708 
‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS 
IN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.— 
‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT
OF
HEALTH
AND
HUMAN 
SERVICES.—The Office for Civil Rights in the De-
partment of Health and Human Services shall pro-
vide standard-setting and compliance review inves-
tigation support services to the Civil Rights Compli-
ance Office for each agency. 
‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT
OF
JUSTICE.—The Office 
for Civil Rights in the Department of Justice shall 
continue to maintain the power to institute formal 
proceedings when an agency Office for Civil Rights 
determines that a recipient of Federal financial as-
sistance is not in compliance with the disparity re-
duction standards of the agency. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘Federal 
health programs’ mean programs— 
‘‘(1) under the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
301 et seq.) that pay for health care and services; 
and 
‘‘(2) under this Act that provide Federal finan-
cial assistance for health care, biomedical research, 
health services research, and programs designed to 
improve the public’s health, including health service 
programs.’’. 
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SEC. 904. UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS. 
(a) COORDINATION WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF JUS-
TICE
OF
ACTIVITIES
REGARDING
HEALTH
DISPARI-
TIES.—Section 3(a) of the Civil Rights Commission Act 
of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 1975a(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) shall, with respect to activities carried out 
in health care and correctional facilities toward the 
goal of eliminating health disparities between the 
general population and members of racial or ethnic 
minority groups, coordinate such activities of— 
‘‘(A) the Office for Civil Rights within the 
Department of Justice; 
‘‘(B) the Office of Justice Programs within 
the Department of Justice; 
‘‘(C) the Office for Civil Rights within the 
Department of Health and Human Services; 
and 
‘‘(D) the Office of Minority Health within 
the Department of Health and Human Services 
(headed by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Minority Health).’’. 
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(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
5 of the Civil Rights Commission Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 
1975c) is amended by striking the first sentence and in-
serting the following: ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out 
this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated 
$30,000,000 for fiscal year 2017, and such sums as may 
be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2018 through 
2022.’’. 
SEC. 905. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING FULL FUND-
ING OF ACTIVITIES TO ELIMINATE RACIAL 
AND ETHNIC HEALTH DISPARITIES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) The health status of the American populace 
is declining and the United States currently ranks 
below most industrialized nations in health status 
measured by longevity, sickness, and mortality. 
(2) Racial and ethnic minority populations tend 
have the poorest health status and face substantial 
cultural, social, and economic barriers to obtaining 
quality health care. 
(3) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 
and questioning (LGBTQ) populations experience 
significant personal and structural barriers to ob-
taining high-quality health care. 
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(4) Efforts to improve minority health have 
been limited by inadequate resources (funding, staff-
ing, and stewardship) and lack of accountability. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) funding should be doubled by fiscal year 
2018 for the National Institute for Minority Health 
Disparities, the Office of Civil Rights in the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, the National 
Institute of Nursing Research, and the Office of Mi-
nority Health; 
(2) adequate funding by fiscal year 2018, and 
subsequent funding increases, should be provided for 
health and human service professions training pro-
grams, the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Com-
munity Health (REACH) Initiative at the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, the Minority 
HIV/AIDS Initiative, and the Excellence Centers to 
Eliminate Ethnic/Racial Disparities (EXCEED) 
Program at the Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality; 
(3) funding should be fully restored to the Ra-
cial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health 
(REACH) Initiative at the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, which has been a successful 
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program at the community health level, and efforts 
should continue to place a strong emphasis on build-
ing community capacity to secure financial resources 
and technical assistance to eliminate health dispari-
ties; 
(4) adequate funding for fiscal year 2018 and 
increased funding for future years should be pro-
vided for the REACH Initiative’s United States Risk 
Factor Survey to ensure adequate data collection to 
track health disparities, and there should be appro-
priate avenues provided to disseminate findings to 
the general public; 
(5) current and newly created health disparity 
elimination incentives, programs, agencies, and de-
partments under this Act (and the amendments 
made by this Act) should receive adequate staffing 
and funding by fiscal year 2018; and 
(6) stewardship and accountability should be 
provided to the Congress and the President for 
measurable and sustainable progress toward health 
disparity elimination. 
SEC. 906. GAO AND NIH REPORTS. 
(a) GAO REPORT ON NIH GRANT RACIAL AND ETH-
NIC DIVERSITY.— 
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