{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://clarke.house.gov/clarke-colleagues-demand-secretary-kennedy-to-address-the-black-maternal-health-crisis/", "CLARKE, COLLEAGUES DEMAND SECRETARY KENNEDY TO ADDRESS THE BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH CRISIS", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "NY", "Yvette D. Clarke", "C001067", "clarke.house.gov", "clarke", "https://clarke.house.gov/category/press-release/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 18, 2025\n\nMEDIA CONTACT:\n\ne: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov\n\nc: 202.913.0126\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Representatives Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Robin Kelly (IL-02) led a letter signed by 49 of their colleagues to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services demanding immediate action to address the Black maternal health crisis, which has only grown more severe under the second Trump Administration:\n\n\u201cNo woman in this country should face preventable harm while giving birth, yet the evidence shows that Black mothers face disproportionate, avoidable, and increasingly heightened risks. We demand that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) investigate these failures and outline the steps it will take to ensure that hospitals provide safe, timely, and equitable care to all patients. In the United States, Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at more than three times the rate of white women. This stark disparity persists across income, education, insurance status, and geography\u2014reflecting longstanding inequities in access, treatment, and responsiveness within maternal health care that warrant serious federal attention and oversight.\u201d The Members continued, \u201cBlack women deserve to enter labor and delivery units with confidence that their symptoms will be taken seriously and that their care will align with established medical standards. The maternal health crisis facing Black women demands urgent attention, stronger oversight, and meaningful accountability throughout the health care system.\u201d\n\nThe letter was signed by 51 Members of Congress: Becca Balint, Nanette Barrag\u00e1n, Joyce Beatty, Wesley Bell, Shontel Brown, Nikki Budzinski, Andr\u00e9 Carson, Kathy Castor, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Yvette D. Clarke, Herbert Conaway, Jasmine Crockett, Madeleine Dean, Suzan DelBene, Veronica Escobar, Dwight Evans, Valerie Foushee, Maxwell Frost, Steven Horsford, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Summer Lee, Doris Matsui, Lucy McBath, Sarah McBride, April McClain Delaney, LaMonica McIver, Gregory Meeks, Gwen Moore, Kelly Morrison, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Stacey Plaskett, Ayanna Pressley, Delia Ramirez, Deborah Ross, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Terri Sewell, Lateefah Simon, Marilyn Strickland, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres, Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Nikema Williams, and Frederica Wilson.\n\nFull text of the letter can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://clarke.house.gov/clarke-colleagues-demand-secretary-kennedy-to-address-the-black-maternal-health-crisis/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1475908104330301, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}