[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 29, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S2475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    SENATE RESOLUTION 428--PROMOTING MINORITY HEALTH AWARENESS AND 
 SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL MINORITY HEALTH MONTH IN 
APRIL 2014, WHICH INCLUDE BRINGING ATTENTION TO THE HEALTH DISPARITIES 
 FACED BY MINORITY POPULATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, SUCH AS AMERICAN 
 INDIANS, ALASKA NATIVES, ASIAN AMERICANS, AFRICAN AMERICANS, HISPANIC 
       AMERICANS, AND NATIVE HAWAIIANS OR OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDERS

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Schatz, and Mr. Menendez) submitted the 
following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 428

       Whereas through the ``National Stakeholder Strategy for 
     Achieving Health Equity'' and the ``HHS Action Plan to Reduce 
     Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities'', the Department of 
     Health and Human Services has set goals and strategies to 
     advance the safety, health, and well-being of people of the 
     United States;
       Whereas a study by the Joint Center for Political and 
     Economic Studies, entitled ``The Economic Burden of Health 
     Inequalities in the United States'', concludes that, between 
     2003 and 2006, the combined cost of ``health inequalities and 
     premature death in the United States'' was 
     $1,240,000,000,000;
       Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services has 
     identified 6 main categories in which racial and ethnic 
     minorities experience the most disparate access to health 
     care and health outcomes, including infant mortality, cancer 
     screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, 
     HIV/AIDS, and immunizations;
       Whereas African-American women are more than twice as 
     likely to die of cervical cancer than White women and are 
     more likely to die of breast cancer than women of any other 
     racial or ethnic group;
       Whereas the death rate from stroke is 50 percent higher 
     among African Americans than among Whites;
       Whereas Native Hawaiians living in Hawaii are 5.7 times 
     more likely to die of diabetes than non-Hispanic Whites 
     living in Hawaii;
       Whereas in 2011, Asian Americans were 2.9 times more likely 
     than Whites to contract Hepatitis A;
       Whereas among all ethnic groups in 2011, Asian Americans 
     and Pacific Islanders had the highest incidence of Hepatitis 
     A;
       Whereas Asian-American women are 1.5 times more likely than 
     non-Hispanic Whites to die from viral hepatitis;
       Whereas Asian Americans are 5.5 times more likely than 
     Whites to develop chronic Hepatitis B;
       Whereas in 2011, 82 percent of children born infected with 
     HIV belonged to minority groups;
       Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services has 
     identified diseases of the heart, malignant neoplasm, 
     unintentional injuries, and diabetes as some of the leading 
     causes of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives;
       Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives die from 
     diabetes, alcoholism, unintentional injuries, homicide, and 
     suicide at higher rates than other people in the United 
     States;
       Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives have a life 
     expectancy that is 4.2 years shorter than the life expectancy 
     of the overall population of the United States;
       Whereas marked differences in the social determinants of 
     health, described by the World Health Organization as ``the 
     high burden of illness responsible for appalling premature 
     loss of life [that] arises in large part because of the 
     conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and 
     age'', lead to poor health outcomes and declines in 
     longevity; and
       Whereas community-based health care initiatives, such as 
     prevention-focused programs, present a unique opportunity to 
     use innovative approaches to improve health care practices 
     across the United States and sharply reduce disparities among 
     racial and ethnic minority populations: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate supports the goals and ideals of 
     National Minority Health Month in April 2014, which include 
     bringing attention to the severe health disparities faced by 
     minority populations in the United States, such as American 
     Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, African Americans, 
     Hispanic Americans, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific 
     Islanders.

                          ____________________