National Clinical Care Commission Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 920) to establish a National Clinical Care Commission.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material in the Record.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 920, the National Clinical Care Commission Act, a bipartisan bill that has received unanimous support within both the House and the Senate Chambers. S. 920 is the Senate companion to my bill, H.R. 309, which is cosponsored by over half of my House colleagues.

It has this level of support because our Nation faces an epidemic. Diabetes or prediabetes affects over 100 million Americans. Nearly one in three of our neighbors is affected.

This legislation will also help many others who are affected by other diseases like heart disease, obesity, and many others.

When I first came to Congress in 2009, it was crystal clear that we had a big problem. The benefits of all the Federal research dollars going into these diseases were simply not making their way to patients. Researchers at the NIH, the CDC, the DOD, the VA, and the FDA weren't sharing diabetes research. Who knows? Sharing information may have put us on a path to cure diabetes.

It was clear then, and it is still clear today: we need a laser-like approach to improve patient care by pursuing a strong Federal focus on research.

This bill accomplishes that goal by creating a National Clinical Care Commission comprised of doctors who specialize in diabetes care for patients.

This commission will have 3 years to strengthen the partnership between Federal stakeholders and health professionals who will bring hands-on, clinical experience to improve care.

This is not a new, unending bureaucracy. After 3 years, this commission will sunset. In 3 years, it will be gone.

We have already made such a huge investment of taxpayer dollars into research. It is time to leverage that investment into meaningful prevention and effective treatment options.

President Reagan once said: ``There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.''

That is why I stand here today in strong support of my bill, which became Senator Shaheen's bill, because this bill will help so many Americans who are suffering from diabetes.

So today I ask my colleagues to again help all those who suffer from diabetes and other complex metabolic and autoimmune disorders by voting for S. 920.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Iowa for those kind words, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, short and sweet. This is a good bill. It is the first step towards actually funding a cure for diabetes. Maybe we will do that. By the way, it leaves here and will be signed into law before this week ends. I urge my colleagues to vote ``aye'' when this vote comes up for a final passage vote.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Illinois (Mr. Rush) for yielding time to me today to speak on this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of S. 920, the National Clinical Care Commission Act. S. 920, as was mentioned already, creates a commission comprised of clinical endocrinologists, other physician specialists, primary care physicians, healthcare professionals, patients, and representatives from the Federal agencies most involved in diabetes care.

The commission is charged with making recommendations to streamline Federal investments in diabetes, to improve the coordination and clinical care outcomes for people with diabetes, prediabetes, and other insulin-related metabolic and autoimmune diseases.

Passage of this legislation will help the Nation undertake more and innovative approaches to diabetes and its disease complications, for which the United States spends some $322 billion annually.

I urge the Secretary also to move expeditiously to set up the commission so it can begin its important work as soon as possible. Clinical training and expertise in diabetes and other insulin-related diseases will be needed to lead the commission, and it is my hope that a clinical endocrinologist will be chosen to serve as the chairperson of the commission. I think that is very important.

With a clinical endocrinologist as chair and representatives from other medical specialities, healthcare professions, and patient advocacy groups, serving alongside with Federal diabetes experts, the commission created under S. 920 will help to ensure that new innovative medications and devices are

effectively translated to the clinical setting for the benefit of patients. That clinical translation is so important.

The work of the commission will help improve the lives of the tens of millions of Americans living with diabetes while simultaneously beginning the process of reducing the staggering impact of diabetes and its disease complications and the dollars that, as has already been mentioned, are associated with that.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank in particular Representative Olson for his persistence, as was already mentioned, and for sponsoring this bill in the House. I was very happy to lead the way as the Democrat on this side of the aisle on this bill, and for my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who supported this bill that enabled House passage of the legislation earlier, as was mentioned, and now we are finally going to get it over the finish line. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Olson in particular for his efforts on this.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 920, the National Clinical Care Commission Act.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation aims to help improve Federal efforts to treat and to prevent metabolic and autoimmune disorders related to insulin.

The most common metabolic disorder in the U.S. is diabetes, which affects more than 25 million Americans. Another 86 million Americans have prediabetes, a condition associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Mr. Speaker, diabetes takes a huge toll on human health; in fact, it is the seventh leading cause of death in our Nation.

Additionally, Mr. Speaker, all too often diabetes leads to avoidable complications, such as blindness, such as limb amputation, and also kidney failure.

In addition to the effects on human health, Mr. Speaker, diabetes care makes up a large percentage of U.S. healthcare expenditure.

Mr. Speaker, currently $1 of every $5 of healthcare cost is spent caring for people with diabetes. The proportion of Medicare funding is even greater than this. Currently, $1 of every $3 of Medicare expenditure is spent caring for people with diabetes.

Mr. Speaker, that is why it is important to improve the Federal efforts that prevent avoidable cases of diabetes and other metabolic disorders, and to ensure that all Americans have the treatment and the management services necessary to successfully manage this and other similar conditions.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation was previously passed in the 114th Congress and again at the beginning of the 115th Congress. I am pleased to see that the Senate took action on this legislation to support passage of this bill into law.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on S. 920, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Loebsack).

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

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of S. 920, the National Clinical Care Commission Act, sponsored by Senator Shaheen.

This legislation has been around for a while. It has been championed in the House by our good friend and fellow Texan, Representative Pete Olson, as H.R. 309. This bill has strong bipartisan support. It passed this House unanimously earlier this year.

Diabetes and other endocrine disorders have been a great cost burden on Medicare and, in fact, our Nation's healthcare system in general. Thirty million Americans have diabetes, 84 million Americans have prediabetes, and three out of four Americans on Medicare have diabetes or prediabetes. And $1 out of every $3 Medicare spends is spent on diabetes.

This bill will establish a clinical care commission to evaluate and recommend solutions for better coordination and use of Federal programs aimed at improving care for people with diabetes and other related endocrine disorders. This commission will be tasked with identifying gaps where new approaches are needed, eliminating duplication across Federal agencies, and leveraging the Federal resources and tools available to enhance the quality of patient care.

I am confident their work will improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans living with diabetes and with other endocrine disorders while beginning the process of reducing the staggering impact of these diseases.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to thank and commend our colleague, Representative Pete Olson, for spearheading this important initiative. I want to thank him for bringing it to the floor of the House as many times as he has. This has been a lengthy process, but today, with the passage of this bill, we are voting on final passage, and this bill will be sent to the President's desk for signature. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Olson's long and arduous journey now will be completed with the passage of this bill, and we should all look forward to that.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 47, S. 920.

Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the Shaheen amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.