[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 86 (Friday, May 17, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3345-H3346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                    DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. De La CRUZ). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 9, 2023, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. 
Beatty) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority 
leader.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm regarding 
attempts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion, referred to as 
``DEI,'' initiatives in medical education.
  Any anti-DEI efforts endanger our Nation's healthcare and threaten 
our global leadership in medical science.
  Many in this Chamber owe their health and lives to the groundbreaking 
work of physicians of color, specifically today, Black physicians. Many 
of our loved ones are living healthier and longer lives thanks to Black 
physicians and medical pioneers.
  Madam Speaker, let me just ask this Chamber and those watching to 
listen and then you be the judge when I say to you: Let's start with 
Dr. Kizzy Corbett, who led in the development of the Moderna COVID 
vaccine.
  Now, Madam Speaker, many in this very Chamber, Republicans, 
Democrats, and those in leadership, received the vaccine, and we can 
thank her for her pioneering leadership, for not contracting COVID or 
being hospitalized or dying from severe COVID symptoms.
  What are we afraid of for physicians of color to be in medical 
schools that receive Federal funding and that the school is sensitive 
to cultural needs, to DE and I?
  One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast 
cancer during her lifetime. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, if 
you or a loved one have benefited from early breast cancer detection, 
it is thanks to Dr. Myra Logan, a Black woman. She developed early 
methods for breast cancer detection and treatment, along with new 
antibiotics.
  Others have benefited from advancements in chemotherapy because of 
Dr. Jane Wright who pioneered this vital cancer treatment in 1949 when 
it was still experimental.
  Madam Speaker, there are people in this Chamber who have gone through 
chemotherapy. There are Members of this Chamber, Democrats and 
Republicans, who have benefited from the pioneering efforts of Black 
physicians.
  Now, we want to say that we will remove Federal funding if a medical 
school wants to have programs for the underserved, for those who are 
representing the great diversity in this America in which we live?

  Simply put, doctors of color, and Black medical doctors in 
particular, have shaped medical science, saving countless lives 
globally. Despite their essential medical contributions, systemic 
barriers cause their underrepresentation in the ranks of medical 
doctors.
  As a result, DEI programs and practices are key to their increased 
participation in our Nation's healthcare system.
  Listen to this, Madam Speaker, 60 percent of physicians in the United 
States are White, compared to just 5.7 percent of Black physicians, and 
that is with the support of DE and I programs and practices.
  The question today is: What are Republicans afraid of? DEI offices in 
medical schools promote racial diversity and cultural competencies 
among physicians. Both improve healthcare for all Americans--all 
Americans, especially underserved communities of color.
  DE and I practices and training help correct biases about racial 
differences that adversely impact medical judgments, treatment 
decisions, and patient interactions, regardless of socioeconomic 
status.
  We, therefore, need to be doing more. Let me say this again. We, 
therefore, need to be doing more and not less to ensure that our 
Nation's healthcare workforce is diverse and culturally competent.
  Why am I doing this today? Why do I take this hour to come to this 
floor in this Chamber where we will make decisions that affect the 
lives of all Americans? We celebrate our rich history, the 70th 
anniversary of Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka, which is 
all about the education of our children. You would think in 70 years 
that we would have moved away from the systemic racism, that we would 
have moved away from not wanting us to be culturally sensitive to help 
us serve all Americans.
  I am here today because some of my Republican colleagues supporting 
this bill, the so-called education act, which would cut off Federal 
funding to medical schools pursuing DE and I initiatives.
  Let me say this again. I know it is hard to believe for those who are 
watching me in this Chamber, this Chamber where we are elected to 
represent all people--we know there is not a competitive edge. You have 
already heard the facts that only 5.7 percent of the physicians are 
Black Americans. This so-called education act, again, would cut off 
Federal funding to medical schools pursuing DE and I initiatives.
  This harmful legislation and similar DE and I threats prioritize 
intolerance over innovation and stifle cultural competencies in the 
medical profession.
  What if I suggested and wrote legislation that would say we will 
withdraw Federal funding from medical schools that fail to implement 
culturally sensitive and DE and I policies and practices?
  What if?
  Madam Speaker, oh, let's take it a step forward this morning. What if 
I were to say that legacy programs at medical schools should be 
abolished and that relatives and donors who simply write a check to 
have their name listed on the wing of a medical school, that their 
children could not go there, that they would not be able to have a 
legacy program where simply because of writing a check you could be 
admitted to a medical school? Should they receive or should they not 
receive preferential treatment in medical admissions?
  We know that this happens.
  Over 60 percent of the United States' doctors are White while White 
people comprise just over 50 percent of the population. You do the 
math. Who is overrepresented here? Look at the legacy admission 
policies and other forms of systemic racism, and you tell me who has an 
unfair advantage.
  We should support and not stop initiatives that help diversity or 
help to diversify our physician pipeline, such as a program called Made 
for Medicine and Adtalem.
  Made for Medicine supports Black middle and high school students 
interested in medicine with training and mentoring to best position 
them for success.
  This program, Made for Medicine, is such an incredible program. Madam 
Speaker, it gives me great honor today because the founder of that 
program, a young, brilliant physician, who just happens to be a Black 
American, just happens to be someone that I have watched grow up. I 
have watched the dedication of Dr. Laura Espy-Bell who decided for all 
communities that it would be good to be able to have a program that 
educated our children, so they could see faces like them. The research 
shows when we go into a hospital when you are Black how great it is to 
see someone that looks like you, whether you are Hispanic to see 
someone like you or Asian American, and the list could go on, to be 
able to have that appreciation.

                              {time}  1130

  The list could go on to be able to have that appreciation. You see, 
Mr. Speaker, not only is Dr. Laura Espy-Bell the founder of Made for 
Medicine, she could have just talked about herself, but she brought 
other doctors along with her. Some are photographed here. I have 
another photograph that we will get on the floor soon of Black male 
doctors.
  You see, Madam Speaker, as shown in this photograph, you have a young 
physician. I call him Dr. B.J., Dr. B.J. Hicks. He is a cardiovascular 
neurologist. He did his internship and his residency at the Henry Ford 
Hospital. Not only is he a brilliant, brilliant neurologist, but he 
gives back through the national American Heart Association. He is 
revered in his field, one of the top in the Nation.
  Guess what, Madam Speaker? He doesn't just serve Black Americans. He 
serves White and Brown Americans, like all of these physicians. This 
brilliant doctor, B.J. Hicks, comes from a line, a family line, of 
physicians. His father, a dear friend and constituent in

[[Page H3346]]

my Third Congressional District, the world would put his reputation as 
an oncologist among the best of White physicians and Black physicians.
  Now, just think, Madam Speaker, for the young doctor, William Hicks 
and B.J. Hicks, coming up that we are denying that right for someone 
like Spencer, my grandson, or Leah, my granddaughter, who may want to 
follow in their footsteps if they went to a medical school that had 
Federal funding and said: We want to have DE and I programs.
  B.J. Hicks' sister and dear friend is a doctor of dermatology. When 
you walk into her downtown medical practice, Dr. Shari Hicks-Graham's 
office is as diverse looking as if we looked to the left and right of 
this Chamber.
  Again, we would not have brilliant doctors like the Hickses if this 
legislation goes forward. I could go on and on.
  Madam Speaker, I could tell you about Dr. Joshua Joseph who did his 
internship and residency at Yale School of Medicine. I could tell you 
that he is an endocrinologist and his wife is a neurologist. They are 
two young Black physicians who are saving Black, Brown, and White 
lives.
  Nevertheless, here we are today in this Chamber dealing with a piece 
of legislation that says that medical schools shouldn't be culturally 
sensitive and that medical schools should not have DE and I programs, 
yet our country is built on a history, thank goodness, of pioneers in 
medicine who have saved Black, Brown, and White lives, Democrat and 
Republican, and a Republican would bring to this House floor a bill 
that should not see the light of day.
  Let me just say that these physicians and thousands more were trained 
at institutions, thank goodness, that understood teaching and 
practicing cultural sensitivity and having DE and I initiatives.
  Adtalem is the leading healthcare educator that partners with 
organizations to address their future workforce needs. Eighty percent 
of their medical graduates serve low-income communities, and 44 percent 
are in medically underserved areas. When you look at these two 
programs, Madam Speaker, they are just a few examples of how DE and I 
initiatives can enrich our Nation's physician pipeline.
  Earlier this month, I proudly filed a resolution with my colleague, 
Congresswoman Kathy Castor, that stands in stark contrast, Madam 
Speaker, to the so-called EDUCATE Act. Rather than cutting Federal 
funding to medical schools, pursuing DE and I initiatives is outlined 
in the EDUCATE Act, our resolution reaffirms the importance of DE and I 
efforts in medical education.
  Our resolution is supported with over 25 medical and medical 
education organizations, including the Association of American Medical 
Colleges, the American College of Physicians, and the American 
Federation of Teachers. Make no mistake, the EDUCATE Act is yet another 
misguided Republican effort to diminish the quality of healthcare of 
all Americans, especially communities of color.
  Whether it is proposing a voucher-like system for Medicare, reducing 
the Affordable Care Act protections for individuals with preexisting 
conditions, or attempting to substitute the ACA coverage for Medicaid 
recipients, Republicans continue to attack equitable, quality 
healthcare access.
  Meanwhile, my side of the aisle continues to work for accessibility 
and affordable healthcare by lowering the cost of prescription drugs. I 
could tell you, Madam Speaker, how many people are diabetic and went to 
get their insulin and could not afford it. Madam Speaker, that is just 
not Black Americans, that is Black, Brown, and White. Someone in the 
gallery today is diabetic, and when we were able for our seniors to 
lower that cost to $35 a month, we did not care whether they were 
Democrat, Republican, Black, Brown, or White. It was about putting 
people over politics. It was about serving the wonderful America that I 
have the opportunity to serve.
  If it seems like I am passionate today, I am. I lost my late husband 
just a few years ago unexpectedly, but I am thankful that there were 
doctors there in his time of need, Black and White physicians. Yes, 
they went to medical schools that had Federal funding. Yes, they 
understood our life and our culture because they were sensitive to 
cultural and diversity issues.
  All I am asking today of my colleagues is to just look at what is 
right for our children and for our families. Today, we had 300-some 
students in the eighth grade here in this Chamber. A week ago, I had 
200-some eighth graders in this Chamber touring this wonderful 
institution.
  Madam Speaker, do you know how proud I was to be able to tell them 
about the rich culture and the rich history? How proud I was to be able 
to tell them how I am fighting for civility, how I am fighting for us 
to work together, and how the days of Rosa Parks not sitting in that 
seventh row in the seat for colored women and colored men without being 
arrested are over?
  We should be far beyond 1955, far beyond 70 years ago when we 
couldn't attend the same schools because of segregation. Here in this 
House is no place for us to deny Black physicians who serve Black, 
White, and Brown constituents the opportunity to matriculate in a 
medical school because that medical school, thank goodness, believed in 
serving all people and believed in training brilliant minds, like these 
physicians, to go out in the world and not, not understand the value of 
taking care medically and socially people of all colors, of all 
ethnicities, and of all races?

  Today, in this Chamber we have Members who want to take away the 
rights of medical schools to be able to teach cultural sensitivity and 
to have DE and I programs.
  I am so grateful to have had this opportunity and this hour to share 
my views, to share my passions, and, Madam Speaker, to ask this Chamber 
to not allow that bill to see the light of day.
  Madam Speaker, for the people and putting people over politics, I 
yield back.

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