{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/bipartisan-dental-health-bill-passes-house-heads-to-presidents-desk", "Bipartisan Dental Health Bill Passes House, Heads to President\u2019s Desk", "2018-12-03", "2018", "2018-12", "Democrat", "House", "HI", "Mazie Hirono", "H001042", "www.hirono.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 03, 2018\n\t\t\t Bipartisan Dental Health Bill Passes House, Heads to President's Desk \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Legislation introduced by Hirono, Booker, Cassidy, Scott would increase access to oral health care for underserved communities; the bill passed the Senate in October\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON,\r\nDC\r\nAfter passing the House of Representatives on last week, bipartisan legislation\r\nto improve access to dental health services will head to the President's desk\r\nto be signed into law. Senators Mazie K. Hirono, Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bill\r\nCassidy (R-La.), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) introduced the\r\nlegislation, the Action\r\nfor Dental Health Act of 2018, in June. The bill passed the Senate\r\nby unanimous consent in October.Dental\r\nhealth is critical to overall health outcomes, but far too many individuals and\r\nfamilies in Hawaii are unable to access the dental care they need,Senator\r\nHirono said. I thank my Senate and House colleagues for supporting the\r\nAction for Dental Health Act, which will expand access to critical dental care\r\nservices, especially in rural and underserved communities. By increasing access\r\nto regular and preventive care for the people of Hawaii, we can avoid more\r\nserious health outcomes down the road.\"Expanding\r\naccess to oral health in underserved communities is critically important for\r\nHawaii,\" said Hawaii Dental Association President Dr. Robert Baysa.\r\n\"Hawaii keiki have consistently lagged in key measures of oral health. We\r\nare encouraged that this legislation will make a difference.\"Oral\r\nhealth is an important part of overall health and well-being, but many\r\nindividuals  especially those from underserved communities  lack access to\r\ndental health essential services, Senator Booker said. This bipartisan\r\nbill is a meaningful step toward increasing families' access to oral health\r\ntreatment and preventive services. I'm grateful to my partners in Congress for\r\ntheir bipartisan leadership on this important issue. \"Dental\r\nhealth and oral care are important facets of overall health. The zip code you\r\nare born in shouldn't affect your access to good care and education,\" Senator\r\nScott said. \"I am glad that both houses of Congress have passed the\r\nAction for Dental Health Act and look forward to it being signed into law. I\r\nhave no doubt that this will positively impact those in underserved\r\ncommunities.\"Soon\r\nthis bill will be signed into law by President Trump, giving underserved\r\ncommunities and disadvantaged patients better access to oral health care and education,\r\nDr. Cassidy said. I'm proud to have worked on a bipartisan basis to\r\npass this bill.The\r\nlegislation will create the Action for Dental\r\nHealth Program, which seeks to improve oral health by increasing\r\nprevention and reducing barriers to dental services, particularly for\r\nunderserved rural and urban communities in order to reach vulnerable\r\npopulations. The Action for Dental Health Act\r\nalso expands a grant program to encourage states to strengthen their oral health workforce in areas of need. The\r\nSenate's companion bill in the House, H.R.\r\n2422, was introduced by Representatives Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) and\r\nMike Simpson, DMD (R-Idaho).America's leading dental health organizations\r\nsupport the Action for Dental Health Act, including the American Dental\r\nAssociation, the National Dental Association, American Dental Education\r\nAssociation, Academy of General Dentistry, Oral Health America, American\r\nAssociation of Women Dentists, and several other groups. ###  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/bipartisan-dental-health-bill-passes-house-heads-to-presidents-desk"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0035508312284946, "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"}