Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act of 2021

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of seven bills that originated in the Health Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce which I have the privilege to chair. These bipartisan bills address the following: health threats to newborns including stillbirth, newborn hearing loss, and birth defects; improving cardiac care and oral health literacy; providing needed mental health support to doctors and other health care professionals; and improving diversity in the allied health workforce.

H.R. 5487, the SHINE for Autumn Act of 2021 seeks to reduce the impact of stillbirth by increasing research and data collection to address the tragedy of the 24,000 babies who are stillborn in the U.S. every year. I thank my colleagues Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Markwayne Mullin, and Kathy Castor for authoring this legislation.

H.R. 5561, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2021 reauthorizes programs at the Health Resources and Services Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to address hearing loss in newborns. I thank my colleagues Reps. Brett Guthrie and Doris Matsui for authoring this legislation.

H.R. 5551, the Improving the Health of Children Act reauthorizes the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. This critical center at the CDC helps advance the health of babies born with birth defects, developmental disabilities, blood disorders and other disabilities. I thank my colleagues Reps. Buddy Carter and Lori Trahan for authoring this legislation.

H.R. 1193, the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act funds NIH and CDC research and public education for valvular heart disease. The bill is named in honor of Carol Leavell Barr, the wife of Rep. Andy Barr, who died last year of sudden cardiac arrest, and I thank him for authoring this legislation.

H.R. 1667, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act is named after Dr. Lorna Breen, an emergency department doctor who died by suicide last year. Physicians have the highest suicide rate of any profession, and this legislation provides grant funding for suicide- prevention and peer-support at healthcare facilities. It also helps ensure healthcare professionals can ask for mental health help without facing negative consequences in their careers. I thank Reps. Susan Wild and David McKinley for authoring this legislation.

H.R. 3320, the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2021 establishes a grant program to improve diversity in the physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology professions. I thank Reps. Bobby Rush and Markwayne Mullin for authoring this legislation.

H.R. 4555, the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act of 2021 directs the Health Resources and Services Administration to conduct a public education campaign to improve awareness of oral health. I thank Reps. Tony Cardenas and Gus Bilirakis for authoring this legislation.

I urge my colleagues to vote for these bills and I thank the members of the House Health Subcommittee and the bipartisan sponsors of each bill for their good work.

Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for this opportunity for us to pass these amazing bills.

Madam Speaker, I want to take note: The seven bills that we are discussing on the floor over the last hour and a half, which we will soon vote with the entire body of this House, all of those bills passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously. That means every Republican and Democrat voted ``yes.'' There were no ``no'' votes.

I feel it is important for us to mention that because when you look at the press, they think that all we are doing here is arguing, fussing, and fighting with each other, but we do work together.

To all of my Republican colleagues on the committee and Democratic colleagues on the committee, thank you so much for doing our job.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill with Congressman Bilirakis, the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act of 2021.

Oral health is whole body health. It is often neglected by parents who, unfortunately, lack resources and knowledge.

Oral health accounts for some of the deepest health disparities in all low-income families across America. For many, the cost of dental neglect can be detrimental, especially for children. Arthritis, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory skin disorders, gut issues, and more can all be caused or worsened by untreated tooth decay and oral disease.

According to the CDC, children who have poor oral health often miss more school and receive lower grades than children who don't. Even more alarming, Latino kids, like those in my district, experience two times more tooth decay and cavities than their White peers.

We can and must do better for our children and our country. Most of these issues can be prevented with access to the right information and resources. Our legislation will help low-income families and communities of color learn about the benefits of regular dental care and empower them to make better decisions on their overall oral health.

Madam Speaker, this is a picture of a child's mouth. Too many children across America are going through this pain, through this detrimental situation, because their parents don't understand that they can do better for their children with better practices and information. That is what this bill is about.

Once parents have access to information on the importance of healthy habits, they can prevent this kind of result. These tips help families and children maintain long-term oral hygiene at home. Through simple education and awareness campaigns, we will ensure families are better equipped to take control of their family's health.

We can't cut corners here, Madam Speaker. Let's start ensuring oral health is part of the conversation in every home every day as often as possible. It is the only way we will make sure that children across America do not suffer like this child has suffered.

I also want to say, once again, thank you to Chairman Pallone, House subcommittee Chairwoman Anna Eshoo, and all of my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, on the committee for passing this bill.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4555) to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a public education campaign across all relevant programs of the Health Resources and Services Administration to increase oral health literacy and awareness.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4555.

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

Madam Speaker, oral health is an important component of general health and well-being, but it is a big problem for many Americans. Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in both children and adults in the United States. More than one in four adults have untreated cavities, and nearly half of American adults show signs of gum disease.

Regular preventative dental care can catch these oral health problems early when they are easiest to treat. Unfortunately, less than half of Americans use the oral healthcare system. One of the best ways to promote oral healthcare is to increase oral health literacy.

H.R. 4555, the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act, will accomplish this by expanding oral health literacy programs. H.R. 4555 will authorize a public education campaign to increase oral health literacy and awareness across all relevant programs of the Health Resources and Services Administration.

This bill will also help us learn about the effectiveness of targeted oral health literacy campaigns, and it will inform future efforts to improve oral health literacy for all Americans.

I want to thank Representatives Cardenas and Bilirakis, members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, for their bipartisan work on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardenas), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee who is the lead sponsor of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I urge bipartisan support for this bill.

As Mr. Cardenas said, there is nothing, really, more important than oral health. We know there are so many times when poor dental care has led to much more severe problems of all sorts, so this is really an important bill.

Madam Speaker, I urge its support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak on H.R. 4555, the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act of 2021, sponsored by my Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues, Representatives Bilirakis and Cardenas.

We all know that oral health plays such an important role in an individual's overall health and well-being. A lack of proper oral hygiene has been proven to increase the risk of chronic health conditions.

However, good oral hygiene and dental checkups, in addition to increased education, can help patients avoid most oral health ailments. It is so important for kids to develop healthy habits at a young age.

This bill directs the Health Resources and Services Administration to develop a public education campaign to increase oral health literacy and awareness. By increasing such, the bill will promote good oral health habits and will help to prevent the development of avoidable, complex medical conditions in the future.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill. I remind them this bill, as I recall, passed unanimously in the committee and should not be a problem. I thank my chairman and ranking member for getting this bill to the House floor quickly.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would again urge my colleagues to support this bill passed unanimously in the greatest committee on the face of the Earth.

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

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.