Bruce Westerman

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 741 is a straightforward bill to strengthen Indian health leadership within the Department of Health and Human Services. The bill redesignates the Director of the Indian Health Service as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Health within HHS. The Federal Government has longstanding responsibilities for Indian healthcare rooted in the Federal trust responsibility. The Indian Health Service is the principal Federal entity responsible for providing health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Indian health issues do not begin and end at IHS. Many of these issues require coordination across HHS, including healthcare access, workforce recruitment and retention, behavioral health, public health, and health infrastructure. H.R. 741 will help that coordination by elevating IHS' senior within the Department. This bill is narrowly tailored. The IHS director is already appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, so H.R. 741 does not create a new Senate-confirmed appointment. It does not create a new program or change how IHS delivers healthcare. Instead, this bill makes a senior-level structural change to better coordinate health issues across the Department. This is a practical and reasonable step. When Indian health issues cut across IHS, the senior official responsible for Indian health should be positioned to work across HHS. Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 741, and I reserve the balance of my time.