Improving the Health of Children Act

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.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5551, the Improving the Lives of Children Act. I sponsored this bipartisan legislation alongside Representatives Buddy Carter, G. K. Butterfield, and Henry Cuellar, because the work being done at the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities is tremendously important to many millions of families across our Nation.

Approximately 1 in 6 children in the United States are affected by some form of developmental disability. They include a diverse range of conditions, including ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, fragile X syndrome, and Tourette syndrome, just to name a few.

Some of these conditions have the ability to seriously impact children's lives by limiting motor ability, cognitive development, verbal communication, and behavioral development, and they often last throughout a person's lifetime

For some developmental disabilities, we know the causes and the risk factors, but for so many others, we don't. That is why the research and advancements at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities continue to be so crucial.

Since its creation in 2000, the center's dedicated staff have created a roadmap to a world where babies are born healthy, children are empowered to reach their full potential, and families are able to thrive. But there is still so much work to be done.

That is why my legislation reauthorizes the center for the first time in 15 years and provides it with the funding and resources necessary to support more than a dozen essential programs.

This bipartisan bill is key to identifying developmental disabilities early and bolstering doctors' capacity to intervene, both of which experts agree are critical in improving children's ability to learn new skills and reducing the financial burden on families.

Mr. Speaker, when children and adults with disabilities receive the care and services they need, their quality of life improves dramatically.

The goal of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities is to ensure that every person with a disability has access to the support they need from a young age, and our legislation helps achieve it.

That is why it is supported by so many individuals and families across America who want nothing more than for Congress to advance policies that give people living with disabilities the dignity, respect, and opportunities they need to succeed.

I look forward to casting my vote in favor of this legislation, and I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in doing the same.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5551) to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5551.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 5551, the Improving the Health of Children Act, which reauthorizes the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. This center was established by Congress in 2000 to improve the health of millions of our Nation's most vulnerable citizens, our infants and children, people with disabilities, and people with blood disorders. It is the only center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention whose mission focuses on these populations.

Birth defects, Mr. Speaker, affect 1 in 33 babies and are a leading cause of infant death in the United States. Children with birth defects who survive often experience lifelong physical and mental disabilities. In addition, over 500,000 children are diagnosed with a developmental disability each year.

Blood disorders such as sickle cell disease, anemia, and hemophilia, affect millions of people each year in the United States, cutting across the boundaries of age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status.

So H.R. 5551, sponsored by Representatives Carter and Trahan, reauthorizes the work of this center for 5 years and helps maintain the programmatic focus of the center.

It has been 15 years since the last authorization, and the importance of the center's work continues to grow. Whether it be supporting partnerships to continue research on autism or coordinating a rapid response to Zika, the center plays a critical role in preventing birth defects and helping people with disabilities and blood disorders live healthy and productive lives.

So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill so that we can ensure vital surveillance and research continue to focus on the well-being of people with birth defects, disabilities, and blood disorders.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Democratic sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support on a bipartisan basis, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and ranking member for bringing this important legislation to the floor. The Improving the Health for Children Act is up for vote today. It is an extremely important bill.

As we all know, the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities does phenomenal work to protect, prevent, and research birth defects and intellectual disabilities for a wide range of conditions.

They also provide much needed educational resources to parents and caregivers about the conditions a child may have, and they work to raise awareness about conditions that may be hard to identify.

Unfortunately, the center has been operating under an expired authorization since 2007. We must not forgo our commitment to these children.

This legislation reaffirms congressional support of the center, expands their scope to study more conditions, and provides an increase, per authorization, so that they can continue to carry out the great work they do.

I want to thank the bipartisan supporters of this legislation for the help in authoring this bill, Representatives Trahan, Cuellar, Butterfield, and Hudson, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on passage of this important legislation today.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5551, the Improving the Health of Children Act, led by my Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues, Representatives Carter and Trahan.

Birth defects, unfortunately, are very common in the United States. According to recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, 1 in every 33 babies are born with a birth defect each year, and birth defects are the leading cause of death for all babies.

H.R. 5551 reauthorizes through 2026 the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, which has been critical to improving the lives of children with birth defects and their families.

This would reestablish critical programming related to birth defects, intellectual disabilities, and child development in order to bolster the center's research efforts and improve more lives.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.