Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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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. ______

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.

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