I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8178 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 
Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
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-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Racism in Public 
Health Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) For centuries, structural racism, defined by 
the National Museum of African American History 
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and Culture as an ‘‘overarching system of racial bias 
across institutions and society,’’ in the United States 
has negatively affected communities of color, espe-
cially Black, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Is-
lander, and American Indian and Alaska Native peo-
ple, to expand and reinforce white supremacy. 
(2) Structural racism determines the conditions 
in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age 
and determine people’s access to quality housing, 
education, food, transportation, and political power, 
and other social determinants of health. 
(3) Structural racism serves as a major barrier 
to achieving health equity and eliminating racial and 
ethnic inequities in health outcomes that exist at 
alarming rates and are determined by a wider set of 
forces and systems. 
(4) Due to structural racism in the United 
States, people of color are more likely to suffer from 
chronic health conditions (such as heart disease, dia-
betes, asthma, hepatitis, and hypertension) and in-
fectious diseases (such as HIV/AIDS, and COVID– 
19) compared to their white counterparts. 
(5) Due to structural racism in maternal health 
care in the United States, Black and American In-
dian and Alaska Native infants are more than twice 
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as likely to die than white infants, Black women are 
3 to 4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-re-
lated causes than white women, and American In-
dian and Alaska Native women are 5 times more 
likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than 
white women. This trend persists even when adjust-
ing for income and education. 
(6) Due to structural racism in the United 
States, Non-Hispanic Black women have the highest 
rates for 22 of 25 severe morbidity indicators used 
by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC). 
(7) Due to structural racism in the United 
States, people of color comprise a disproportionate 
percentage of persons with disabilities in the United 
States. 
(8) Due to structural racism in the United 
States, Black men are up to three and a half times 
as likely to be killed by police as white men, and 1 
in every 1,000 Black men will die as a result of po-
lice violence. Policing has adverse effects on mental 
health in Black communities. 
(9) Due to the confluence of structural racism 
and factors such as gender, class, and sexual ori-
entation or gender identity, commonly referred to as 
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intersectionality, Black and Latinx transgender 
women are more likely to die due to violence and 
homicide than their white counterparts. 
(10) Due to structural racism, inequitable ac-
cess to quality health care and longterm services and 
supports also disproportionately burdens commu-
nities of color; people of color and immigrants are 
less likely to be insured and are more likely to live 
in medically underserved areas. 
(11) Due to structural racism, older adults of 
color are also more likely to be admitted to nursing 
homes and assisted living facilities and to reside in 
those of poor quality, and when older adults of color 
do receive home and community based services, Med-
icaid spends less money on their services and they 
are more likely to be hospitalized than older white 
adults. 
(12) In addition, the Federal Government’s fail-
ure to honor the unique political status of American 
Indian and Alaska Native people, to respect the in-
herent sovereignty of Tribal Nations, and to uphold 
its trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations 
and American Indian and Alaska Native people, is 
an ongoing and unjust manifestation of centuries of 
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oppression, with the consequence of adverse health 
outcomes for Native peoples. 
(13) The COVID–19 pandemic has exposed the 
devastating impact of structural racism on the 
United States’ ability to ensure equitable health out-
comes for people of color, and made these commu-
nities more likely to suffer from severe outcomes due 
to the coronavirus infection. 
(14) Racial and ethnic inequity in public health 
is a result of systematic, personally mediated, and 
internalized racism and racist public and private 
policies and practices, and dismantling structural 
racism is integral to addressing public health. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ANTIRACISM.—The term ‘‘antiracism’’ is a 
collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial eq-
uity, and are substantiated by antiracist ideas. 
(2) ANTIRACIST.—The term ‘‘antiracist’’ is any 
measure that produces or sustains racial equity be-
tween racial groups. 
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