[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 41 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 31, 2006, the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of National Public 
Health Week. Since 1995, national, State and local public health 
professionals highlight an important public health issue every April to 
raise awareness about leading health problems affecting our Nation.
  This year, the theme of National Public Health Week focuses on what 
is called the ``built environment,'' which refers to building healthy 
communities to protect and enhance our children's life.
  The built environment is any infrastructure with which children come 
in contact on a daily basis including homes, schools, parks, roads, 
walkways and businesses.
  Enhancements to the built environment include access to primary 
health services, regular physical activity, safe places to play, and 
safe routes to walk or bike to school, smoke-free communities and 
homes, and toxin-free schools.
  Health challenges include the quality of and access to schools and 
housing, economic opportunities, social capital, air and water, and 
opportunities for physical activity.
  As Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I am 
particularly concerned about how the built environment affects 
communities of color, native communities, and linguistically isolated 
communities.
  Members of these communities are more likely to live, work, and play 
in environments which have detrimental health effects, often vastly 
disproportionate to their percentage of the population.
  For example, asthma is one of the major causes of illness and 
disability in the United States. Although asthma is only slightly more 
prevalent among minority children than among whites, it accounts for 
three times the number of deaths.
  Low socioeconomic status, exposure to urban environmental 
contaminants, and lack of access to medical care contribute to the 
increase of deaths in minority communities.
  African Americans living in low-income neighborhoods have 
particularly high rates of asthma, as do Native Hawaiians living in 
Hawaii.
  America must invest more resources and be more creative in order to 
eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.
  We need to provide access to health care for the 45 million 
uninsured, more than half of whom are racial and ethnic populations.
  We need to provide linguistically and culturally competent services, 
and we need to stop gutting the health care safety net.
  Neighborhoods and communities across the United States are segregated 
by race and socioeconomic status, which exacerbates the underlying 
social and economic inequities that perpetuate health inequities. 
Without significant investment in the built environment for children 
and underserved communities, these health inequities will continue.
  I am pleased to see that the American Public Health Association, the 
leading public health organization in the United States, has been able 
to disseminate the message about the interconnectedness between health 
and the built environment, and hope that this reality is integrated 
into the public health debate.
  I look forward to working with all those involved with National 
Public Health Week to ensure policies to promote all children's health.

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