[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 199 (Friday, December 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               EQUAL RIGHTS FOR HEALTH CARE ACT--TITLE 42

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                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 28, 2007

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce the ``Equal 
Rights for Health Care Act--Title 42.'' Our Founding Fathers wisely 
wrote that all Americans should have the equal rights of life, liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness. In order to have life one must be healthy 
and have adequate healthcare. Ensuring those rights of my constituents 
and the American people is our primary responsibility as Members of 
Congress. H.R. 4849 will prohibition discrimination of health care 
services and research programs that receive Federal funding based on 
sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability 
status.
  The civil rights laws have historically been a powerful mechanism for 
effecting necessary change in the United States. Each law represents a 
national commitment to end discrimination and establish a mandate to 
bring the excluded into the mainstream. These equal rights laws ensure 
that the Federal government delivers on the Constitution's promise of 
equal opportunity so that every individual has the right to develop his 
or her talents. Healthcare should not be an exception to this 
precedent.
  In 1971, only 18 percent of all women, compared to 26 percent of all 
men, had completed 4 or more years of college. In 1972, Title IX was 
introduced by Representative Edith Green of Oregon. In 2007, 
celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Title IX, which assured woman's 
right to education equality, the U.S. Department of Education showed 56 
percent of all women compared to 44 percent of all men in four or more 
years of college. This mandate created a sea of change in our 
expectations of what equal funding could achieve.
  Federal law prohibits discrimination across a wide array of public 
policy arenas, none more so than in relation to voting and public 
education rights. The ``Equal Rights for Health Care Act--Title 42'' 
H.R. 4849 seeks to have the same effect in the health care community. 
With the introduction of H.R. 4849, we as a Congress, are taking 
another step toward equal rights and I look forward to working with my 
colleagues from both sides of the aisle to accomplish this goal.

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