[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 91 (Tuesday, May 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3425-S3426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Lankford, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. 
        Smith, and Mr. Moran):
  S. 1797. A bill to amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to 
expand the funding authority for renovating, constructing, and 
expanding certain facilities; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan 
``Urban Indian Health Providers Facilities Improvement Act.''
  This legislation honors our Federal trust responsibility by providing 
parity to Urban Indian Organizations that provide culturally competent 
health care to Native Americans living in urban areas.
  This legislation would remove the unjust and arbitrary restriction 
that prevents Urban Indian Organizations from using appropriated funds 
for construction and facilities upgrades.
  This restriction is particularly untenable in the midst of the COVID-
19 pandemic.
  Current law only permits the Indian Health Service to make 
construction or facilities funds available to Urban Indian 
Organizations to assist them in meeting or maintaining a now-obsolete 
accreditation standard.
  This limitation prevents Urban Indian Organizations from using 
appropriated funding for facilities, maintenance and improvement, 
sanitation, equipment, and other necessary construction upgrades, which 
limits their ability to provide the quality health care that Native 
Americans deserve.
  Urban Indian Organizations are the only tribal health organization 
burdened by this restriction. This legislation would provide parity to 
Urban Indian Organizations and improve the safety and quality of care 
for urban Indians.
  California is home to one of the largest populations of Native 
Americans, and Los Angeles and San Francisco have two of the largest 
urban Native American populations in the country. Almost 90% of Native 
Americans in California live in urban areas and therefore don't access 
health care through their tribe.
  Further, there are no Indian Health Service hospitals in California, 
so the California Urban Indian Organizations are a lifeline to Native 
Americans in my state. Removing this unjust burden on Urban Indian 
Organizations would allow them to improve the quality of the culturally 
competent care that they provide.
  I thank Senator Lankford for co-leading this bill with me, and 
Congressmen Gallego and Bacon for introducing this legislation in the 
House of Representatives.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the bipartisan 
``Urban Indian Health Providers Facilities Improvement Act'' as quickly 
as possible.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. KAINE (for himself and Ms. Murkowski):
  S. 1804. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve 
maternal health and promote safe motherhood; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. president. There are significant racial and ethnic 
inequities in maternal and infant mortality rates in the U.S. American 
Indian/Alaska Native women are more than twice as likely as nonHispanic 
white women to die as a result of pregnancy or its complications, and 
the infant mortality rate among babies born to American Indian/Alaska 
Native women is 2.1 times higher than that of non-Hispanic white women. 
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women in 2018 is more 
than 2.5 times higher than the maternal mortality rate of non-Hispanic 
white women, and the infant mortality rate of non-Hispanic Black women 
is more than 2.3 times higher than the infant mortality rate of non-
Hispanic white women. Any pregnant woman choosing to have a child 
should be able to do so safely without regard to income, race, 
ethnicity, employment status, or any other socio-economic factor.
  This is why Senator Murkowski and I are reintroducing the Mothers and 
Newborns Success Act, which aims to reduce maternal and infant 
mortality, ensure that all infants can grow up healthy and safe, and 
protect women's health before, during, and after pregnancy. Our 
legislation supports innovation in maternal health delivery and 
improves data collection on maternal mortality and maternal deaths, 
including implementing quality assurance processes to improve the 
validity of pregnancy checkbox data from death certificates so that we 
can better understand the causes of maternal deaths. The bill will help 
ensure that women are matched with birthing facilities that are risk-
appropriate for their particular needs to improve maternal and neonatal 
care and health outcomes. The legislation strengthens support for women 
during the critical postpartum period, the year after birth.
  The bill also establishes a public and provider awareness campaign 
through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote 
awareness of maternal health warnings signs and the importance of 
vaccinations for pregnant women and children, ensuring pregnant women 
get the vaccinations they need. The bill promotes maternal health 
research, providing technical assistance to states to ensure 
representation of communities of color in key datasets. The bill 
establishes a National Maternal Health Research Network at the National 
Institute of Health to support innovative research to reduce maternal 
mortality and promote maternal health. The bill supports the Rural 
Maternity and Obstetric Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program at the 
Health Resources and Services Administration to improve access to, and 
continuity of, obstetrics care in rural communities, including thorough 
use of telehealth.
  No woman should fear for her or her child's health because of socio-
economic factors, such as race or geographic location. We need to 
ensure more women of color and their children, particularly Black women 
and children given the significant disparities they experience, receive 
equitable care and a fair chance for a healthy pregnancy and safe 
delivery. COVID-19 and its impact on pregnant women has only 
underscored the need for urgent action. The Mothers and Newborns 
Success Act is a significant step toward reducing racial, ethnic, and 
geographic inequities in maternal and infant health. I'm calling on my 
Senate colleagues to cosponsor this bill and support its passage so we 
can enact positive systemic changes to make sure more women and 
newborns thrive and have the maximum chance for success.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. Duckworth):
  S. 1812. A bill to modify the boundary of the Lincoln Home National 
Historic Site in the State of Illinois; to the

[[Page S3426]]

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1812

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Lincoln Home National 
     Historic Site Boundary Modification Act''.

     SEC. 2. LINCOLN HOME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE BOUNDARY 
                   MODIFICATION.

       Public Law 92-127 (54 U.S.C. 320101 note; 85 Stat. 347) is 
     amended--
       (1) in the first section--
       (A) by striking ``That, in order to'' and inserting the 
     following:

     ``SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF LINCOLN HOME NATIONAL HISTORIC 
                   SITE.

       ``(a) In General.--To''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) Boundary Modification.--The boundary of the Lincoln 
     Home National Historic Site established under subsection (a) 
     is modified as generally depicted on the map entitled 
     `Proposed Boundary Expansion of the Lincoln Home National 
     Historic Site' and dated February 26, 2021.'';
       (2) in section 2--
       (A) by striking the section designation and all that 
     follows through ``The'' and inserting the following:

     ``SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATION.

       ``(a) In General.--The''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) Accessibility.--To improve accessibility, the 
     Secretary of the Interior shall modify the following areas 
     located within the boundary of the Lincoln Home National 
     Historic Site to provide universal design and accessibility 
     by raising the height of the street to match the height of 
     the sidewalk with no sloped surfaces:
       ``(1) The intersection at 8th Street and Jackson Street.
       ``(2) The area in front of the home of Abraham Lincoln.''; 
     and
       (3) in section 3, by striking the section designation and 
     all that follows through ``There are'' and inserting the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       ``There are''.

                          ____________________