Underwood Secures Commitment to Close Gaps in Health Care Policy at DHS as Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Announces Creation of New Medical Office
WASHINGTON – In response to policy changes secured by Representative Lauren Underwood (IL-14) and Chairwoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced major improvements to the Department's medical and public health efforts. Due to a provision in the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus secured by Rep. Underwood and Chairwoman Roybal-Allard, DHS will be reorganizing its medical and public health efforts into a single new executive management office led by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO). The current structure, in which the CMO is housed in DHS's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, has led to disjointed and isolated medical efforts in the Department. Secretary Mayorkas thanked Underwood for spearheading this effort during the hearing.
"When I first came to Congress, I saw a disjointed and confusing medical system with migrant health records being kept on scraps of paper, causing health oversight at DHS to quickly become one of my top priorities. This announcement means that DHS will finally have essential tools and resources it needs to protect our domestic health security, keep communities safe, and provide humane care for migrants,"said Underwood.
Underwood also voiced her concerns about disinformation targeting Spanish-speaking voters.
"One of my main concerns about disinformation is that foreign adversaries attempt to destabilize our elections by targeting people of color in disinformation campaigns. After it became clear that there was foreign meddling in the 2016 election, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence authored a report that found that ‘no single group of Americans was targeted by IRA information operatives more than African-Americans.'
"A newer trend that we saw in the 2020 election, and already in the 2022 midterms, is that disinformation is being heavily targeted at Spanish-speaking voters – sparking and fueling conspiracy theories,"said Underwood.
Underwood asked Secretary Mayorkas what steps DHS has taken to address mis- and disinformation in Spanish and other languages. Securing U.S. elections from foreign interference has been one of Underwood's top priorities since her time as chair of the Homeland Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation Subcommittee in the 116th Congress.
Full video of Underwood's remarks can be found here.
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