[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 85 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3749-S3750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            NIH IMPROVE Act

  Ms. BUTLER. Mr. President, today, I rise on the heels of Mother's Day 
to bring attention to the healthcare crisis facing America's mothers--
most particularly Black mothers and the Black maternal health crisis.
  I begin by acknowledging the invaluable contribution mothers make 
each day, kissing scraped knees and chasing monsters out of the closet. 
Mothers are indeed our Nation's true superheroes.
  All across the country, mothers are the driving force for our 
economy. According to the Center for American Progress, mothers are to 
thank for most of the economic gains enjoyed by middle-class families 
over the past 50 years. Their data covering 1970 to 2013 show that 
women's increased labor force participation and increased earnings grew 
the U.S. economy by 13.5 percent, which translates to an additional $2 
trillion in economic activity.
  According to the Department of Labor, 40.5 percent of working mothers 
are equal, primary, or sole income earners for their family--a fact 
that is especially true for Black mothers. In the United States, Black 
mothers are a critical part of our labor force, and 80 percent of them 
are the breadwinners for their families.
  But these same mothers face a healthcare system that is failing them. 
The United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the 
world amongst high-income nations. Thousands of women in America have 
lost their lives due to pregnancy-related causes in recent years and 
over the past decade. While the birthrate in this country has declined 
by roughly 20 percent, maternal mortality rates have steadily risen.
  This crisis is exacerbated in communities grappling with a lack of 
access to essential maternal healthcare. According to a report produced 
by the March of Dimes, one-third of the counties in the United States 
are considered maternity care deserts, meaning there are no hospitals 
providing obstetric care, no birth centers, and no obstetric providers. 
Imagine your loved one preparing to give birth and bring new life into 
your family having no choice but to drive hours away from home to seek 
care.
  We know from the data that this crisis has not been felt equally. 
Among Black and Native indigenous communities, maternal mortality rates 
are two to four times higher compared to those of White communities.
  The good news is that champions in this Chamber have spent years 
laying the groundwork in our path toward rectifying this crisis. In 
2018, then-Senator, now-Vice President Kamala Harris introduced the 
initial Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. The

[[Page S3750]]

Momnibus, now led by the very own Senator Booker from New Jersey, is a 
comprehensive legislative package that would make historic investments 
to address every dimension of the Black maternal health crisis. I am 
proud to serve as a cosponsor of this much needed legislation.
  The good news is that, since leaving this Chamber, Vice President 
Harris has remained consistent and insistent in carrying these efforts 
forward into the Biden-Harris administration, spearheading the 
administration's blueprint to address the maternal health crisis. The 
blueprint has led to key actions involving innovative models to improve 
maternal healthcare for low-income women and a national strategy to 
address maternal mental health and substance use disorders. This 
blueprint, paired with the passage of thoughtful legislative proposals 
such as the Black Maternal Health Momnibus, is exactly what we need to 
combat this devastating crisis.
  As a Member of this Chamber, it is a privilege to truly be able to 
contribute to those legislative solutions and be a part of this fight. 
That is why I introduced the NIH IMPROVE Act, alongside Senator Katie 
Britt and Representatives Underwood and  in the House, to help address 
some of these disparities.
  The NIH IMPROVE Act authorizes the funding necessary to sustain the 
critical activities of the National Institutes of Health's IMPROVE 
Initiative, which supports research on how to reduce preventable causes 
of maternal death and improve health for women before, during, and 
after pregnancy. The initiative aims to address the foremost causes of 
maternal mortality in the United States as well as significant 
pregnancy-associated and pregnancy-related health complications such as 
diabetes, obesity, mental health, and substance use disorders.
  This bill would provide the steady funding necessary, at least for 
the next 7 years, to ensure that NIH can continue to pursue this 
research into the root causes of our maternal mortality crisis. The 
bill will also help to build an evidence base to further improve 
maternal healthcare in underserved areas and target health disparities 
associated with maternal mortality and morbidity.
  Just one example of how the IMPROVE Initiative is already supporting 
critical maternal health research is the story of a young researcher 
named Denys Symonette Mitchell, a doctor of public health student at 
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. 
Through the support of the IMPROVE Initiative, Denys and her colleagues 
are actively conducting pregnancy-related research to examine and 
eliminate maternal health disparities and ultimately reshape 
communities in need. Specifically, their research examines strategies 
to support healthy eating and increased physical activity among low-
income postpartum women with a history of diabetes during pregnancy--
one of the many conditions associated with maternal mortality and 
morbidity.

  Denys has said that NIH-funded studies such as this have transformed 
her educational experience and catapulted her professional aims as a 
training research scientist.
  In addition to serving as a doctoral research assistant, Denys is 
also a Black mother. Denys is a manifestation, a real-life example that 
Black women, Black mothers, and all mothers are so much more than just 
a statistic; they are vigorously working toward solutions that we need 
to improve maternal health outcomes in this country.
  The urgent research efforts called for and outlined in the NIH 
IMPROVE Act and Initiative will not only help to address our Nation's 
maternal health crisis; they will also help to support the next 
generation of Black mothers, scientists, and leaders such as Denys. The 
lifesaving research supported through the NIH IMPROVE Act will bolster 
solutions that are designed to combat the crisis that all women are 
facing.
  Mr. President, I will close with this: In the majority opinion of the 
Dobbs decision that essentially ripped away the reproductive freedom of 
women that they had fought for for nearly 50 years, Justice Alito 
wrote:

       Women are not without electoral or political power.

  While I disagree with most of what Justice Alito wrote in this 
opinion, on this point, with him I do agree. The political and 
electoral power of women in this country demands the healthcare that we 
need, demands the healthcare that we deserve. Advancing the NIH IMPROVE 
Act will serve as a key step toward accomplishing that.
  While I serve in this Chamber, I will continue to push and to push us 
to deliver the investments required to address this crisis head-on. I 
am committed to seeing this through for my daughter if she decides to 
become a mother, for every woman who chooses to be a mother, and for 
the future of the Nation they will shape.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The deputy whip from Hawaii.