Speech #910169712

Mr. President. I was gratified by Senate passage of S. 2660. a bill that will enable us to further meet the great health needs of our migrant workers. As a coauthor. I strongly support Senate adoption of this measure which authorizes appropriations of $20 million for 1971. $25 million for 1972. and $30 million for 1973. to upgrade and expand the health services. facilities. and resources available to migrant workers and their families under the Migrant Health Act of 1962. The need for this greater commitment is manifest. Despite the great health needs of the. migrant population. the hearings disclosed that the per capita Federal expenditure for those served by migrant health project facilities totaled $12 in 1968. compared with a national health expenditure of about. $250 per capita. Dr. Roger Egeberg. Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs. Department of Health. Education. and Welfare. testifying in expression of President Nixons support for the bill. described the special health problems of the migrant population. In the counties these people call "home." the infant mortality rate is estimated at onefourth higher than the national average. Those diseases associated with poor nutrition and environment and povertyparasitic infections and tuberculosisare common. Nutritionally based diseases such as beriberi. pellagra. scurvy. and rickets are found and iron deficiency anemia is common. Dental decay is nearly universal. These diseases. which to most of us are nothing more than scarcely remembered words from 17th century literature are reality to the migrant workers. These diseases arise from the absence of preventive health care associated with those who are not regularly under the supervision of trained medical personnel. The life style of the migrants has traditionally made such care difficult if not impossible. In those instances when States and localities have attempted to respond to the unique problems of the migrants they have often encountered insurmountable difficultiesthe migrants are "here today and gone tomorrow." Some do not speak English. They fear community hostility and are not familiar with modern health facilities. These frightful circumstances. which Dr. Egeberg characterized as conspiring to make migrants "forgotten citizens." coupled with the unequal dispersion of migrant groups across the country. combine to require a dynamic and long term national commitment. Faustina Solis. project director of the Farm Workers Health Service. California State Department of Public Health. testifying in support of this measure. called for a long term extension of the Migratory Health Act as the only way of assuring that the migrant population receives the priority care that the need in that group requires. States and local communities have developed programs utilizing Migrant Health Act funds. but. as is the case in my State. there is much yet to be done. The State of California initiated programs for migratory laborers in 1961. With the cooperation of State and local medical societies and other voluntary and public agencies strides have been made.