[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17339]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         NATIVE AMERICAN HEALTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about the health 
care crisis that continues to affect Native Americans in this country. 
For far too long, Native Americans have suffered from a lack of access 
to quality health services, resulting in increasing amounts of Native 
Americans that suffer from a wide range of diseases and illnesses.
  Mr. Speaker, language from a report commissioned by the Federal 
Government in 1928, 75 years ago, to study the health status of Native 
Americans is just as true today as it was then. And the language 
states, ``The health of the Indians as compared with that of the 
general population is bad. The existing evidence warrants the statement 
that both the general death rates and the infant mortality rates are 
high. The prevailing living conditions among the great majority of the 
Indians are conducive to the development and spread of disease. With 
comparatively few exceptions, the diet of the Indians is bad. The 
housing conditions are likewise conducive to bad health. The inadequacy 
of appropriations has prevented the development of an adequate system 
of public health administration and medical relief work for the 
Indians.''
  Mr. Speaker, this excerpt is from a report commissioned by the 
Federal Government in 1928, over 75 years ago; but to my disbelief and 
to the disbelief of millions of Native Americans, not much has changed. 
Indeed, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights just came out with a draft 
report studying the current status of the Native American health care 
system that cites similar trends from a 1928 report. The main reason 
why there has been such limited success in improving the health status 
of Native Americans is that the Federal Government has failed miserably 
to live up to its trust obligation to provide quality health services 
to American Indians.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States Government has a moral and legal 
obligation to provide for the health of Native Americans. This Federal 
obligation is the result of Native Americans ceding over 400 million 
acres of tribal land to the United States. In return, the Federal 
Government entered into a number of agreements that promised to provide 
health care services among many other benefits to Native Americans.
  The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report notes that specifically 
Native Americans are 770 percent more likely to die from alcoholism, 
650 percent more likely to die from tuberculosis, 427 percent more 
likely to die from diabetes, 280 percent more likely to die from 
accidents, and 52 percent more likely to die from pneumonia or 
influenza than the rest of the United States, including white and other 
minority populations. These statistics are appalling, and I think they 
are just plain heart breaking.
  There are many reasons why this health status of Native Americans 
continues to be poor, such as social and cultural and structural 
barriers, but the number one reason why American Indians and Alaska 
natives suffer disproportionately from a poor health status is because 
the United States Government refuses to invest the funding needed to 
improve the health status for Native Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government is willing to expend nearly twice 
the amount of Federal dollars to fund health care services for Federal 
criminals than it spends on health care services for Native Americans. 
How does that seem fair?
  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Government can and must do better by American 
Indians and Alaska natives. The first step towards achieving that goal 
is reauthorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. This 
legislation is designed to provide parity between Native American 
health care and the rest of America. The bill enjoys the support of 
Indian country and bipartisan support in the House and Senate. Yet it 
languishes in this Congress, awaiting the administration to submit its 
views.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to press 
upon the Bush administration to send its statement of administration 
policy to the Congress so we can pass this important piece of 
legislation. The longer we take, the longer Native Americans will 
continue to suffer.

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