Supporting Goals and Ideals of National Health Center Week

SUPPORTING GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL HEALTH CENTER WEEK -- (House of Representatives - July 25, 2005)

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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as one who began much of what I would call my public career working in community health centers, I worked at the Martin Luther King Community Health Center, and I worked at the Miles Square Community Health Center, I was around during the days when we decided to organize a National Association of Community Health Centers and ultimately had the pleasure of serving as its president.

And so, Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the proud sponsor of this resolution to establish a national community health center week.

I would like to thank the cochairs of the Community Health Care Center Caucus, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bonilla), and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano), for their constant voice to better community health centers.

I would also like to thank the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bradley) for joining the cochairs of the caucus as a main sponsor of this legislation.

As we continue to discuss health care, and as we continue hopefully to move towards enactment of a national health plan that covers everyone without regard to their ability to pay, we can take greet pride in some of our accomplishments in health care. One of the most important and effective accomplishments since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid has been the development of community health centers.

The community health center network is available throughout the Nation to help those in need, such as those who get displaced by job status or other economic conditions. Community health centers have become the safety net within the health care delivery system, serving more than 15 million people in over 3,600 communities.

They care for one out of every seven uninsured individuals, one out of every nine Medicaid beneficiaries, one out of every seven people of color, and one out of every nine rural Americans. In addition they reach out to over 621,000 homeless persons and more than 709,000 migrant and seasonal farm workers.

Community health centers are established in almost every corner of our Nation, representing every aspect of any congressional district, whether it is assisting the working poor in the inner city, or in the rural farmland, migrant workers or even those who have insurance but do not have access to any other health facilities.

One of the most amazing and important aspects of community health centers is the involvement of the community. Each center tailors its services to best meet the needs and priorities of the communities in which they reside. Citizens in these communities become active participants in their communities' health care decision-making.

Health centers even provide approximately 100,000 jobs to the residents in communities of these areas. These health centers provide high-quality, cost-effective health care as they continue to meet escalating health needs and assist in reducing health disparities.

With the weakened economy and soaring number of uninsured Americans, our Nation's health centers will continue to feel the brunt of increasing numbers of patients.

By establishing a week to raise awareness of community health centers, we will also be highlighting each year the great accomplishments these nonprofit community-owned and -operated health centers offer to many communities throughout the Nation.

With recent numbers indicating that the Nation's uninsured population is even higher than once thought, possibly as high as 60 million, if our Nation will not realize the need for universal health care, we need at least to realize the importance of funding our community health centers.

The United States spends nearly $100 billion per year to provide uninsured residents with health services, oftentimes for preventable diseases that physicians could treat more efficiently with early diagnosis.

Community health centers are one of the keys to such earlier diagnosis and crucial to lowering the overall cost of health care on the uninsured throughout the country.

Therefore, I am pleased with the significant increase in the fiscal year 2006 budget that our community health centers will receive so that they can continue to serve their patients and expand their services.

Mr. Speaker, community health centers are indeed the safety net which is committed to serving all individuals with the mission that everyone deserves quality health care services regardless of where they reside, whether or not they can pay, or whether or not they have insurance.

They are vital to ensuring that even the poor and disadvantaged in this country have the greatest opportunity to be healthy. These centers are indeed a hallmark of our Nation's health care delivery system.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that I can stand and be a part of promoting the awareness or their existence and the accomplishments which they have achieved.

I urge my colleagues to stand beside me in supporting this resolution, and I want to thank especially the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Davis) the ranking member; the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman); and the Speaker, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), for helping to make sure that this resolution got to the floor before August, because that is the time that we celebrate the initiation and institution of these centers throughout the country.

I also want to commend Tom Van Coverden, who is the president, and Mr. Hawkins, two individuals that I worked with when I used to work in the community health centers. They have both stayed all of that time. Tom is now the president and Dan Hawkins is the vice president. And I commend them for their longevity and great service.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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