HEARTS Act of 2024

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 6829 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Now, Mr. President, I have great, great, and wonderful news. Just now, after so much work, we have finally reached the end zone and are sending the HEARTS Act to the President's desk. We scored a touchdown for America's children. Today, the Senate unanimously passed the HEARTS Act, and with it, we are giving schools across America the tools they need to save lives.

Just yesterday, I was in Buffalo, NY, at Cheektowaga High School with Damar Hamlin and members of the community for this very cause: making sure that every school has AEDs and the ability to teach CPR.

Damar Hamlin's story is a powerful reminder that in a cardiac emergency, every minute counts. He learned that when he had his cardiac arrest on the football field, and all Americans learn that all the time. It is especially true when it comes to our children.

Over the past few months, Damar and I have worked tirelessly on the HEARTS Act so we can increase funding for schools to purchase more AEDs and ensure students and staff know how to use them. Many Members in both Chambers have likewise worked relentlessly on this bill. It is a bipartisan bill, it is a commonsense bill, and most importantly, it is a lifesaving bill.

Mr. President, this bill will save lives. When our young athletes have a cardiac arrest or need some other form of CPR, there will be the AED equipment at the school, and there will be trained personnel who know how to apply the AEDs and CPR. It is going to save lives. It is a beautiful thing.

I have to salute Damar Hamlin. After his bout with cardiac arrest, he went forward and said: I have to change this and get the AEDs available to everybody. He came and visited me in Washington. I said: I want to help. And together, we have been a great team.

I told Damar that passing this legislation, which has just happened, is his first Super Bowl ring; winning the Super Bowl, which I believe the Bills will do, will be his second Super Bowl ring.

With the passage of the HEARTS Act, we are putting AEDs within the reach of more schools and children. Studies show that schools with AEDs and CPR-trained staff are seven times--seven times--more likely to save a life during a cardiac emergency. That statistic is now a promise we are making to every parent, every teacher, every student in America, that they will have the resources they need.

I want to thank Damar Hamlin for his courage, his partnership, his dedication. He is both a strong man and a humble and modest man, a beautiful person. I count him as a friend. He turned a personal tragedy into a mission to save others. Again and again, Damar would tell me ``Let's make history'' on this bill, and today, history is being made.

I would like to thank the NFL for their support. I would like to thank the Buffalo Bills for their support. I would like to thank all of those who worked to make this possible. To every colleague here in this Chamber who helped get this bill across the finish line and to the staff who worked so hard on this bill, especially Gunnar Haberl, a proud member of the Bills Mafia--and we went to Cheektowaga High School. His father is a PE teacher there, and I met him yesterday as well. I can tell you, Mr. Haberl is so proud of what Gunnar has done. He is right here. Not Mr. Haberl--Gunnar. Gunnar, as I said, is a proud member of the Bills Mafia, who doggedly worked on this piece of legislation.

So today is a good day. Because of the HEARTS Act, more lives will be saved, more families will be whole, and more communities will be prepared.

And, of course, go Bills--on to the second Super Bowl ring for Damar.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 6829, the HEARTS Act. I am proud to have sponsored this legislation, which is inspired by two New Jersey families who each tragically lost a child to sudden cardiac arrest during high school sporting events.

Sadly, more than 2,000 children and adolescents die this way, unfortunately, every single year, and the bill aims to prevent future deaths of cardiac arrest by preparing schools to respond to cardiac emergencies when they occur.

It directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop guidelines on the placement of automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, in schools and to provide resources to help schools create and implement cardiac emergency response plans.

The legislation also supports CPR education and training among students, school personnel, coaches, and volunteers. It would also support the development of cardiac emergency response plans, which, along with AEDs and CPR, are integral to a coordinated, immediate, and effective response in the crucial minutes between the time when a victim collapses and when emergency medical services arrive.

The HEARTS Act will raise awareness about the causes of sudden cardiac arrest and ensure schools are more prepared to deal with cardiac emergencies so we can save lives. This legislation has the support of the American Heart Association and the Smart Heart Coalition, among others.

It is my hope the Senate will consider this legislation and restore the authorization level, which we reluctantly were required to remove in order to get this bill before us today to comply with the Speaker's CutGo protocol. The Speaker's protocol, in my opinion, is arbitrary, selectively enforced, and ill-advised because it hampers our ability to address the pressing public health issues of the day.

I am disappointed that although the bill as originally written was cleared in committee on a bipartisan basis with the funding authorization, the House Republican leadership reversed course and determined before floor consideration that it was not in compliance with the Speaker's protocol.

We are, nonetheless, moving forward today because we believe it is imperative to move this policy forward for the parents and student athletes who have suffered from this sudden cardiac arrest, and I remain committed to ensuring the enduring success of this program and to seek funding for it.

I thank Chair Rodgers for working closely with me on the legislation, as well as the New Jersey families who shared their stories with me and have advocated tirelessly for safer cardiac health and resources in our schools.

Mr. Speaker, I urge strong support for the bill, and I thank all the members of our committee for reporting this bill out on a bipartisan basis. It is important for our kids.

Mr. Speaker, I ask everyone to vote in support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6829) to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize and support the creation and dissemination of cardiomyopathy education, awareness, and risk assessment materials and resources to identify more at-risk families, to authorize research and surveillance activities relating to cardiomyopathy, 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 insert extraneous material into the Record on the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6829, the Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, and Research, and AED Training in the Schools Act, or the HEARTS Act, of 2024, led by Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone.

In the United States, more than 30,000 children are diagnosed with some form of cardiomyopathy, and more than 2,000 children and adolescents die from a sudden cardiac event each year.

Research and experience have shown that immediate use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, for short, or CPR can double or triple an individual's chance of survival.

The HEARTS Act of 2024 would authorize and support programs to coordinate related research, promote access to AEDs and CPR training, and raise public awareness of cardiomyopathy within schools, local health departments, and communities.

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.