[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2899 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2899

To amend the Public Health Service Act to include Middle Easterners and 
  North Africans in the statutory definition of a ``racial and ethnic 
               minority group'', and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 21, 2023

  Mr. Padilla introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to include Middle Easterners and 
  North Africans in the statutory definition of a ``racial and ethnic 
               minority group'', and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Health Equity and Middle Eastern and 
North African Community Inclusion Act of 2023'' or the ``Health Equity 
and MENA Community Inclusion Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

    In this Act, the terms ``Middle Eastern and North African'' or 
``MENA'', with respect to individuals or populations, includes 
individuals and populations who identify with or belong to one or more 
nationalities or ethnic groups originating in a country (or portion 
thereof) in the Middle Eastern and North African region (such as 
Lebanese, Iranians, Egyptians, Moroccans, Yemenis, Chaldeans, 
Imazighen, Kurds, Palestinians, and Yazidis).

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Through the establishment of the Office of Minority 
        Health (referred to in this section as the ``OMH'') in 1986, 
        the Department of Health and Human Services has developed 
        health policies and programs that eliminate health disparities 
        and improve the health of racial and ethnic minority 
        populations.
            (2) Congress has funded the OMH to assure improved health 
        status of racial and ethnic minorities, and to develop measures 
        to evaluate the effectiveness of activities aimed at reducing 
        health disparities and supporting the local community. The 
        activities of the OMH have addressed health disparities, 
        including with respect to physical activity and nutrition, 
        clinical conditions, individual social needs, and the social 
        determinants of health for ``racial and ethnic minority 
        groups''.
            (3) Before the amendments made by this Act, section 
        1707(g)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u-
        6(g)(1)) defined the term ``racial and ethnic minority group'' 
        (for whom the OMH works to improve health outcomes and 
        eliminate health disparities) to exclude Middle Easterners and 
        North Africans, and thereby prevented MENA populations from 
        accessing critical resources intended to assist historically 
        marginalized communities.
            (4) Independent researchers and private sector research 
        initiatives have found significant health disparities between 
        MENA individuals and the non-Hispanic White population, as well 
        as significant overlap between the health outcomes and health 
        conditions of MENA individuals and those of other racial and 
        ethnic minority groups.
            (5) Poor health outcomes are often connected to 
        impoverishment in other aspects of life and are exacerbated by 
        additional barriers to access high-quality health coverage, 
        whether in terms of language, eligibility, health literacy, or 
        discrimination at the point-of-service.
            (6) A recent study published in the journal, Proceedings of 
        the National Academy of Sciences, suggested that MENA 
        individuals are not perceived as White and do not perceive 
        themselves as White.
            (7) Research on the health outcomes and health conditions 
        of MENA individuals is troubling and suggests that efforts must 
        be made on the Federal level to disaggregate the demographic 
        data of MENA individuals from the demographic data of 
        individuals in the non-Hispanic White category and fully 
        understand the social determinants of health for health 
        disparities and outcomes experienced by MENA individuals.
            (8) Under the current Federal standards for data on race 
        and ethnicity, demographic data on MENA individuals is 
        aggregated into the same category as demographic data on 
        individuals of European ancestry, which limits the ability of 
        the Federal Government to understand the factors that 
        contribute to health outcomes for MENA individuals.
            (9) The Federal standards for data on race and ethnicity 
        effectively obscure the reality of minority health and health 
        disparities by aggregating demographic health data on MENA 
        individuals with that of Europeans.
            (10) MENA individuals are not included among the groups for 
        whom the OMH works to improve health outcomes and eliminate 
        health disparities, which further limits the opportunity of 
        MENA individuals to access programs designed to address their 
        experiences and health conditions.
            (11) The OMH could better assess and eliminate health 
        disparities by conducting a comprehensive study of the health 
        of MENA individuals and recognizing MENA individuals as a 
        racial and ethnic minority group.

SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF MIDDLE EASTERNERS AND NORTH AFRICANS IN DEFINITION 
              OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1707(g)(1) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 300u-6(g)(1)) is amended by striking ``Blacks; and 
Hispanics'' and inserting ``Blacks or African Americans; Hispanics; and 
Middle Easterners and North Africans''.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that subsection 
(a) should be implemented so as to ensure that--
            (1) the definition of a ``racial and ethnic minority 
        group'' in section 1707(g)(1) of the Public Health Service Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 300u-6(g)(1)), as amended by subsection (a), is 
        applied in the implementation and execution of Federal programs 
        and activities that reference such definition; and
            (2) no racial and ethnic minority group served by such 
        programs and activities is negatively impacted by the amendment 
        made by subsection (a).
    (c) Undefined References.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall--
            (1) identify all regulations, guidance, orders, and 
        documents of the Department of Health and Human Services for 
        establishment or implementation of a health care or public 
        health program, activity, or survey that--
                    (A) use the term ``racial and ethnic minority 
                group'' or similar terminology; and
                    (B) do not define such term or terminology; and
            (2) take such actions as may be necessary to clarify 
        whether the definition of ``racial and ethnic minority group'' 
        in section 1707(g)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
        U.S.C. 300u-6(g)(1)), as amended by subsection (a), applies to 
        such term or terminology.
    (d) Report to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
submit a report to Congress on the implementation of this section.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE HEALTH OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN 
              POPULATION.

    (a) Study Required.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall conduct or 
support a comprehensive study regarding the unique health patterns and 
outcomes of MENA populations.
    (b) Requirements for Study.--The comprehensive study under 
subsection (a) shall include an enumeration of MENA populations across 
the United States, disaggregated by subpopulation, and with respect to 
each such population and subpopulation--
            (1) the rates of--
                    (A) obesity, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, stroke, 
                asthma, pneumonia, lung cancer, HIV/AIDS, HPV, high 
                cholesterol, high blood pressure, chronic heart, lung, 
                and kidney disease;
                    (B) morbidity and mortality, including the rates of 
                morbidity and mortality associated with the health 
                conditions listed in subparagraph (A);
                    (C) mental health and substance use disorders; and
                    (D) domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
                assault, sexual harassment, and stalking;
            (2) analysis of--
                    (A) the rates described in paragraph (1);
                    (B) the leading causes of pregnancy-associated 
                morbidity and mortality; and
                    (C) access to health care facilities and the 
                associated outcomes of care;
            (3) analysis, enumeration, or quantification of any other 
        health or health-related parameters the Secretary may deem 
        necessary; and
            (4) analysis of the relationship between the health 
        factors, outcomes, and conditions described in paragraphs (1) 
        through (3) and the implementation of Federal health programs.
    (c) Consultation.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) carry out this section in consultation, as appropriate, 
        with the Director of the Census Bureau, the Director of the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the 
        National Institutes of Health, the Assistant Secretary for 
        Mental Health and Substance Use, and other stakeholders 
        (including community-based organizations); and
            (2) determine through such consultation the subpopulations 
        to be used for purposes of disaggregation of data pursuant to 
        subsection (b).
    (d) Online Portal.--Upon conclusion of the comprehensive study 
under this section, the Secretary shall establish a public online 
portal to catalogue the results of the study, its underlying data, and 
information in the report submitted pursuant to subsection (f).
    (e) Reporting.--
            (1) Interim report.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress a report outlining the challenges associated with, and 
        progress towards implementing health data collection for MENA 
        populations as a distinct category and the plan for completing 
        a comprehensive study regarding the unique health patterns and 
        outcomes of MENA populations.
            (2) Final report.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        conclusion of the comprehensive study under this section, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing--
                    (A) the results of the study conducted under this 
                section; and
                    (B) the rulemakings and other actions the agencies 
                described in subsection (c)(1) can undertake to more 
                equitably include MENA individuals in their programs.
    (f) Privacy.--The Secretary shall not include any personally 
identifiable information on the online portal under subsection (e) or 
in the report under subsection (f).
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