Supporting the goals and ideals of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, when any baby or child dies, there is deep grief for the hopes, dreams, and wishes that will never be. Left behind are a sense of loss and a need for understanding.

Every year, many lives are touched by miscarriage or the death of an infant or child. According to a 1996 study by the Center for Disease Control, 16 percent of the more than 6 million pregnancies that year ended in either a miscarriage or a stillbirth, and 26,784 births ended in infant death.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day, which will be held on October 15, will assist in bringing the process of healing to families and will help to heal families who are coping with and recovering from a miscarriage, stillbirth, or the loss of an infant.

Families will always struggle to cope with the devastating crisis of a miscarriage or loss of an infant child. Parents often cry, feel ill or depressed, or have other emotional responses for months or years after a death. The pain is a normal part of grieving. Parents often want to talk about their pain and are pleased when others take the time to listen. People who come into contact with a grieving family have a role in helping to resolve the family's grief. The role of each person will be determined by his or her relationship with the family and the family's stage of grief. As a community, we should remember that no one can take the pain away from a grieving family. We can, however, provide comfort, sympathy, and understanding.

There will always be the need for compassionate support for grieving families, and I hope that all Americans will take the time on October 15 to show their compassion for families that have experienced the loss of an infant or a child.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.

I too want to thank Representative Latham for bringing this resolution to the floor and stressing the importance to make people understand that a million babies lost a year, in addition to probably another million or so that are aborted deliberately, is a lot of lost lives.

Mr. Speaker, I think the importance of this resolution is to let people know that when couples have a miscarriage, it is a child. It might be for some people, well, it is just a miscarriage. They were only 6 weeks or they were only 9 weeks, and they did not even know whether it was a boy or girl.

But in the minds of that couple in many instances it is their very first pregnancy, and they are already thinking about that little boy or the little girl and what the name is going to be and the clothes that they are going to pick out and the joys they are going to have sending that child to school and raising it and seeing it play sports and become an adult some day and contribute to our great society.

We tend to forget that. And this was brought home to me pretty vividly recently when my daughter-in-law, pregnant with their first child, found out at 10 weeks that the baby did not have a heartbeat. And so that baby was lost. And she went on, of course, and miscarried. And that loss will be with them forever. And so I think it is just so important for us all to realize that when somebody, when you hear about somebody having a miscarriage, do not think, well, it was just a miscarriage, it is not like losing a child or an older child, which of course I do not know that anything compares to that.

But this is a significant loss. And that is why this resolution today is so important. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank Congressman Latham for bringing it forward and Congressman Davis as well.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support H. Con. Res. 222, a resolution commending the goals and ideals of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. As a practicing OB/GYN for almost 40 years, I know there are few things more devastating than losing a child to medical complications such as a miscarriage or a stillbirth. Americans should take every opportunity to provide comfort and support to people who have suffered such a grievous loss.

I also wish to pay tribute to the efforts of Mrs. Robyn Bear, who played an instrumental role in bringing this issue before Congress. Mrs. Bear's story is an inspirational example of how a dedicated individual can make something good come from even the most tragic circumstances. After suffering six first trimester miscarriages between 1997 and 1999, Mrs. Bear began working to create a support system for parents who lost their children because of medical complications during or shortly after pregnancy. Largely due to her efforts, Governors of all 50 States have signed proclamations recognizing National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Mrs. Bear has also been instrumental in founding several online support groups for families that have suffered the loss of an unborn or newborn child. Mrs. Bear's efforts were also the inspiration for this legislation. I am pleased to let my colleagues know that today Mrs. Bear is the proud mother of a 6-year old girl and 3-year old twins.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I once again urge my colleagues to support this bill. I also extend my thanks to Mrs. Robyn Bear for all her efforts to help parents who have lost a child due to a miscarriage, stillbirth, or other medical complications.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 222) supporting the goals and ideals of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it is an enormous tragedy to lose the life of a child, and it is a sad statistic that each year approximately 1 million pregnancies in the United States end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a newborn baby.

As this resolution states, even the shortest of lives are of great value, and the grief of the parents who lose their children cannot be underestimated. The Governors of all 50 States have joined together in designating October 15, 2006, as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day; and I hope all Members will join me in supporting the goals and ideal of this day as well.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my friend and a distinguished member of this House from the State of Iowa (Mr. Latham).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I want to urge all Members to support the adoption of House Concurrent Resolution 222, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, each year approximately 1 million pregnancies in the United States end in miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a newborn baby.

Most Americans are not aware of this startling statistic, because many of those affected grieve in silence, sometimes never coming to terms with their loss.

We can help by giving all parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives and friends a special day of remembrance. In addition, bringing attention to this issue will foster greater understanding in our communities of how to meet the needs of bereaved family members and focus attention on efforts to prevent pregnancy loss and newborn deaths.

The Governors of all 50 States have signed proclamations recognizing October 15 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, and the legislatures of at least eight States have passed resolutions recognizing this day each year on a permanent basis.

Congress can bring even greater national awareness to this important issue by proclaiming its support for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Taking this action will mean something special to millions of Americans that have been affected, especially the mothers.

I commend the resolution's 54 bipartisan cosponsors and the many citizens throughout the country and in my home State of Iowa whose efforts have made consideration of this resolution possible

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the adoption of this resolution which will offer the support to individuals and families who have lost a child through miscarriage, stillbirth or other complications.