WASHINGTON — The wife of former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will help lead a national initiative to further prioritize addiction treatment and recovery.

Kathryn Burgum and husband Doug Burgum,

now U.S. Secretary of the Interior,

were part of an executive order signing at the White House on Thursday, Jan. 29, to launch the Great American Recovery Initiative.

The initiative will be co-chaired by Kathryn Burgum and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

She spoke briefly at the event, beginning with thanks to President Donald Trump who was seated near her.

“Your leadership today, relative to this announcement about the Great American Recovery, is a gift to all Americans who are suffering from the brain disease of addiction,” she said.

Kathryn Burgum spearheaded addiction recovery efforts in North Dakota

through the Office of Recovery Reinvented while her husband was governor.

She began speaking openly about her own battle with alcohol addiction that she said started in high school.

“I was a blackout drinker from the start,” Kathryn Burgum said at the White House event, now marking more than 23 years of sobriety.

Over her husband’s eight years as governor, the couple hosted Recovery Reinvented events,

with speakers and activities focused on ending the stigma

around the disease of addiction.

“I was asking people to share their stories openly about addiction, so we can eliminate the shame and stigma, so more people would reach out for help, and more lives could be saved,” she said from the Oval Office.

The Great American Recovery Initiative will create stronger coordination across government, the health care sector, faith communities, and the private sector, the White House website said.

Kathryn Burgum said it represents a fundamental shift from reaction to prevention, fragmentation to coordination, stigma to science, and short-term fixes to long-term recovery.

“For the first time, we’re aligning federal leadership across health, justice, labor, housing, veterans, social services, the faith office and education around one single shared truth: When addiction is treated early and correctly, people recover and families heal,” she said.

Kylie Cooper/ Reuters

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A comment from Trump during the ceremony drew laughs from those gathered, when he hinted he had chosen Doug Burgum to serve in his Cabinet because Kathryn had caught his eye.

“You know, I saw them riding horses in a video. And I said, ‘Who is that?’ I was talking about her, not him,” Trump said, the audience chuckling.

“And I explained it, I said, ‘I’m gonna hire him,’ because anybody has somebody like you to be with, it’s an amazing tribute. And it’s a great couple,” Trump said.