,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fecc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #ag1 #bjbj,ms4
 ,escobar 7for herself and ,mrs4        
,hartzler7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,armed ,services1 and in  
addition to the ,committee on ,energy   
and ,commerce1 for a period to be       
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to authorize the ,secretary 
of ,defense to share with ,state and    
local health authorities the practices  
of1 and lessons learned by1 the military
 health system for the prevention of    
infant and maternal mortality4  #a4     
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,defeat ,infant and ,maternal       
,mortality ,act4  #b4 ,findings2 ,sense 
of ,congress  7a7 ,findings ,congress   
finds the following3 7#a7 ,according to 
a report by the ,department of ,defense 

published in ,july #bjai titled         
,maternal and ,infant ,mortality ,rates 
in the ,military ,health ,system1       
between ,january #bjji and ,june #bjah1 
the military health system achieved a   
pregnancy-related mortality ratio of    
#g4dj deaths per #ajj1jjj live births   
across both direct care and purchased   
card systems4 ,over the same period1 the
 ,national ,perinatal ,information      
,center ratio was a statistically       
significantly higher ratio of #aa4c     
deaths per #ajj1jjj live births4  7#b7  
,the same report by the ,department of  
,defense found that the military health 
system's infant mortality rate of #b4ea 
deaths per #a1jjj live births was       
statistically significantly lower than  
the ,national ,perinatal ,information   
,center rate of #d4gf deaths per #a1jjj 
live births4  7#c7 ,in the ,united      
,states1 the maternal mortality rate    
remains unfortunately high4 ,some       
,states experience rates as high as     
#bd4c deaths per #ajj1jjj live births4  

7#d7 ,a report by the ,centers for      
,disease ,control published in ,may     
#bjai on pregnancy-related deaths found 
that nearly #fj percent of such deaths  
are preventable with improved medical   
care4  7#e7 ,components of the          
,department of ,defense have previously 
entered into memoranda of understanding 
with ,state and local civilian health   
entities to better understand and       
improve public health trends1 such as   
unexpected child deaths4  7b7 ,sense of 
,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that civilian health entities could     
benefit from enhanced information       
sharing with the military health system 
regarding best practices for            
safeguarding mothers and infants during 
delivery4  #c4 ,information sharing by  
,secretary of ,defense regarding        
prevention of infant and maternal       
mortality  7a7 ,authorize information   
sharing ,the ,secretary of ,defense may 
enter into memoranda of understanding   
with ,state and local health authorities

 to share the practices of1 and lessons 
learned by1 the military health system  
for the prevention of infant and        
maternal mortality4  7b7 ,definition of 
,state ,in this section1 the term ,state
 means each ,state of the ,united       
,states1 the ,district of ,columbia1    
each commonwealth1 territory or         
possession of the ,united ,states1 and  
each federally recognized ,indian       
,tribe4