Lankford, Colleagues’ Resolution Recognizing National Community Health Center Week Passes Senate

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — A Senate resolution introduced by US Senators James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the Senate Finance Committee and John Cornyn (R-TX), along with Senators John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Jim Justice (R-WV), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), designating August 2-8, 2026, as National Community Health Center Week, recently passed the Senate unanimously. You can read the full resolution text below or HERE . “Whereas, for over 60 years, community health centers have provided access to high-quality, affordable, comprehensive, preventive care for individuals in the United States, having a positive impact on the health system of the United States; Whereas, as the largest primary care network in the United States, over 1,500 community health centers provide high quality care for up to 52,000,000 individuals in 17,000 communities, such that 1 in 7 individuals across the United States and 1 in 3 in rural areas rely on community health centers; Whereas community health centers are an important element of the health system of the United States, serving rural, suburban, island, frontier, and urban communities, often as the only accessible and dependable source of primary care; Whereas community health centers are responding to the growing burden of chronic disease by expanding access to nutrition services and lifestyle counseling, reducing expensive emergency room visits and hospital admissions, and keeping the people of the United States healthy; Whereas community health centers integrate a wide range of services into primary care, such as mental health, dental, vision, hearing, and pharmacy services, creating a one-stop shop for all health-related needs; Whereas community health centers are uniquely governed by patient-majority boards, ensuring communities are fully engaged in the strategy of community health centers for improving care access and quality; Whereas community health centers are locally operated nonprofit organizations that empower local economies by generating nearly $262,000,000,000 in economic activity across the United States; Whereas community health centers nationally support 809,000 jobs, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, counselors, dentists, pharmacists, and community health workers on multidisciplinary teams; Whereas the community health center model of care is effective at overcoming barriers to access, improving health outcomes, and saving taxpayer dollars; Whereas, in 2025, community health centers provided cancer screening to nearly 11,000,000 patients and helped more than 4,000,000 patients control their hypertension and nearly 2,500,000 patients control their diabetes; Whereas community health centers are on the front lines of addressing opioid overdoses, responding to health care needs arising from natural disasters, expanding access to care for our veterans, and operating nearly 4,600 school-based sites and over 1,300 mobile units to reach people living in rural and remote areas; and Whereas National Community Health Center Week offers the opportunity to recognize the contributions of every community health center: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— honors the dedicated staff, board members, patients, and all those responsible for the continued success of community health centers since the first centers opened their doors 6 decades ago; celebrates the legacy of community health centers and their vital role in shaping the past, present, and future of the health system of the United States; supports the designation of the first week of August 2026, as “National Community Health Center Week”; and encourages all people of the United States to participate in National Community Health Center Week by visiting their local community health center and celebrating the important partnership between community health centers and the communities they serve.” ###