Whereas for over 50 years, community health centers have provided high-quality, affordable, and comprehensive primary and preventive health care in our Nation’s underserved communities, delivering value to, and having a significant impact on America’s health care system; Whereas the country’s largest primary care network, community health centers are the health care home for 30,000,000 Americans in over 14,000 communities across the Nation; Whereas 1 in every 12 people in the United States gets care in a community health center; Whereas community health centers are a critical element of the health system, serving both rural and urban communities, and often providing the only accessible and dependable source of primary care in their communities; Whereas nationwide, community health centers serve 1 in every 5 residents of rural areas; Whereas every day, community health centers develop new approaches to integrating a wide range of services beyond primary care, including oral health, vision, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, to meet the needs and challenges of their communities; Whereas community health centers are governed by patient-majority boards, ensuring that the patients of each health center are engaged in their own health care decisions; Whereas community health centers are locally owned and operated small businesses that serve as critical economic engines, helping to power local economies by generating $54,600,000,000 in economic activity in some of the country’s most economically deprived communities; Whereas community health centers nationally employ more than 236,000 people, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives who work as part of multi-disciplinary clinical teams designed to treat the whole patient