II
117
TH
CONGRESS 1
ST
S
ESSION
S. 162
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for public health research and investment into understanding and eliminating structural racism and police violence.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
F
EBRUARY
2, 2021 Ms. W
ARREN
(for herself, Ms. H
IRONO
, Mr. M
ERKLEY
, Ms. S
MITH
, and Mr. M
ARKEY
) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for public health research and investment into understanding and eliminating structural racism and police violence.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Racism in Public
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Health Act of 2021’’.
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
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Congress makes the following findings:
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(1) For centuries, structural racism, defined by
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the National Museum of African American History
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and Culture as an ‘‘overarching system of racial bias
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across institutions and society’’, in the United States
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has negatively affected communities of color, espe-
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cially Black, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Is-
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lander, and American Indian and Alaska Native peo-
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ple, to expand and reinforce White supremacy.
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(2) Structural racism determines the conditions
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in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age
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and determine people’s access to quality housing,
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education, food, transportation, and political power,
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and other social determinants of health.
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(3) Structural racism serves as a major barrier
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to achieving health equity and eliminating racial and
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ethnic inequities in health outcomes that exist at
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alarming rates and are determined by a wider set of
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forces and systems.
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(4) Due to structural racism in the United
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States, people of color are more likely to suffer from
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chronic health conditions (such as heart disease, dia-
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betes, asthma, hepatitis, and hypertension) and in-
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fectious diseases (such as HIV/AIDS, and COVID–
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19) compared to their White counterparts.
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(5) Due to structural racism in maternal health
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care in the United States, Black and American In-
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dian and Alaska Native infants are more than twice
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as likely to die than White infants, Black women are
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3 to 4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-re-
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lated causes than White women, and American In-
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dian and Alaska Native women are 5 times more
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likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than
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White women. This trend persists even when adjust-
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ing for income and education.
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(6) Due to structural racism in the United
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States, Non-Hispanic Black women have the highest
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rates for 22 of 25 severe morbidity indicators used
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by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
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(CDC).
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(7) Due to structural racism in the United
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States, people of color comprise a disproportionate
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percentage of persons with disabilities in the United
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States.
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(8) Due to structural racism in the United
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States, Black men are up to three and a half times
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as likely to be killed by police as White men, and 1
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in every 1,000 Black men will die as a result of po-
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lice violence. Policing has adverse effects on mental
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health in Black communities.
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(9) Due to the confluence of structural racism
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and factors such as gender, class, and sexual ori-
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entation or gender identity, commonly referred to as
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