Daniel Inouye: “I rise today to join my Chairman, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, in the introduction of a bill to reauthorize the…”

“I rise today to join my Chairman, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, in the introduction of a bill to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 1976, Public Law 94-437. Mr. President, for the past two years, the leaders of Indian country have been engaged in a consultation process with the Indian Health Service in an effort to address changes to the Act which would hold the potential of improving and enhancing the ability of tribal health programs, urban Indian health care programs, and the Indian Health Service to provide comprehensive primary health care and public health services to all eligible American Indian and Alaska Native patients citizens. The goal of the consultation process was to build a consensus on the best means of addressing the health care challenges that confront Native America, so that the reauthorization bill could reflect a unified vision of the Indian Health Service, tribal governments and urban Indian health care programs. The tribal participants in this process appropriately named this comprehensive consultation process 'Speaking with One Voice'.”