Volume 166, No. 178 covering the 2nd Session of the 116th Congress (2019 - 2020) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S6331-S6332 on Oct. 19, 2020.
More than half of the Agency's employees are engineers, scientists and protection specialists. The Climate Reality Project, a global climate activist organization, accused Agency leadership in the last five years of undermining its main mission.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Merkley, Ms.
Duckworth, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Booker, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Kaine):
S. 4819. A bill to improve the health of minority individuals, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, there is no shortage of examples showing how our Nation systemically fails communities of color and other minorities, but the events of 2020--namely COVID-19 and the killings of Black Americans--have brought heightened attention and urgency to addressing inequities and disparities throughout our nation. Tragically, these inequities and disparities pervade our health care system, resulting in poor health outcomes and barriers to care for far too many communities.
Mr. President, I believe that healthcare is a right--not a privilege--and that this right should extend to everyone in our Nation. Yet, this is not the case. Our Nation falls short in ensuring that right to everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, immigration status, or any other factor, which is why I am reintroducing the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA). This bill is a comprehensive blueprint of bold policy solutions that address a wide spectrum of health equity concerns.
Despite progress made through the Affordable Care Act, health care access remains a problem in the U.S., with minority communities disproportionately facing barriers to coverage. HEAA expands access to health care for many communities in need including immigrant communities, rural communities, and of particular importance to my state, citizens of the Freely Associated States who are living in our country under the Compacts of Free Association.
We know that diversity in our health care workforce can improve health outcomes, and yet racial and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented in our health professions. HEAA seeks to address the lack of diversity in our health workforce through loan repayment programs and health professions fellowships. The bill would also help providers better serve a diverse patient population with culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services through investments like cultural competency education and expanded language access services to assist the over 12 percent of Hawaii residents and about 8 percent of people nationwide with limited English proficiency.
Women, children, and adolescents often face additional barriers and disparities in accessing information, health education, health services, and coverage. HEAA aims to dismantle those barriers and address a range of infant, maternal, sexual, and reproductive health needs, particularly for marginalized and underserved communities. For example, HEAA would invest in sexual health education for underserved, minority, and LGBTQ youth and link them to services related to positive health behaviors. The bill also seeks to address our country's tragically high maternal mortality rate, particularly for Black women, who have a maternal mortality rate three to five times that of White women. HEAA would expand services to pregnant and postpartum women, develop maternal health initiatives in rural areas, and establish a program to address implicit biases and cultural competency in providers.
HEAA doesn't stop there. The legislation would also expand and promote mental and behavioral health services for minority communities, increase Federal resources for diseases that disproportionately affect minorities--such as heart disease and diabetes in Native Hawaiians--and improve data collection and reporting so we can more completely recognize and address health disparities. In Hawaii, these investments through HEAA will help combat diseases like viral hepatitis, which disproportionately affects Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, and better understand the health disparities faced by Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through disaggregated data collection.
Finally, HEAA addresses the ``social determinants of health''--non-
medical factors like the environment, housing, education, and economic stability that ultimately affect individual and community health. HEAA would require non-health federal agencies like Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, and Environmental Protection Agency to work together to improve the social determinants of health.
Achieving health equity is achievable and to do it we must make bold, substantial investments in transforming our health and health care systems. I thank my colleagues for joining me in introducing the bill, and encourage others to join us as we work to level the playing field and empower everyone in our nation to achieve their full health potential.
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