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

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6238) to establish the IMPROVE Initiative within the National Institutes of Health, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6238

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act'' or the ``NIH IMPROVE Act''. SEC. 2. IMPROVE INITIATIVE.

Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``SEC. 409K. IMPROVE INITIATIVE.

``(a) In General.--The Director of NIH shall continue to carry out a program to improve maternal health outcomes, to be known as the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Initiative or the `IMPROVE Initiative' (referred to in this section as the `Initiative').

``(b) Objectives.--The Initiative shall--

``(1) advance research to--

``(A) reduce preventable causes of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity;

``(B) reduce health disparities related to maternal health outcomes, including such disparities associated with populations with disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity relative to the national rate; and

``(C) improve health for pregnant and postpartum women before, during, and after pregnancy;

``(2) use an integrated approach to understand the factors, including biological, behavioral, and other factors, that affect maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity by building an evidence base for improved outcomes in specific regions of the United States; and

``(3) target health disparities associated with maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity by--

``(A) implementing and evaluating community-based interventions for disproportionately affected women; and

``(B) identifying risk factors and the underlying biological mechanisms associated with leading causes of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the United States.

``(c) Implementation.--The Director of NIH may award grants or enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, or other transactions to carry out this section.

``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $63,400,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.''.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. 6238.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6238, led by my colleagues Representatives Underwood and Fitzpatrick, which authorizes the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Initiative within the National Institutes of Health.

According to CDC estimates, more than 80 percent of the pregnancy- related deaths and roughly half of the severe maternal morbidity events could be prevented.

That is why it is so essential for us to advance the IMPROVE Initiative, which supports research into identifying and reducing preventable causes of maternal death and ways to improve maternal health outcomes.

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

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Mr. GUTHRIE.

He is a member of the Ways and Means and Intel Committees and is really passionate about these issues.

My friend from Colorado has touched on this. It is something that we absolutely have to get to the bottom of. I am very thankful for the leadership of the gentlewoman from Illinois and the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. In closing, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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