IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 570 

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health 

(REACH) program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JUDY CHU

of California, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. COLE, 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Ms. BASS) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program. 

Whereas racial and ethnic minorities face strikingly high 

rates of racial and ethnic disparities in chronic disease 

rates and other health and safety outcomes; 

Whereas, in September of 1999, Surgeon General David 

Satcher announced the first grants under the Racial and 

Ethnic Approaches to Community Health program, 

known as REACH, funding 32 community coalitions in 

18 States; 

Whereas REACH, created on the principle of communitybased participatory approaches, has provided the most 


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•HRES 570 IH 

impacted communities with the necessary resources and 

tools to address racial and ethnic disparities in chronic 

health conditions for the last 20 years; 

Whereas REACH has been the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention’s (CDC) cornerstone effort to directly 

fund community-based projects to address health disparities since 1999 and is today one of the only CDC programs specifically dedicated to addressing racial and ethnic health disparities in urban, rural, and Tribal communities; 

Whereas the REACH program’s model of robust community 

engagement and multisector representation in all aspects 

of program planning, development, and implementation 

has proved to be very successful in mobilizing efforts in 

communities with the greatest disease burden to address 

their health issues and priorities; 

Whereas REACH grantees have partnered with key stakeholders in local communities to work on eliminating 

health disparities that leave so many Asian Americans, 

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, and Hispanic Americans living sicker and dying younger than 

they should; and 

Whereas under the most recently concluded cohort of 

REACH grantees, funded from 2014 to 2018, 2,700,000 

people gained better access to healthy food and beverages, 650,000 people benefited from tobacco-free interventions, 1,300,000 had increased opportunities to be 

physically active, and 750,000 people had better access to 

community-clinical linkages: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


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1 (1) recognizes the 20th anniversary of the Ra2 cial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health 

3 (REACH) program; 

4 (2) commits to protecting and expanding invest5 ments to address racial and ethnic health disparities 

6 that communities of color face; and 

7 (3) urges Federal agencies to further build on 

8 the great community-driven work of REACH grant9 ees to address disparities in chronic health among 

10 racial and ethnic minorities. 

Æ 


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