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John Lewis NIMHD Research Endowment Revitalization Act of 2021

Floor Speech

Date: April 14, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Health and Health Care

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Mr. PALLONE. 189.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 189, the John Lewis National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Endowment Revitalization Act of 2021. This legislation would resume grants to minority academic institutions that fell out of eligibility for funding through the NIMHD Research Endowment Program.

By allowing those schools to resume eligibility, we will once again help these institutions conduct critical research into minority health disparities.

COVID-19, Mr. Speaker, has further exacerbated many of the inequities that minority communities experience when interacting with the healthcare system, inequities that we know existed long before the pandemic. In order to address the inequities in our healthcare system and in our society, we must confront them head-on and work together to eliminate them.

By supporting NIMHD and the academic institutions funded through it, we are helping to advance minority health disparity research and strengthen the diversity of the scientific workforce by recruiting and retaining individuals underrepresented in these fields.

This bill is a step toward progress and an equitable public health system. This bill is named after our former colleague, the late and great Congressman John Lewis from Georgia, who introduced this legislation last Congress. He was a dear friend and a longtime champion of eliminating disparities across the board, and he is certainly missed.

I want to thank my colleagues, the two sponsors, Representatives Barragan and Carter, for leading the effort on this legislation this year. This is truly bipartisan.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. PALLONE. Barragan), a member of our committee and the lead sponsor of the bill.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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