[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 2, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1016-E1017]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DISAPPOINTMENT WITH REVISED CONFERENCE REPORT REGARDING THIS YEAR'S 
   HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE BUDGET PROPOSAL WITH RESPECT TO MINORITY 
           HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF AMERICA'S MOST VULNERABLE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 2, 2004

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my deep 
disappointment about the revised Conference Report regarding this 
year's Health and Human Service budget proposal and how it impacts 
change for minority health and the health of America's most vulnerable 
populations. The House conference report can only be viewed as a slap 
in the face and an insincere gesture to address systemic health 
problems faced by minorities and women. With few exceptions, the 
conference report includes policy-based numbers only for 2005 and 
provides but meaningless placeholder numbers for 2006 through 2009.
  The Budget Act requires that the budget resolution cover five years: 
this conference report clearly violates the spirit of that requirement 
by providing in essence only a shell of a five-year budget resolution. 
It has been a quarter of a century since a budget resolution conference 
report covered only one year.
  Mr. Speaker, this budget mainly benefits the healthy and the wealthy, 
because the conference agreement provides only $864.3 billion for 2005 
discretionary funding, including the $50 billion for operations in Iraq 
and Afghanistan. Excluding funding for these operations, the total is 
$8.6 billion less than the President's already dismal budget sent to 
Congress back in February.

  The conference agreement increases funding for both national defense 
and homeland security, and cuts 2005 funding for domestic programs by 
$7.6 billion--below a freeze at the 2004 enacted level and by $18.3 
billion below the level needed to maintain services at the 2004 level. 
Excluding the increases for homeland security, the conference agreement 
cuts the remaining domestic programs even more. The conference 
agreement contained deep and arbitrary cuts to healthcare programs that 
are critical to serving minority populations.
  Over five years, the budget cuts spending for mandatory health 
programs by $905 million. Medicaid constitutes over 90 percent of the 
dollars for these programs, so it is likely that Medicaid will bear the 
brunt of these spending cuts, if they are enacted. But this is just the 
beginning Mr. Speaker. The budget cuts funding for the uninsured by 
slashing HCAP, the Healthy Community access program, from $120 million 
to $10 million.
  The House's conference report slashes Health Professions funding by 
70 percent, from $409 million to $126 million, eliminating funding for 
important programs to address the nursing shortage and to train health 
professionals for cultural competence. New York alone will receive a 
cut of $22 million.
  The House's conference report cuts the Public Health Improvement 
accounts in half. Reductions to this account not only jeopardize the 
electronic information infrastructure, and other activities needed to 
monitor and respond to bioterrorism, but also affect programs to 
eliminate racial disparities.
  The House's conference report slashes rural health activities by $91 
million below this year's enacted level--or by 64 percent. This cut 
includes eliminating the $39 million rural health flexibility grant 
program and drastically cutting back rural health outreach grants, used 
to expand clinical services in rural areas.
  The House's conference report provides an inadequate increase of only 
2.6 percent for NIH. According to patient and research advocates, NIH 
must receive budget increases of 8 to 10 percent to capitalize on the 
progress being made in biomedical research. The Bush budget will not 
even allow NIH to continue existing grants.
  The House's conference report cuts funding far the Office of Minority 
Health by 15 percent from this year's enacted level. This office 
supports disease prevention, health promotion, service demonstration, 
and educational efforts that focus on health concerns that cause the 
high rate of disease in racial and ethnic minority communities. In 
addition, it does not propose to reauthorize the Office, whose 
authorization expires in 3 years. This is a very bad omen, in the face 
of the large and growing healthcare disparities in minority 
communities.
  The House's conference report cuts bioterrorism hospital preparedness 
grants by $39 million. This will leave a host of unfunded Federal 
mandates and will further burden already strained resources at 
hospitals that serve minority and rural communities.
  The House's conference report zeroes outs the healthcare facilities 
improvement projects, halting all healthcare infrastructure projects 
that are supported through Federal contracts. Many of the projects are 
in rural and urban communities that serve minority populations.
  The House's conference report only level-funds grant programs for 
organ transplantation and bone marrow donor registry, which has helped 
a number of people in underserved communities to get transplants.
  The House's conference report also levelfunds the telehealth program, 
which has been instrumental in providing healthcare in rural and Native 
American communities that currently lack healthcare infrastructure and 
service providers.
  The House's conference report freezes funding for the Indian Health 
Service's health professions program, diabetes grants program, and 
medical equipment program. Native Americans have the highest rate of 
diabetes and the lowest production of health professionals in the 
Nation.
  The House's conference report freezes funding for the mentoring of 
children of prisoners, for programs that address developmental 
disabilities, violence against women, and runaway and homeless youth 
programs in the Department's Administration for Children and Families.
  In addition it cuts $33 million from the Early Learning Fund and $3 
million from the Child Abuse Discretionary Activities account. Both 
programs support a number of organizations in minority communities.
  Mr. Speaker, our healthcare system in this country is currently in 
peril. It is falling short on promise and contributing to the disabling 
illness and premature death of the people it is supposed to serve. The 
picture is the worst for minority populations, who for almost every 
illness are impacted most severely and disproportionately.

[[Page E1017]]

  Today we know that much of it happens because, even when minorities 
have access to care, the medical evaluations and treatments that are 
made available to everyone else are denied to them--not only in the 
private sector but in the public system as well. Acknowledging this, we 
worked with the other minority caucuses and the progressive caucus to 
close the gaps in funding for programs that would close these gaps in 
the CBC budget. While our measure garnered a record number of votes, it 
failed.
  We also worked with the Senate and got an amendment included in their 
budget resolution for an additional $400 million to be dedicated for 
minority health, and it is our sincere hope that the amendment is 
included in the final budget report and that it will be treated as a 
clear signal to appropriators on the need to address the health 
concerns of minority populations.
    




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