The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“MOMMA ACT” mentioning Richard J. Durbin and Tammy Duckworth was published in the Senate section on pages S884-S885 on Feb. 25.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MOMMA ACT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week America reached a heartbreaking milestone, one that would have seemed unthinkable a year ago. We have now lost more than 500,000 Americans to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is one in every five COVID-19 deaths in the world. We have lost mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. On Monday evening, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and their spouses remembered all of these lost souls in a moving ceremony at the White House. Behind them, 500 flickering candles lined the White House stairs, each candle representing a thousand lives cut short by the virus, a thousand grieving families. In addition, more than 28 million Americans have been infected by the coronavirus in this pandemic
No State, no community in America, has been spared in this sadness. In my State of Illinois, COVID-19 has claimed more than 20,000 lives. My heart goes out to and every American trying to survive in this terribly difficult year. I have heard others say, and I agree: This pandemic will not break us, but it is showing us where we are broken.Like so many other diseases and health conditions, the pandemic has inflicted disproportionate harm on people and communities of color--Black Americans, Native Americans, and members of the Latinx community.
Black Americans get sick and die of COVID at 1.5 times the rate of White Americans. Despite their greater risks of infection and death, people of color are receiving COVID vaccinations at less than half the rate as White Americans. In Illinois, Black residents make up 15 percent and Latinx residents make up 18 percent of our State's population, yet each group accounts for only 8 percent of the COVID vaccines allocated so far.
Sadly, these statistics come as no surprise. America has a long history of medical inequality. From premature births to premature deaths, people of color suffer disproportionately from America's troubled health care system. People of color in America suffer more chronic and acute health conditions. They are more likely to go without needed medical care, and they have shorter life expectancies. According to new estimates from the CDC, life expectancy in the United States fell by a full year as COVID-19 swept through the Nation last year--the steepest decline in life expectancy since World War II. Again, the pain was unequal. Latinx Americans' life expectancy declined by 2 years and Black Americans' by 3 years. The reasons for the disparities are many and varied, but they include unequal access to affordable healthcare, inadequate research, and too few healthcare professionals of color.
Martin Luther King called healthcare inequality ``the most shocking and inhumane'' form of injustice. Far too often, this inequality begins even before birth. It should shock our consciences that the United States, one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, has one of the world's poorest records for maternal and infant health. Think of this: The United States is one of only 13 nations in the world where the maternal mortality rate is worse now than it was 25 years ago. Every year in America, nearly 1,000 women die from pregnancy-related complications and 70,000 others suffer near-fatal complications as a result of pregnancy. Now consider this: Women of color in the United States are three times more likely than White women to die as a result of their pregnancy. In Illinois, they are six times as likely to die. What makes these maternal deaths even more tragic is that an estimated 60 percent of them are preventable. The same is true of many infant deaths. Every year in America, more than 23,000 infants die due to factors that, in many cases, could be prevented. Among the 35 wealthiest nations in the world, the United States ranks 32nd in infant mortality. Again, the risks are unequal. Black babies are twice as likely to die in their first year of life as White babies.
I have given a lot of thought and spoken with many experts about how we can bridge this racial divide. This week, I am reintroducing a bill with Senator Duckworth that I believe can decrease America's rates of maternal and infant sickness and deaths, especially among those of color. It is called the MOMMA Act. My companion in the House is Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Chicago. She and I have introduced this bill for the last two Congresses. It is time to make it law.
First and foremost, the MOMMA Act would expand Medicaid coverage for new moms from 60 days to a full year postpartum. Making sure new moms have health coverage for a full year postpregnancy will go a long way toward catching, preventing, and treating potentially life-threatening conditions and problems. This is critical because in some States--like Illinois--nearly 60 percent of pregnancy-associated deaths occur between 43 and 364 days postpartum. Many States' Medicaid Programs, including Illinois's are strapped for cash, and the pandemic has increased their shortfalls. In addition, our bill would provide States with guidance and options to expand their Medicaid coverage to include doulas, who are often invaluable assets and advocates for pregnant women. Next, our bill would save lives by improving health care education and training to reduce the unconscious biases and discrimination that woman of color too often encounter from healthcare professionals. Lastly, our bill would improve hospital coordination and reporting on maternal health outcomes. Accurate reporting will enable us to chart our progress and make adjustments where and when they are needed.
Among the women at greatest risk of pregnancy-related health complications are women who are incarcerated. Again, the risks for Black women are greater. To help these mothers and their babies, Senator Booker and I have introduced a separate bill. The Justice for Incarcerated Moms Act helps incarcerated pregnant women and new mothers with access to doulas and other health workers, as well as counseling, because a jail sentence should never be a death sentence for a mother or her newborn. As the poet Maya Angelou told us, we can't change the past. But when we know better, we must do better. We now know how we can do better to protect the lives of pregnant women and newborn babies. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting these two important measures to give mothers and babies the healthy start in life that they deserve.
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