Health Centers Renewal Act of 2006
HEALTH CENTERS RENEWAL ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 21, 2006)
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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the reauthorization of the community health centers for a number of reasons.
First of all, more than probably anything else, community health centers are the reason that I am a Member of Congress. My public work began at a community health center, the Martin Luther King Center in Chicago, then the Miles Square Center in Chicago. I became a member of the association when we organized it, ultimately became chairman of the legislative committee. The current president of the association, Tom Van Coverden, was my staff person when I was chairman of the legislative committee. I became its speaker of the house and eventually became president of the National Association of Community Health Centers. And so I used to be one of those people who would run around here knocking on Members' doors asking them to appropriate money and to support community health center programs.
Community health centers are the best thing that has happened to ambulatory health care since Medicare and Medicaid for large numbers of poor people throughout the country. I commend them. I have been in centers all over the country, and they do outstanding jobs.
They are also the main economic engine in many communities, the biggest employer. People get a chance to work who have never had a job before. I know individuals who are nurses and physicians who came to work in community health centers as aides, as orderlies, who are now professionals. It is
really the best thing that I have ever encountered in health care.
My district, this is the one time that I envy the members of Commerce and Energy because I also have 26 hospitals in my congressional district, probably more than any other district in the country, five medical schools, and so health is a big part of what goes on where I live on a daily basis.
I commend the committee for an outstanding piece of legislation, the great work that it does. And, yes, they are going to have their convention in Chicago in August of this year, and we look forward to hosting them at that time.
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