This is not an official government website.
© 2026 PLEJ LC. All rights reserved.
Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions legislation such as NIH IMPROVE Act, members such as Brett Guthrie.
Issued
July 20, 2026
house side of the record
People
3
Linked members mentioned in this section
Legislation
1
Bills and resolutions linked from this section
Committees
0
No linked committees in this section
Senate Holds
0
No hold activity linked here
Source Document
Connected Data
People mentioned
Bills and resolutions
Source Control
Reader mode is for comprehension. The linked government PDF is the official published source.
Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextNIH IMPLEMENTING A MATERNAL HEALTH AND PREGNANCY OUTCOMES VISION FOR
EVERYONE ACT
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6238) to establish the IMPROVE Initiative within the National Institutes of Health, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6238
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “NIH Implementing a Maternal
health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act” or
the “NIH IMPROVE Act”.
SEC. 2. IMPROVE INITIATIVE.
Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 284 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
“SEC. 409K. IMPROVE INITIATIVE.
“(a) In General.—The Director of NIH shall continue to
carry out a program to improve maternal health outcomes, to
be known as the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy
Outcomes Vision for Everyone Initiative or the `IMPROVE
Initiative' (referred to in this section as the
`Initiative').
“(b) Objectives.—The Initiative shall—
“(1) advance research to—
“(A) reduce preventable causes of maternal mortality and
severe maternal morbidity;
“(B) reduce health disparities related to maternal health
outcomes, including such disparities associated with
populations with disproportionately high rates of maternal
mortality and severe maternal morbidity relative to the
national rate; and
“(C) improve health for pregnant and postpartum women
before, during, and after pregnancy;
“(2) use an integrated approach to understand the factors,
including biological, behavioral, and other factors, that
affect maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity by
building an evidence base for improved outcomes in specific
regions of the United States; and
“(3) target health disparities associated with maternal
mortality and severe maternal morbidity by—
“(A) implementing and evaluating community-based
interventions for disproportionately affected women; and
“(B) identifying risk factors and the underlying
biological mechanisms associated with leading causes of
maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the
United States.
“(c) Implementation.—The Director of NIH may award grants
or enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, or other
transactions to carry out this section.
“(d) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $63,400,000 for
each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.”.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) and the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
general leave
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and include extraneous material on H.R. 6238.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6238, led by my colleagues Representatives Underwood and Fitzpatrick, which authorizes the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Initiative within the National Institutes of Health.
related deaths and roughly half of the severe maternal morbidity events could be prevented.
Initiative, which supports research into identifying and reducing preventable causes of maternal death and ways to improve maternal health outcomes.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, shockingly, the U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality among developed nations in this entire world. What is worse is that the mortality rates for women of color are exponentially higher than those of the general population. Black women die from pregnancy- related causes at rates at least three times those of White women, and that is irrespective of socioeconomic status or income.
by State maternal mortality review committees. Congress affirmed its support for these committees in February by reauthorizing my bill, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act.
problem, that 649 women died of maternal causes in the U.S. in 2024. Now that we have identified the problem, we need to work together to solve it.
Mr. Speaker, 80 to 84 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. The IMPROVE Initiative at NIH investigates the leading cause of these deaths, supports the development of interventions to prevent them, and importantly identifies factors that contribute to disparities in maternal health. We must not let this critical program lapse.
and wonderful leadership on this bill, as well as my friend and colleague Robin Kelly, who has been a leader on this issue for more than a decade.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join us in passing the bill today because no pregnancy-related death is acceptable in the richest nation in the world. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), my good friend. He is a member of the Ways and Means and Intel Committees and is really passionate about these issues.
My friend from Colorado has touched on this. It is something that we absolutely have to get to the bottom of. I am very thankful for the leadership of the gentlewoman from Illinois and the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of our legislation, H.R. 6238, the NIH IMPROVE Act.
Mr. Speaker, this critical legislation will ensure consistent funding for research on maternal care and mortality. So many maternal deaths in America are preventable. Addressing that reality demands research that is stable, long term, and grounded in measurable outcomes.
maternal health portfolio so desperately needs to track outcomes over time, evaluate what works in high-risk settings, and direct resources to the communities facing the greatest challenges.
ensures that mothers across our Nation will benefit from research that saves lives and improves care through the entire pregnancy journey.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague Representative Underwood for her leadership on this critical piece of legislation to ensure that improvements to maternal health across our Nation continue and are strengthened.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation, H.R. 6238.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood), the sponsor of this legislation.
Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the NIH IMPROVE Act.
high-income country, and Black women are dying at the highest rate of all.
The crisis is only getting worse. Over the past two decades, maternal mortality rates have more than doubled, and disparities have worsened.
{time} 1610
initiative, which stands for Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone. Through IMPROVE, we are making smart investments in evidence-based solutions that save moms' lives and advance birth equity.
Over the past 7 years, IMPROVE has invested more than $200 million in lifesaving research that will help end our Nation's maternal health crisis. These investments have already been made all across the country, from Utah to Alabama, Mississippi to Pennsylvania, and to my home State of Illinois. It is already allowing more moms to survive and thrive, and my bill will ensure that this funding keeps flowing to the communities that need it the most.
a comprehensive package of evidence-based, data-driven bills that address every driver of maternal mortality, morbidity, and disparities in the United States.
uncertainty about her pregnancy. So, today, I urge them to pass the NIH IMPROVE Act. After that, we are going to keep it going until the entire momnibus is signed into law. Together, we can end this crisis and keep moms alive.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Guthrie and Mr. Pallone for their support for this legislation.
Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GUTHRIE. In closing, I urge a “yes” vote on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in favor of the NIH IMPROVE Act.
health care is our most basic human right. Yet, in our country, we see some of the worst disparities in health care access and outcomes. The maternal health crisis is no exception.
related causes than other women. Women living in rural areas are losing access to local labor and delivery units, as more rural hospitals close their maternity wards.
This has not only delayed care but has led to worsening outcomes. Our country's maternal mortality rate is higher than any other high-income country in the world. Over 80 percent of these deaths are preventable. We can and must do better.
this crisis through the NIH IMPROVE Initiative. In early 2019, Congresswoman Underwood and I met with then-Director of the National Institutes of Health to urge the agency to do more to address the maternal health crisis.
which stands for Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone. The IMPROVE Initiative supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and improve health for women before, during, and after pregnancy.
that are disproportionately affected, such as racial and ethnic minorities, very young women and women of advanced maternal age, women living in rural areas, and people with disabilities.
THE IMPROVE Initiative has funded:
impact of community violence on maternal health outcomes, and structural racism and discrimination; and
longevity of the program and maintain consistent funding to address maternal mortality.
The bill would authorize $53.4 million every year for seven years. With that funding, the program will continue to investigate disparities in maternal health care, and develop ways to improve care and outcomes, including in our underserved maternal care deserts.
losses of mothers to pregnancy-related causes. And too often these deaths have been completely preventable.
This is personal to me. My daughter, Jeanelle, almost lost her life to this crisis. Her doctor dismissed her pain and concerns, and by the time her medical team finally responded, it was almost too late.
other mothers, especially Black mothers. Jeanelle is one of the tens of thousands of women who've experience “near misses” with pregnancy- related complications. That experience made me think about what it means to be a mom.
everything we can to better understand this crisis, so we can fix this crisis.
Dedicated research funding is the way to do that. This bill was reported out of the Energy and Commerce Committee with unanimous support. It is bipartisan and bicameral.
commitment to all mothers across our country that we can and will do better. We will deliver for our moms—because our moms can't wait.
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6238, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.