rhine-Westphalia
Term Start4:27 September 2009
Constituency4:SPD List
Term Start5:2 December 1990
Term End5:27 September 1998
Constituency5:SPD List
Office6:Member of the Bundestag
for Aachen I
Term Start6:27 September 1998
Term End6:27 September 2009
Predecessor6:Armin Laschet
Successor6:Rudolf Henke
Birth Date:13 June 1949
Birth Place:Aachen, West Germany
Party:Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
Alma Mater:Teaching College of Aachen
Profession:Teacher for Primary and General Schools
Website:ulla-schmidt.de

Ursula "Ulla" Schmidt (born 13 June 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From 2001 to 2009 she was Federal Minister of Health in the German Government. Between 2013 and 2017, she served as Vice-President of the German Bundestag.

Early life and education

Schmidt studied at RWTH Aachen University and FernUniversität Hagen before working as a teacher specialising in special needs education and the rehabilitation of children with learning difficulties and behavioural issues.[1]

Political career

Early beginnings

In 1976 Schmidt was a candidate of the Maoist "Kommunistischer Bund Westdeutschland" (KBW) (Communist League of West Germany) for the Federal Assembly of Germany (Bundestag) in Aachen. The KBW dissolved completely in 1985.

In 1983, Schmidt changed to the Social Democratic Party (SPD). There she is a member of the local (Aachen) leadership and of the "Seeheimer Kreis". She was elected to the German Bundestag in the first elections in reunified Germany on 2 December 1990, representing the Aachen I constituency.[2]

Member of the Federal Government

As deputy leader of the Social Democratic parliamentary group between 1998 and 2001,[3] Schmidt first gained respect in Parliament for her strong defense of pension reforms proposed by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder government in 2000.[4]

After the resignation of incumbent Andrea Fischer, who took the blame for the government's chaotic response to the discovery of ten cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Schmidt became Federal Minister for Health under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 2001.[5] A year later, the responsibility for social security was added to her portfolio and she was appointed Federal Minister for Health and Social Security.

During her tenure as Germany’s long-serving minister of health, Schmidt oversaw major system reforms, balancing social solidarity with fiscal responsibility.[6] In September 2003, Schmidt worked to tighten the regulations allowing welfare benefits to German expatriates. Under the new rules, the only people to receive benefits are Germans who are receiving long-term medical treatment outside the country or who are in foreign jails.[7]

In November 2005, Schmidt again became Federal Minister for Health in the grand coalition of Angela Merkel. Social security was reunited with the portfolio of labour, which in 2002 had been added to that of the Federal Minister for Economics. By 2006, Schmidt led negotiations for an agreement on changes to Germany’s healthcare financing.[8]

In July 2009, the Social Democrats’ candidate to challenge incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel, Frank Walter Steinmeier, dropped Schmidt from his campaign team for the federal elections, after she embarrassed the party by taking her official Mercedes and chauffeur on a vacation to Spain, where it was stolen and later returned.[9] The SPD subsequently lost the elections.

Member of the German Bundestag

From February 2010, Schmidt was a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and deputy chairwoman of the German delegation to that assembly. She also served as a member of the Subcommittee on Cultural and Education Policy Abroad of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and as a member of the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs.[10]

In 2010, Schmidt became chairwoman of Lebenshilfe, the association for people with mental disability, their families, experts and friends.[11]

In her capacity as Vice President of the German Parliament, Schmidt also was a member of the parliament’s Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigns committee chairpersons based on party representation.

Schmidt announced, that she will not be reelected in 2021 German federal election.[12]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profits

Controversies

Amid discussions on whether Iraq possesses the smallpox virus and that the Saddam Hussein regime has mobile factories capable of producing chemical and biological weapons, Schmidt recommended in 2003 that Germany stockpile smallpox vaccine to guard against a possible terrorist attack. In response, members of the conservative opposition accused Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government of withholding a true picture of the threat from Iraq.[19]

In 2009, Schmidt criticized statements made by Pope Benedict XVI, who claimed that condom usage promoted AIDS.[20]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/bundestag/presidium/schmidt/260032 Ulla Schmidt, Vice-President of the Bundestag
  2. http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/bundestag/presidium/schmidt/260032 Ulla Schmidt, Vice-President of the Bundestag
  3. http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/bundestag/presidium/schmidt/260032 Ulla Schmidt, Vice-President of the Bundestag
  4. [Roger Cohen]
  5. [Roger Cohen]
  6. Tsung-Mei Cheng and Uwe E. Reinhardt, Shepherding Major Health System Reforms: A Conversation With German Health Minister Ulla Schmidt Health Affairs, May 2008.
  7. Mark Landler (17 October 2003), A German Banker on Welfare Among Miami's Palms New York Times.
  8. Hugh Williamson (9 June 2006), Germany on course for health financing reform New York Times.
  9. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05EEDE1538F933A05754C0A96F9C8B63&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C{%222%22%3A%22RI%3A15%22} Germany: Setback For Official In Stolen-Car Case
  10. http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/bundestag/presidium/schmidt/260032 Ulla Schmidt, Vice-President of the Bundestag
  11. http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/bundestag/presidium/schmidt/260032 Ulla Schmidt, Vice-President of the Bundestag
  12. Web site: SPD: Wer folgt auf Thomas Oppermann als Bundestagsvizepräsident?. Sueddeutsche.de. Süddeutsche Zeitung. Mike Szymanski. 17 November 2020. de.
  13. http://www.siegfried.ch/investor-relations-media/media-releases-news/article/article/siegfried-ulla-schmidt-and-martin-schmid-recommended-for-nomination-to-the-board-of-directors/ Siegfried: Ulla Schmidt and Martin Schmid recommended for nomination to the Board of Directors
  14. https://www.charite.de/en/the_charite/organisation/management/supervisory_board/ Supervisory Board
  15. Hannes Heine (23 February 2020), Berliner Senat entscheidet über Charité: Mehr Forschungsexpertise im Aufsichtsrat Der Tagesspiegel.
  16. https://www.1014.nyc/board-of-directors Board of Directors
  17. https://www.aktion-mensch.de/ueber-uns/organisation/gremien/aufsichtsrat.html Supervisory Board
  18. Web site: Members – Western & Central Europe . 12 August 2020 . 1 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001221418/https://unitenetwork.org/western-central-europe/ . dead .
  19. [Richard Bernstein (journalist)|Richard Bernstein]
  20. https://www.faz.net/s/RubFC06D389EE76479E9E76425072B196C3/Doc~EFDB8778F7D2F4AA8BADA3EEA536C4368~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html Empörte Reaktionen auf Papst-Äußerung