Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, if you had to pick a country--anywhere in the world--where you faced a serious illness, you are likely to pick the United States. Here we have some of the greatest hospitals, doctors, and some of the greatest research institutions in the world. In some other countries, they certainly have good medical care, but if you could only pick one, I certainly would pick this country, the United States of America. That is why it is kind of surprising to learn that when it comes to some basic indicators of how well we are doing in the United States compared to other countries, there are some surprising answers.

We are facing a public health crisis in this country today that is often overlooked and ignored, and it is one I am sure will touch each and every one of us. It is the issue of maternal and infant health.

Too often in our country, new mothers and their babies--especially women and babies of color--are dying from completely preventable health complications. Take this statistic to heart: The United States is only 1 of 13 countries in the world where the death rate of new mothers is worse today than it was 25 years ago. How can it be possible that in the United States of America, mothers are dying at a rate worse than it was 25 years ago? Nationwide, more than 700 women die every year as a result of pregnancy. More than 70,000 others experience severe, near- fatal complications. In my State of Illinois, 73 women die every year due to pregnancy-related complications, and 70 percent of those deaths are preventable.

Not only are we losing these new moms, we are losing their babies. Every year, more than 23,000 infants die in the United States largely due to factors that could be prevented. Some of them are birth defects which could be detected in utero, preterm birth, low birth rate, and maternal complications. Here is a startling statistic. The United States of America--our home; this great Nation of plenty--ranks 32 out of 35 wealthy Nations when it comes to infant mortality. Is it possible? If so, what are we going to do about it?

The tragedy of maternal and infant mortality is even more pronounced when you look at mothers of babies of color. Black infants in America are twice as likely to die as White infants. That racial disparity is greater today than it was in the year 1850. Nationwide, women of color are three to four times more likely than White women to die as a result of their pregnancy. In Illinois, African-American women are six times more likely than White women to die of pregnancy-related complications.

Something has to be done. That is why, this week, I joined with Congresswoman Robin Kelly, Senator Duckworth, and others introducing what we call the MOMMA's Act. First and foremost, our bill would expand the length of time a new mom can keep her Medicaid healthcare coverage. More than half of the babies born my State of Illinois are to mothers who are covered by Medicaid--health insurance for those who are not wealthy and don't have access to private health insurance. The Medicaid Program covers more than half of the babies and mothers as they go through the birthing process.

Do you know what happens to Medicaid under the current law? Two months after the baby is born, the mothers are cut off. Our bill would expand that to a year. Given that 60 percent of maternal deaths occur in the weeks and months after delivery, it is imperative that these new moms have the protection of Medicaid longer than 60 days.

We understand that many States' Medicaid Programs, including my own, are strapped for cash. Our bill will pay for itself by increasing Federal tobacco taxes. That is right. This Senator just called for an increase in taxes. You bet I did. The last time we dramatically increased the Federal tobacco tax was to create the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Is it worth it for kids to be born healthy and live to their full terms in life? Of course.

Given that Big Tobacco and its vaping interest have made billions of dollars at the expense of children and, I might add, of the African- American community, we believe they should help pay for this undertaking. As I said, in 2009 that is exactly what we did to create the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Next, the MOMMA Act would improve access to doulas. Too often, Black women are not listened to or taken seriously by healthcare providers. Doulas can help to provide education, advocacy, and support for women whose voices are often ignored.

To this point, our bill would also improve implicit bias and cultural competency training among healthcare providers. Sadly, the United States is still struggling with racial bias in healthcare.

Finally, our bill would improve hospital coordination and the reporting on maternal health outcomes, and it would ensure the widespread adoption and implementation of services to improve care.

If you have listened to the speech so far, you are probably thinking there is one thing he didn't mention--that many of those African- American women are in poverty, that they are low-income women. That probably explains why they don't have adequate care during their pregnancies or adequate care for their new children.

That is what I had concluded, but it is wrong. The statistics I have given you about racial disparity do not link up with one's economic status. Even African-American mothers who have high incomes and high educations are facing the same threats of maternal mortality. It is not driven by income or poverty. There is something more to the story. Don't we owe it to ourselves to look at it?

There are issues that divide this Chamber, and one of the issues, of course, is abortion. There are people with differing views on both sides of the aisle. It is always a contentious debate, but can't we all agree--pro-choice and pro-life--that we ought to focus on this, on the mothers who are delivering babies, to make sure that the mom survives and that the baby survives? That is what this act is all about, the MOMMA Act.

There are 23,000 infants and 700 new moms who die each year in the United States--some of the worst statistics in the world. We could prevent them with screenings, interventions, and the right healthcare. On a bipartisan basis, I can think of no better way to help babies and moms than to keep them alive and healthy, and that is what the MOMMA Act would do.

women's history month

Mr. President, on June 26, 1913, on a beautiful day in Springfield, IL, Governor Edward Dunne signed into law a bill making Illinois the first State east of the Mississippi where women could vote.

It was not equal voting rights, to be sure.

The new law gave Illinois women the right to vote only for Presidential electors and most local offices--but not for Governor, State representatives or Members of Congress. Still, it was historic.

Word of the milestone sped around the world.

When the legendary Chicago humanitarian Jane Addams--the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize--announced the news at an international suffragette conference in Budapest, delegates roared with approval.

The suffragettes' battle to achieve even limited voting rights was long--it took nearly 60 years--and bitterly fought.

The first time the suffragettes took their campaign to Chicago's street corners, in 1910, they were ignored by some and derided by many--including many women.

When Illinois suffragettes traveled by train to Washington in 1913 to lobby President Woodrow Wilson for voting rights for all American women, their train stopped at Harper's Ferry, WV--this same place where fiery abolitionist John Brown made his stand against slavery.

As they spoke publicly for voting rights, the women were pelted with snowballs by men and boys, but they didn't back down.

In Washington, D.C., suffragettes from Illinois and other States encountered angry mobs and police who refused to intervene.

More than 100 women ended up in hospitals. Still, the women didn't retreat.

In 1914, 200,000 women registered to vote in Chicago, and eight women ran for aldermanic seats.

Five years later, on June 10, 1919, Illinois became the first State in the Nation to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving all American women the right to vote in all elections.

That is a distinction we are proud of. By 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified by the necessary two-thirds of States.

Next year, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the women's right to vote in America.

As this Women's History Month draws to a close, I want to take a few moments to recall the courageous women who have helped advance the cause of freedom in my State and in our Nation and the women who continue to shape our Nation's shared destiny. This Congress--the 116th Congress--includes more women than any Congress in our Nation's history. In the House, America's first woman Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, returned to her leadership post with 102 women as her colleagues.

Here in the Senate, we now have 25 women Senators--the most in our Nation's history.

The congressional delegation from my home State of Illinois also has more women members than ever before--including the youngest African- American woman ever elected to Congress: Representative Lauren Underwood, but we still have a long way to go to reach true gender equality in America.

This Congress may include record numbers of women, but women still make up only 25 percent of the Senate and less than that--a little over 23 percent--in the House. Those numbers ought to be higher.

The number of women serving in State legislatures has quintupled since 1971. Women now make up nearly 29 percent of State legislatures today.

In Illinois, women make up one-third of the General Assembly. That's progress, but all States--including Illinois--can and must do a better job of recruiting, supporting, and electing women leaders.

Women are making history in other professions and other ways, too.

More than 200,000 women serve in the U.S. military today, and America has 1.6 million women veterans. My friend and fellow Senator from Illinois, Tammy Duckworth, is one of those veterans. She is amazing. She lost both legs when a Blackhawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down in Iraq. As soon as she healed from her injuries, she asked: ``What else can I do to help other veterans and help my country?''

I encourage the Department of Defense to do more to harness the patriotism and talent of American women by opening more combat roles to women.

It has been said before, and I agree: You can measure a nation's character and its hopes for a better future by how it treats women and girls. While America has made great progress, in gender equality, especially in the last two generations, we still have far to go.

It has been nearly 60 years since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963. Yet American women in general still earn only 80 cents for every dollar earned by men. For women of color, the gap is even greater; African American women earn only 61 cents, and Latina women earn only 53 cents for every dollar a White man makes. These disparities persist even among women and men who do the same or comparable work. That is wrong, and we need to close the pay fairness gap.

Many women across the country still lack access to affordable healthcare, including reproductive health care services.

Roe v. Wade was decided more than 40 years ago, but attacks on access have limited a woman's right to choose in many States, and too many women, especially women of color, are dying during or shortly after childbirth.

Here is a sobering fact: The United States is one of only 13 countries in the world where the maternal mortality rate is worse now than it was 25 years ago. Every year, more than 700 women in our Nation--most of them women of color--die as a result of their pregnancies, with more than 60 percent of these deaths being completely preventable.

This is unacceptable. Having a baby anywhere, especially in the United States, should not be a death sentence. We must do better.

The Equal Rights Amendment has been waiting for passage since the 1920s. My home State of Illinois finally ratified it last year.

Here is an idea. Let us work together to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in this Congress.

For the 100th anniversary of women's voting rights in America let's pass the ERA. If we truly believe in gender equality, let's put it in writing in the U.S. Constitution.

Let's not just celebrate Women's History Month; let's build on women's historical successes and make this an even more perfect Union.

Mueller Report

Last Friday, Attorney General William Barr announced that Special Counsel Bob Mueller had submitted a lengthy report from his investigation to the Attorney General.

On Sunday, Attorney General Barr sent another letter to Congress summarizing Mr. Barr's view of the ``principal conclusions'' of the Mueller report.

This letter is very troubling, particularly because the Attorney General inserted his own judgment about potential obstruction of justice by the President rather than letting the Mueller report speak for itself.

I have said repeatedly that I trust Bob Mueller. I believed he could be trusted to do a thorough and fair investigation into what happened with Russian meddling in the 2016 election. I still feel that way.

We have now heard Attorney General Barr's description of what Special Counsel Mueller found, but, respectfully, that is not good enough.

The American people need to hear Special Counsel Mueller's description of what he found.

Attorney General Barr is a political appointee. The reason a special counsel was appointed in this case was to take politics out of the investigation.

The Mueller report needs to be made public without delay. That is what we need to have confidence in the outcome of this investigation. The House of Representatives voted 420 to 0 for making the report public. Even the President claims he wants the report to be public, but we are already seeing an effort by the White House and Republicans to walk back from transparency of the Mueller report.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the White House will ``want to make sure we're protecting the office of the presidency; have to look at things like protecting executive privilege and sources and methods.''

Let us be clear--We need to see the full Mueller report, not just summaries and not just page after page of redacted text. The sooner this happens, the sooner we can reassure the American people about the integrity of the process. The American people deserve no less.

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