[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 11, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H487-H488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BUSH SPIN-DOCTORS ALTER HEALTH DISPARITIES REPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) 
has just talked about the credibility of this administration, and there 
was an incident which happened yesterday which I think was really quite 
stunning.
  Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, came 
before the Committee on Ways and Means. I have know him a long time. He 
is a dedicated, hard-working public servant. He is a straight shooter. 
When he appeared before us, I reluctantly had to ask my old friend 
tough questions. His answers were stunning. They were stunning because, 
without equivocation, Tommy Thompson told the truth.
  Tommy Thompson acknowledged that someone significantly altered a 
report on health disparities in America, and he was having none of it. 
This is the guy who ought to be in charge, and we need help. He told 
the truth and took the fall for the political spin doctors inside his 
own agency, inside the White House, or both. We commissioned a report 
by the Institute of Medicine, and when it came back, it was changed. 
The American people need to know who did this. Significantly altering a 
report about health disparities in America is a betrayal of public 
trust. People of color, everyone in America ought to be outraged and 
demand accountability.

                              {time}  1745

  Political spin doctors turned science, and serious data about 
national health disparities affecting Native Americans, people of color 
and others, into a whitewash that taints anyone near it.
  Let me give my colleagues an example. The first sentence of the 
original health disparities report circulated last June said, and I 
quote, ``Inequalities in health care that affect some racial, ethnic, 
socioeconomic and geographic subpopulations in the United States 
ultimately affect every American.'' The alteration was, ``The overall 
health of Americans has improved dramatically over the last century.'' 
One

[[Page H488]]

would hardly think they were talking about the same subject. It is a 
whitewash. It is a blatant disregard for the American people and an 
insult to every person of color. This was a study we commissioned to 
find out about the health disparities between groups in this country. 
Congress asked for science, and the administration's spin doctors 
buried it. They hid it from view and substituted their own version of 
the country.
  In the June original document, the Department's scientists found 
``significant inequality'' in health care. The last one, the doctored 
one, became ``national problems.'' The scientists emphasized that these 
disparities are ``pervasive in our health care system.'' The whitewash 
omitted those conclusions. Text describing data tables inside the paper 
was altered. In the key findings section, the whitewash omitted 28 of 
the 30 references to disparity. Everything was done to hide the real 
facts from people of color, from every citizen in America.
  What does the administration say tonight to people of color? What 
does this administration say tonight to every American? Somebody 
ordered this whitewash. The American people need to know who did it. I 
would think there ought to be an investigation to find out who was 
responsible and take appropriate action. We cannot allow someone to 
hide the truth from Americans, no matter who they are. We cannot permit 
someone to deceive Members of Congress and every American. We cannot 
tolerate someone who alters a report that directly affects people of 
color and their health status in this country.
  Someone is trying to trick us into thinking that the administration 
has all the answers and that everything is hunky-dory. This is one more 
evidence for the fact that this administration will not tell the truth, 
whether it is about weapons of mass destruction or about al Qaeda 
connections or even down to a health report. They will not even tell us 
what happens in communities of color with respect to diabetes, with 
respect to high blood pressure.
  They said about Native Americans, Native Americans have a lower 
cancer rate. That sounds good. But not one single mention of the fact 
that they have the lowest life expectancy and the highest infant 
mortality rate among all Americans. How can they put a report out like 
that and let people believe that everything is equal in this country? 
It is not. We have not paid attention. When we put more money into 
national health institutes, and I agree with that, we ought to use 
science as the basis on which we allocate the money for the problems 
that affect the most people.
  Mr. Speaker, we ought to ask the President to find out who did this 
in his administration. It is a travesty.

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