[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 182 (Thursday, November 14, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SUPPORT LONG-TERM FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Gomez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOMEZ. Mr. Speaker, we are just days away from another funding 
cliff for our community health centers.
  This is unacceptable. Our Nation's community health centers need 
stable, long-term funding to serve the most vulnerable patients in our 
communities effectively.
  Community health centers are a bright spot in our Nation's healthcare 
system. Last year, they served 29 million patients across the country, 
including 693,000 who visited 74 different sites in my district alone. 
Community health centers like Clinica Romero in Boyle Heights provide 
care to immigrants, low-income individuals, communities of color, and 
the homeless.
  For many Americans, community health centers are the first and only 
place they turn when they need to see a medical professional. Making 
sure that these Americans receive the care they need is good for our 
healthcare system, for our economy, and for working families in all of 
our communities.
  We have long had bipartisan support on community health centers, but 
our failure to provide long-term funding hurts their ability to budget 
and plan. It creates uncertainty and has an impact on the patients they 
serve, including hundreds of thousands of my constituents.
  With them in mind, I urge my colleagues to join me to support stable, 
long-term funding for our Nation's community health centers.

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