[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 102 (Thursday, June 15, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3537-S3538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Minority Health
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, April was National Minority Health Month.
I point that out because I have worked with many of my colleagues in
order to advance minority health.
We have done some very important things in recent years that I am
very proud of, and many of those are included in the Affordable Care
Act. I know that Senator Carper and Senator Blumenthal will be on the
floor; Senator Carper is here now. They have been instrumental in
advancing quality healthcare for all Americans, but we do recognize
that we have a special role in regard to historic discrimination on
minority health. I was pleased that the Affordable Care Act included
the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities so
that we could have a focal point at NIH to deal with the historic
problems and have a game plan to advance that.
I was also pleased that the Affordable Care Act provided coverage for
minorities in greater numbers because when we looked at the number of
uninsured, the number of minorities were a much higher percentage than
the general population of uninsured. When we looked at inadequate
coverage, we saw the same numbers. So we have made advancements.
In April, historically, I had filed a resolution in order to
acknowledge the progress we made and to continue our commitment to make
sure that all Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare
and that we do not discriminate. That resolution had always cleared
without any difficulty until 2017. For reasons I cannot explain, there
were Republican objections, and we were not able to adopt the
resolution commemorating minority health month.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of that
resolution be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Promoting minority health awareness and supporting the
goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April
2017, which include bringing attention to the health
disparities faced by minority populations of the United
States such as American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Asian
Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native
Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.
Whereas the origin of National Minority Health Month is
National Negro Health Week, established in 1915 by Dr. Booker
T. Washington;
Whereas the theme for National Minority Health Month in
2017 is ``Bridging Health Equity Across Communities'';
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 the 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, in 2012, African American women were as likely to
have been diagnosed with breast cancer as non-Latina White
women, but African American women were almost 40 percent more
likely to die from breast cancer than non-Latina White women;
Whereas African American women are twice as likely to lose
their lives to cervical cancer as non-Latina White women;
Whereas African American men are 60 percent more likely to
die from a stroke than non-Latino White men;
Whereas Latinos are 1.7 times more likely to be diagnosed
with diabetes by a physician, and are 40 percent more likely
to die of diabetes, than non-Latino Whites;
Whereas Latino men are 3 times more likely to have HIV
infections or AIDS than non-Latino White men;
Whereas Latina women are 4 times more likely to have AIDS
than non-Latina White women;
Whereas, in 2014, although African Americans represented
only 13 percent of the population of the United States,
African Americans accounted for 43 percent of HIV infections;
Whereas, in 2010, African American youth accounted for an
estimated 57 percent, and
[[Page S3538]]
Latino youth accounted for an estimated 20 percent, of all
new HIV infections among youth in the United States;
Whereas, between 2005 and 2014, the number of Asian
Americans diagnosed with HIV increased by nearly 70 percent;
Whereas, in 2014, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
were 1.7 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than non-
Latino whites;
Whereas Native Hawaiians living in the State of Hawaii are
5.7 times more likely to die of diabetes than non-Latino
Whites living in Hawaii;
Whereas Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are 30
percent more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than non-
Latino whites;
Whereas, although the prevalence of obesity is high among
all population groups in the United States, 42 percent of
American Indian and Alaskan Natives, 41 percent of Native
Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, 40 percent of African
Americans, 31 percent of Latinos, 24 percent of non-Latino
whites, and 11 percent of Asian Americans are obese;
Whereas, in 2013, Asian Americans were 1.2 times more
likely than non-Latino Whites to contract Hepatitis A;
Whereas, among all ethnic groups in 2013, Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders had the highest incidence of Hepatitis
A;
Whereas Asian American women are 1.3 times more likely than
non-Latina Whites to die from viral hepatitis;
Whereas Asian Americans are 3 times more likely than non-
Latino Whites to develop chronic Hepatitis B;
Whereas of the children living with diagnosed perinatal HIV
in 2014, 65 percent were African American, 15 percent were
Latino Americans, and 11 percent were non-Latino whites;
Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services has
identified heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes as
some of the leading causes of death among American Indians
and Alaskan Natives;
Whereas American Indians and Alaskan Natives die from
diabetes, alcoholism, unintentional injuries, homicide, and
suicide at higher rates than other people in the United
States;
Whereas American Indians and Alaskan Natives have a life
expectancy that is 4.4 years shorter than the life expectancy
of the overall population of the United States;
Whereas African American babies are 3.5 times more likely
than non-Latino White babies to die due to complications
related to low birth weight;
Whereas American Indian and Alaskan Native babies are twice
as likely as non-Latino White babies to die from sudden
infant death syndrome;
Whereas American Indian and Alaskan Natives have 1.5 times
the infant mortality rate as that of non-Latino whites;
Whereas American Indian and Alaskan Native babies are 70
percent more likely to die from accidental deaths before
their first birthday than non-Latino White babies;
Whereas only 5 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific
Islanders, 6 percent of Asian Americans, 8 percent of
Latinos, 9 percent of African Americans, and 14 percent of
American Indians and Alaska Natives received mental health
treatment or counseling in the past year, compared to 18
percent of non-Latino whites;
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;
Whereas the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(Public Law 111-148; 124 Stat. 119)--
(1) has reduced the uninsured rate for minority communities
by at least 35 percent;
(2) has helped further combat health disparities for low-
income individuals through coverage expansions in the
Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and the individual health insurance
marketplaces; and
(3) provides specific protections and rights for American
Indians and Alaskan Natives, 21.4 percent of whom lack health
insurance;
Whereas, despite the substantial improvements in health
insurance coverage among women overall, women of color are
more likely to be uninsured;
Whereas, in 2012, 36 percent of Latina women, 29 percent of
American Indian women, 23 percent of African American women,
19 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander women, and 14
percent of non-Latina White women were uninsured;
Whereas community-based health care initiatives, such as
prevention-focused programs, present a unique opportunity to
use innovative approaches to improve health practices across
the United States and to 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 2017, which include
bringing attention to the severe health disparities faced by
minority populations in the United States, such as American
Indians, Alaskan Natives, Asian Americans, African Americans,
Latino Americans, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific
Islanders.
Mr. CARDIN. I thank Senators Menendez, Blumenthal, Brown, Hirono,
Markey, Klobuchar, Van Hollen, Booker, Peters, Duckworth, and Carper
for their help in regard to minority health and the resolution.