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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and lead House sponsor of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, joined U.S. Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Max Baucus (D-MT), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM),Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Jon Tester (D-MT) at a rally to celebrate Senate passage of its version of the legislation.
"It is a pleasure to be here with my colleagues from the Senate and with many of my Native American friends from all around the nation to celebrate the Senate's passage yesterday of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. I would like to congratulate and commend Senators Dorgan, Baucus, Bingaman and Tester for their commitment to ensuring that the Senate acted.
"As the lead co-sponsor of this legislation in the House and the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, passage of this bill in my Committee and the House is one of my top priorities this year. It is my intention to not only have a bill reported out of the House, but to have a reauthorization bill signed into law by the president later this year.
"The House companion bill retains the basic framework of the IHCIA, including its provisions to target diseases for which Indian Country shows an astonishingly high rate---such as diabetes, tuberculosis, infant mortality and substance abuse.
"Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act is critically important to American Indians and Alaskan Natives, who still suffer disproportionately from poor health outcomes and a lack of access to adequate health care services. For far too many years, there has been a growing divide between the health care services afforded Native American communities and other segments of the population.
"I believe that reauthorizing this Act is our legal obligation under the Constitution and the treaties our government has entered into with the sovereign Indian nations to provide them with quality health care services. But it is also a moral obligation. For anyone who has not visited an American Indian reservation and assessed the health care facilities and services that exist in these communities, I think you would be stunned.
"In 1976, the Act was first enacted to produce a more organized and comprehensive approach to the delivery of health care services in Native American communities. Unfortunately, the latest reauthorization expired six years ago. We simply cannot allow another year to go by without reauthorizing this critically important health care law. With Senate passage, we are one step closer to reauthorizing this Act. I am determined to see that the House passes its own reauthorization bill in the coming months so that we can once again live up to our commitment to Indian Country."
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