[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S5898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                   TRIBUTE TO SHIRLEY NATHAN-PULLIAM

 Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, today I wish to recognize and pay 
tribute to a dear friend, fellow Marylander and 16-year member of the 
Maryland House of Delegates, Shirley Nathan-Pulliam. Shirley has been a 
tireless advocate for eliminating health disparities throughout her 
career as a public servant. The Maryland Department of Health & Mental 
Hygiene is appropriately honoring her on October 4 by announcing the 
establishment of the ``Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Health Equity Lecture 
Series'' at this year's annual Maryland Health Disparity Conference.
  Shirley has strong convictions and has often stated: ``In a country 
as rich and powerful as the United States of America, no person should 
be without a basic plan of health care.'' As a registered nurse and 
former faculty associate at the Johns Hopkins University School of 
Nursing, Shirley has seen firsthand how minorities are 
disproportionately harmed by certain diseases and the inequality in 
care across racial and ethnic lines. Her belief that health care is a 
basic human right, and not a privilege, has compelled her to serve in 
public office--a decision that has benefited all Marylanders and has 
helped improve health equality in our State.
  Shirley has had many successes as a legislator, but one of the most 
important has been her work in establishing the Maryland Office of 
Minority Health and Health Disparities in 2004. This office is charged 
with promoting health equity for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, 
Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other groups experiencing health 
disparities. Another key legislative accomplishment of Shirley's was 
her success in providing health care coverage to more than 100,000 
children in Maryland.
  Shirley is not a woman who idly witnesses society's inequities. Her 
compassion and empathy drive her to come up with solutions for the 
problems she sees. As a sponsor or cosponsor of hundreds of bills that 
have been signed into law, Shirley has been instrumental in improving 
the lives of Marylanders in countless ways. When Shirley discovered 
Maryland had the third highest oral cancer rate for African-American 
men in the Nation, she secured $500,000 to fight the disease. She also 
was lead sponsor of legislation providing $2.6 million annually for 
breast cancer treatment for low-income women living in Maryland.
  Shirley has been an indispensable partner and an inspiration in my 
efforts to address health disparities at the federal level. We worked 
together to codify the National Institute for Minority Health and 
Health Disparities, correcting a long-standing bias in our health care 
system that was ill-equipped to deal with disparities among different 
populations.
  I wish the University of Maryland's Center for Health Equity and the 
State Office of Minority Health great success in their stewardship of 
the ``Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Health Equity Lecture Series.'' There is 
still a great deal of work to be done in achieving Shirley's dream of 
erasing health disparities and making health care a right for every 
human being. But with her leadership and legacy to follow, I am 
confident her dream will one day become a reality.

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