Joe Barton

Mr. BARTON of Texas

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to just ask that we strongly support the Sherrod Brown bill.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), one of our subcommittee chairmen.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 250 which recognizes community organization of public access defibrillation programs. The Committee on Energy and Commerce favorably reported this resolution by voice vote last week. Coronary heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States. It is often the case that lives are either saved or lost in those first few critical moments when an individual suffers from cardiac arrest. Fortunately, medical technology and life-saving equipment are improving every day. New, portable medical devices called ``automated external defibrillators'' are often used to deliver life- saving treatment on the scene. I can give a personal example of an individual in my district, Mr. Gary Terry, who was going through the Austin airport several years ago when he suffered a massive heart attack just as he went through security checkpoint. Luckily, the city of Austin had just installed these defibrillators at the airport, and it has on videotape the emergency technicians grabbing the defibrillator, putting it on Mr. Terry's chest and literally bringing him back to life. Mr. Terry is alive and well today because one of these devices was in the Austin international airport in Austin, Texas. Over the past 6 years, Congress has enacted several laws to expand the use of automatic external defibrillators. H. Con. Res. 250 recognizes the growing number of community activist organizations and municipal governments leading the national effort to establish public access defibrillation programs and encourages the continued development and implementation of programs in a variety of community venues. Madam Speaker, I would urge that all Members adopt this resolution. Also, I want to thank my good friend, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown), for his sponsorship of this legislation. It shows his commitment to a healthier community that he would take the time to be the leader on this important legislation. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam 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 H. Con. Res. 250.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 250) recognizing community organization of public access defibrillation programs.

Mr. BARTON of Texas

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time. To close the debate, let me simply say I think we have seen in this debate not just the bipartisan support but the unanimous support this bill has. Whether my colleagues represent metropolitan New York City or the suburbs of Chicago or the hurricane-ravaged plains of Florida, the prairies of Texas, or Southern California, we are all hooked up to the Internet; and we all have constituents who are outraged that as they do their Internet shopping and browsing and surfing, these insidious programs called spyware can infect their computers without their permission. Unfortunately, right now it is not even illegal. What this bill does is make it illegal, and it gives the Federal Trade Commission the authority to impose significant civil fines for using this spyware. I would also like to point out that thanks to the strong work of the committee staff on both sides of the aisle, we have a bill that the business community supports. Microsoft, the Software Business Alliance, Yahoo, Time Warner who owns AOL, they all support this. Ebay supports this bill. We are going to put those statements of support in the Record at this point. TimeWarner, September 21, 2004. Hon. Joe Barton, Hon. John Dingell, House Energy and Commerce Committee, House of Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Barton and Representative Dingell: On behalf of TimeWarner and its AOL division, I would like to express our support for H.R. 2929, the Safeguard Against Privacy Invasions Act, which was authored by Representatives Bono and Towns and approved by your Committee in June. Battling spyware is one of AOL's top business and policy priorities. Spyware is a growing concern for all Internet users, wreaking havoc with consumers' computers and undermining their online experience. We believe that spyware must be addressed on many fronts, including through legislation, technology, and consumer education. We have been pleased to work closely with the House Energy and Commerce Committee over the past several months on this legislation. H.R. 2929 will provide some important tools in the fight against spyware, outlawing destructive behaviors that can deceive and defraud consumers through the use of unauthorized software. We appreciate all of the improvements you have made and continue to make to this bill as it moves through the process, and we are hopeful that, along with legislation that has been approved by the Judiciary Committee, it will soon be considered on the House Floor. The time is right for strong and effective federal spyware legislation. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with you and your Committee on this topic, and are eager to see this bill move forward so that consumers and legitimate businesses can enjoy additional anti-spyware protections in the near future. Sincerely, Jennifer Jacobsen, Vice President, Global Public Policy.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. We think we have the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), subcommittee chairman, on his way; but other than that we have no other speakers.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York who just spoke for his excellent leadership on this bill. It is a better bill because of his efforts. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono), who, along with the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns), was an original cosponsor of the original bill.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), the distinguished subcommittee chairman.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today the House is considering legislation to protect consumers against Internet spying. Internet spying is all too common. Many consumers are totally unaware that even that their computers can be infected with programs that monitor their activity on the Internet and transfer private information to third parties. At the least, this private information is used to drive the annoying pop-up ads that we see when we turn on our computers. At its very worst, spyware is used by unscrupulous operators to steal financial information and even the individual who owns the computer's personal identity. The term spyware is used to describe a number of nefarious activities on the Internet, all involve spying or stealing information about consumers without their permission. These activities include: Key stroke logging, in which all of the computer user's key strokes are recorded and sent to a third party; homepage highjacking, in which spyware takes control of the computer, highjacks the individual user's homepage to a commercial or in some case a pornographic site; phishing, in which spyware directs false messages to computer users purporting to be from reputable merchants to steal credit card or other financial information from the user for the use of the third party. Spyware is downloaded on to a computer without the knowledge of the user. Computers can be infected just by visiting Web sites that cause spyware to be downloaded on to any computer visiting that site. We tested some of the computers in the Committee on Energy and Commerce. We discovered that these computers had been infected with many pieces of spyware, I believe the number was over 60, and that some of it did direct information to third parties about the use of those computer. All of this was done without any notice to the owners of those computers. I would also point out that this was done by getting through at least two fire walls, the House of Representatives' fire wall and the Committee on Energy and Commerce's fire wall. Technological development moves quickly, much faster than the regulatory or legislative process. It has taken the House 5 years to give regulators additional tools to combat spam, for instance. I am told that the Federal Trade Commission has not brought any cases against purveyors of spyware to date. Our reaction to spyware is the exception to this rule. In town meetings in my congressional district in Texas just this past August, my constituents unanimously expressed outrage at the brazenness of spyware and exhibited a strong desire for us to act as soon as possible against this insidious disease. Every Member that I have spoken with on both political parties wants to take action to fight spyware. Some have heard from constituents. One of our subcommittee chairmen experienced the effects of spyware firsthand when his own homepage was highjacked. Today, on a bipartisan basis, it is my hope that we will pass this legislation to combat spyware. The legislation before us would prohibit the sets of practices like highjacking a consumer's homepage. It would prohibit keystroke logging. It would prohibit sending ads that cannot be closed except by shutting down the computer. It would also provide for a prominent opt-in for consumers prior to downloading any monitoring software under that consumer's computer. I believe that consumers should be given notice and have the right to consent before monitoring software that collects information about them is added to their computers. The legislation before us would also require that monitoring software be easily disabled at the direction of the consumer. It would also provide for FTC, Federal Trade Commission, enforcement with significant monetary penalties for those who knowingly violate the act. While criminal penalties may be appropriate for the most egregious behavior, I believe we have an obligation to provide additional protection to consumers' online information by having these civil fines that the FTC would enforce. Importantly, the SPY ACT before us regulates information-collection programs. These are programs that have the capability to collect personally identifiable information and either transmit that information to a third party or use that information to deliver or display advertising on the computer. The SPY ACT requires companies that are sending ads to the computers to identify with each ad the information collection program that is generating the ad. With this disclosure, consumers will know who is bombarding them with ads and will be able to make their own decision as to whether they wish to be so bombarded. The SPY ACT sets up a uniform national rule. Internet commerce is inherently interstate in nature. We need one set of rules for such commerce. I want to commend a number of Members for their strong work on this bill. First of all, I would like to thank the bill's sponsor, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono). It is she who has taken the lead to introduce the bill last October when most of us, myself included, had little knowledge of exactly what spyware was. She has been a tireless educator to many of us on its dangers and has worked tirelessly to improve the bill. She has brought dynamic leadership on technology issues to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and her commonsense approach on this legislation has brought the issue to the floor expeditiously. I want to commend her for her strong work. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns), the co-sponsor of the original legislation with the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono), he too has been a great bipartisan partner in this project. He made important contributions to the areas of network- and computer-based security. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection has been a key leader on all privacy related issues in this Congress. He has held eight hearings on privacy matters in this Congress and worked with the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) to perfect the legislation that is before us today. I would also like to commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the ranking minority member and the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) the ranking subcommittee member, for their excellent work at the subcommittee and full committee. We have had truly a bipartisan effort to perfect this legislation and bring it to the floor today. It shows what can happen when Members on both sides of the aisle work together towards a common purpose. The bill before us is a significant improvement on the original bill. And it is a result of the fine work that has been done by all Members on all sides of the aisle. This is a good bill. It has passed the Committee on Energy and Commerce overwhelmingly. Anybody who has held a town meeting on this can tell you automatically that our constituents are opposed to spyware and want us to do something to protect their privacy as soon as possible. Madam Speaker, I hope that we pass this overwhelmingly. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. 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 H.R. 2929.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2929) to protect users of the Internet from unknowing transmission of their personally identifiable information through spyware programs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. BARTON of Texas

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4555, the Mammography Quality Standards Act. I want to commend my good friend and ranking minority member, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) for bringing the bill forward. It is particularly fitting that the House is considering this bill today, as the month of October is formally recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is estimated that this year over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Like many other diseases, early detection of breast cancer is critical to saving lives. Right now, mammograms are the best screening tool available to women to help detect breast cancer at an early age. In 1992, Congress enacted the Mammography Quality Standards Act to ensure that all women have access to quality mammography for the detection of breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. The MQSA provides that screening and diagnostic services must be accredited and certified by the Food and Drug Administration. H.R. 4555 reauthorizes the Act through fiscal year 2007. The bill includes a new provision to permit the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a temporary renewal certificate or a limited provisional certificate to any facility seeking reaccreditation under MQSA. The legislation also permits the Secretary to appoint individuals with expertise in mammography equipment to the National Mammography Quality Assurance Advisory Committee and grants the advisory committee greater flexibility in how many times the committee must meet annually. Mr. Speaker, this is a good piece of legislation and I would encourage my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. 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 this legislation.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H. R. 4555) to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend provisions relating to mammography quality standards, as amended.

Mr. BARTON of Texas

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself of such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2023, the Asthmatic Schoolchildren's Treatment and Health Management Act, sponsored by the Energy and Commerce subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns). Over the past 15 years, the number of Americans diagnosed with asthma has nearly doubled to an estimated 17 million people, including 5 million children. The Federal Government has invested significant resources to strengthen and improve asthma research and prevention activities. The Department of Health and Human Services fiscal 2005 budget request includes approximately $321 million for direct asthma programs. When asthma strikes, airways in the lungs become inflamed and constricted, causing coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing. Each year, nearly half a million Americans are hospitalized and, unfortunately and sadly, more than 5,000 die from asthma. Several medications, when properly administered in a timely fashion, are now available to treat asthma and/or anaphylaxis. Unfortunately, some schools do not permit students to self-administer medication for asthma even though the parent or guardian of the student has authorized the use of the medication and it is recommended by a health care provider, resulting in an unnecessary delay of potentially life-saving treatments. H.R. 2023 directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give preference when making asthma-related grants to States that require schools to allow students to self-administer medications. H.R. 2023 does not federally mandate that States allow children to carry prescribed asthma medication in schools. The intent of the bill is to incentivize States to do the right thing by granting preference for asthma-related health program dollars to the States that have regulations that put the parents' and the children's safety first. Mr. Speaker, I can say, as one of the founding members of Asthma Awareness Day here on Capitol Hill, I am very proud that now as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, with the strong support and leadership of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), we can bring this bill forward. I would urge its adoption. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield the balance of my time to manage the bill to the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).

Mr. BARTON of Texas. 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 H.R. 2023, as amended.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2023) to give a preference regarding States that require schools to allow students to self-administer medication to treat that student's asthma or anaphylaxis, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. BARTON of Texas

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

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me in summary again commend the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) and all the folks on the minority side that worked with us on this. I want to thank again the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt) for his work. This bill is going to pass on suspension, which shows how noncontroversial and bipartisan this particular issue is. But this is a bill that is worthy of considerable celebration because if you have a family member that has diabetes and you have to watch and sometimes help them get their insulin injections, the ability to get an islet cell transplant revolutionizes their life. It is just amazing. Our problem is that there just are not enough organ donations to make it possible to do this for many people. Hopefully, this legislation will make it possible to get more donations and, over time, perhaps even do the research that can result in being able to replicate the islet cells so that every diabetic in the country that wants one of these transplants can get that. So I cannot say in stronger terms how happy I am to bring this to the floor, and I would urge unanimous adoption of the bill.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strongest possible support of H.R. 3858, the Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation Act of 2004, introduced by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt). The Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation Act is short and simple. It requires the pancreata donated for the purposes of islet cell transplantation or research be counted for purposes of certification or recertification of organ procurement organizations. Islet cell transplantation is a procedure where islet cells are removed from a donor pancreas and transferred into another person. Once implanted, the beta cells in these islets begin to make and release insulin. H.R. 3858 will help to increase the number of pancreatic and other organ donations, expanding the capabilities of pancreatic islet cell research. My family is very active in raising the awareness of diabetes. My father, Larry Barton, died of complications from diabetes, and my wife, Terry Barton, is executive director of the Tarrant County Chapter of the American Diabetes Association. So I know personally how excited people are about islet cell transplantation. It may help people with certain type 1 diabetes live without daily injections of insulin, which is very exciting. It is my hope that this legislation will help to speed this research forward. Mr. Speaker, I cannot urge in any stronger possible terms that all Members support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to include extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3858) to amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the supply of pancreatic islet cells for research, and to provide for better coordination of Federal efforts and information on islet cell transplantation.