Recognizing National Kidney Month

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize National Kidney Month and to speak plainly about it and what it means for my constituents in the Virgin Islands.

Chronic kidney disease affects more than one in seven American adults. When it progresses to end-stage renal disease, Black Americans bear four times the burden of other Americans.

The Virgin Islands already carries elevated rates of diabetes and hypertension, the primary drivers of kidney failure. Also, there is a genetic dimension that too few people know about: APOL1-mediated kidney disease. AMKD is caused by gene variants found almost exclusively in people of West African descent.

I was proud to introduce a resolution and host a roundtable, along with my fellow Georgetown alum, Alonzo Mourning, and the American Kidney Fund to raise awareness of AMKD.

I urge my colleagues to recognize that for thousands of Virgin Islanders and millions of Americans most vulnerable to these diseases, Medicaid and Medicare are lifelines. Any efforts to cut these programs is a direct attack on the most vulnerable among us.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source