Raul Ruiz

There is no better time to invest in harnessing solar energy to lower utility bills, reduce carbon emissions, and save our environment and our health from climate change.

As climate change worsens, these fires will only get worse, more intense, and more frequent.

Unemployment for my district remains above 13 percent, and small businesses from Hemet to Cathedral City have been contacting my office to share their specific hardships as a result of the pandemic.

It strikes me funny to hear a Republican from southern--South Carolina blame environmental laws for climate change.

They are the highest risk of getting infected because they don't have the precautions at work.

I agree, because this is not just about relief during the pandemic. Water affordability was a concern even before the pandemic.

I think it is critically important that we have to consider the availability of clean, safe drinking water for all of our citizens, especially in this time of the pandemic.

We should be doing more to help those families pay their water bills right now.

Clean and safe drinking water must be accessible and affordable.

We must have strong standards in place to prevent situations like the one in my district, where residents in an oasis mobile home park had arsenic in their water.

Safe and healthy water is essential for our public health.

And we look forward to working with the Federal Government and its agencies in order to ensure that distribution of our vaccine is equitable.

We know that African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans are at the highest risk of getting infected, and also dying from coronavirus.

We know that seniors and seniors in nursing homes are at highest risk of dying, those with underlying conditions.

We should be able to foresee what's coming and develop a distribution plan that's based on public health principles.

I am cautiously optimistic after hearing the progress you all are making in your efforts to develop an effective and safe vaccine.

If we could make more funding available for both of those things, to Native youth, but to any doctors that are coming to Indian country, I think that would be a great, great help.

That is why Chairman Pallone and I introduced a package of bills that included H.R. 4534, The Native Health and Wellness Act which would create a grant program for Tribes to recruit and mentor Native youth for medical professions.

There is a shockingly low number of American Indian and Alaskan Native students who pursue medical careers.

Lower rates of pay make it harder for his facilities to compete for medical school graduates.

Many his facilities are rural, surrounded by insufficient housing and have other infrastructure deficiencies that make it challenging for providers and their families to relocate.

Without adequate providers, including doctors, nurses, and specialists, Native Americans are unable to access the care they deserve.

This is a good day. It is a good day to finally have an Energy and Commerce hearing solely on Tribal policy issues.

We have been working on these Tribal issues together for years now, including on the Indian Health Service Task Force.

It is what motivated me to become a doctor in the first place and what eventually motivated me to run for Congress.