The President today announced his intention to nominate Margaret M. Heckler to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. She would succeed Richard S. Schweiker. She served as a Member of Congress representing Massachusetts' 10th Congressional District from 1966 until 1982, when she was the ranking woman Member in the Congress and the 24th ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the ranking Republican member of the Joint Economic Committee, the Science and Technology Committee, and the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. She served on the Committees on Banking and Currency, Agriculture, and Government Operations, and was founder and steering committee member of the Textile Caucus and the Travel and Tourism Caucus. She founded the Congresswoman's Caucus and served as cochair.
She graduated from Albertus Magnus College, Connecticut, and Boston College (LL.B., 1956). She holds honorary degrees from Boston College, Regis College, Stonehill College, Emmanuel College, St. Bonaventure College, and the New England College of Law.
She is married, has three children, and resides in Wellesley, Mass. She was born June 21, 1931, in Flushing, N.Y.
Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Margaret M. Heckler To Be Secretary of Health and Human Services Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/262160