Yvette Clarke: “Thank you, very much, Congressman Horsford, and I thank you for your leadership along with Congressman Jeffries in…”

“Thank you, very much, Congressman Horsford, and I thank you for your leadership along with Congressman Jeffries in leading the Special Order hour for the Congressional Black Caucus. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to raise awareness about health disparities that continue to affect racial and ethnic minorities in the United States of America. Despite medical advances that save many lives in our country, there has been very limited progress in ending the racial and ethnic disparities in health. In a 1985 report, the United States Department of Health and Human Services called health disparities in this country ``an affront both to our ideals and to the ongoing genius of American medicine.'' Now, decades later, health disparities still exist between black and white and rich and poor. A primary reason for these disparities is, quite frankly, the lack of health insurance that has been a problem for all these many years. For instance, African Americans make up 13 percent of the entire population but account for more than half of all people who are uninsured. Blacks also have disproportionately lower access to primary care and face more obstacles in seeking treatment. Across our Nation, health disparities continue to persist and widen in communities historically marginalized as a result of poverty and other social, economic and environmental barriers.…”