Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations

Floor Speech

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Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, as a nurse and cofounder of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, I am fully committed to advancing policies that reduce maternal health disparities.

Black women are nearly four times more likely than White women and more than twice as likely as women of other races to die from preventable pregnancy-related complications.

This is a national crisis.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro and Ranking Member Tom Cole for their dedication to addressing maternal health in the fiscal year 2020 Labor- HHS appropriations bill, including through the following investments: $1.58 billion for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which supports research that investigates the causes and interventions for maternal health disparities among Black women; $50 million to initiate research on maternal mortality and disparities in maternal mortality rates; and a $12 million increase in funding for the CDC Safe Motherhood and Infant Health program's Maternal Mortality Review Committees, supporting research to comprehensively assess maternal deaths and identify opportunities for prevention.

This funding is an important step forward toward achieving optimal birth outcomes for all families.

Madam Speaker, I thank the Appropriations Committee, and hope my colleagues will continue to support funding for programs that will improve the outcomes for women and families.

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