Ulla Schmidt | |
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.jpg) Schmidt in 2018 | |
| Vice President of the Bundestag (on proposal of the SPD-faction) | |
| In office 22 October 2013 – 24 October 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Suzanne Kastner(2009; the SPD-faction had no entitlement to a second vice president between 2009 and 2013) |
| Succeeded by | none(the SPD-faction was not allowed to propose a second VP after the2017 election) |
| Federal Minister of Health | |
| In office 22 November 2005 – 27 October 2009 | |
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel |
| Preceded by | Herself(Health and Social Security) |
| Succeeded by | Philipp Rösler |
| In office 12 January 2001 – 22 October 2002 | |
| Chancellor | Gerhard Schröder |
| Preceded by | Andrea Fischer |
| Succeeded by | Herself(Health and Social Security) |
| Federal Minister of Health and Social Security | |
| In office 22 October 2002 – 22 November 2005 | |
| Chancellor | Gerhard Schröder |
| Preceded by | Walter Riester (Social Affairs) Herself(Health) |
| Succeeded by | Franz Müntefering(Social Affairs) Herself(Health) |
| Member of theBundestag forNorth Rhine-Westphalia | |
| Assumed office 27 September 2009 | |
| Constituency | SPD List |
| In office 2 December 1990 – 27 September 1998 | |
| Constituency | SPD List |
| Member of theBundestag forAachen I | |
| In office 27 September 1998 – 27 September 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Armin Laschet |
| Succeeded by | Rudolf Henke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1949-06-13)13 June 1949 (age 76) |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) |
| Alma mater | Teaching College of Aachen |
| Profession | Teacher for Primary andGeneral Schools |
| Website | ulla-schmidt.de |
Ursula "Ulla"Schmidt (born 13 June 1949) is a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From 2001 to 2009 she wasFederal Minister of Health in the German Government. Between 2013 and 2017, she served asVice-President of the German Bundestag.
Schmidt studied atRWTH Aachen University andFernUniversität Hagen before working as a teacher specialising inspecial needs education and the rehabilitation of children withlearning difficulties and behavioural issues.[1]
In 1976 Schmidt was a candidate of theMaoist "Kommunistischer Bund Westdeutschland" (KBW)(Communist League of West Germany) for the Federal Assembly of Germany (Bundestag) inAachen. The KBW dissolved completely in 1985.
In 1983, Schmidt changed to theSocial 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]
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 ChancellorGerhard Schröder government in 2000.[4]
After the resignation of incumbentAndrea Fischer, who took the blame for the government's chaotic response to the discovery of ten cases ofbovine spongiform encephalopathy, Schmidt becameFederal Minister for Health under ChancellorGerhard Schröder in 2001.[5] A year later, the responsibility for social security was added to her portfolio and she was appointedFederal 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 becameFederal Minister for Health in thegrand coalition ofAngela Merkel. Social security was reunited with the portfolio of labour, which in 2002 had been added to that of theFederal 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 ChancellorAngela Merkel,Frank Walter Steinmeier, dropped Schmidt from his campaign team for thefederal elections, after she embarrassed the party by taking her officialMercedes and chauffeur on a vacation to Spain, where it was stolen and later returned.[9] The SPD subsequently lost the elections.
From February 2010, Schmidt was a member of theNATO 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'sCouncil 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 in2021 German federal election.[12]
Amid discussions on whetherIraq possesses thesmallpox virus and that theSaddam Hussein regime has mobile factories capable of producing chemical and biological weapons, Schmidt recommended in 2003 that Germany stockpilesmallpox 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 PopeBenedict XVI, who claimed that condom usage promotedAIDS.[20]
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