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Nih Implementing A Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act

Floor Speech

Date: July 20, 2026
Location: Washington, DC

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Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the NIH IMPROVE Act.

This bipartisan bill, co-led by Congressman Fitzpatrick, will provide consistent funding for research on maternal mortality.

The United States has the highest pregnancy-related death rate of any high-income country, and Black women are dying at the highest rate of all.

The crisis is only getting worse. Over the past two decades, maternal mortality rates have more than doubled, and disparities have worsened.

What is both frustrating and promising is that over 80 percent of these deaths are preventable.

That is why in 2019 I worked with NIH to start the IMPROVE initiative, which stands for Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone. Through IMPROVE, we are making smart investments in evidence-based solutions that save moms' lives and advance birth equity.

Over the past 7 years, IMPROVE has invested more than $200 million in lifesaving research that will help end our Nation's maternal health crisis. These investments have already been made all across the country, from Utah to Alabama, Mississippi to Pennsylvania, and to my home State of Illinois. It is already allowing more moms to survive and thrive, and my bill will ensure that this funding keeps flowing to the communities that need it the most.

The NIH IMPROVE Act is one of the 14 bills that make up the momnibus, a comprehensive package of evidence-based, data-driven bills that address every driver of maternal mortality, morbidity, and disparities in the United States.

I know all my colleagues agree that no mom should feel fear or uncertainty about her pregnancy. So, today, I urge them to pass the NIH IMPROVE Act. After that, we are going to keep it going until the entire momnibus is signed into law. Together, we can end this crisis and keep moms alive.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Guthrie and Mr. Pallone for their support for this legislation.

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