Michael Burgess

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Child's Advocacy Center for Denton County for breaking ground today on its new facility in Lewisville, TX. The CACDC has been helping heal the wounds of child abuse in the Denton area for over 10 years, and this new facility will allow the Center to increase its work to match the demands of a growing community. The CACDC began in 1994 as a task force comprised of representatives from the District Attorney's office, Child Protective Services, law enforcement, professionals in abuse-related fields, and community members. The Center became fully operational in 1997 as a safe place where child victims could be interviewed and counseled during investigations into child abuse. Today, the center is a non-profit agency governed by a volunteer board of directors. Prior to the formation of the Center, children were often subject to questioning in frightening places such as a police station. Investigators often lacked specialized training in child abuse issues, and there was no system in place to ensure that victims were offered treatment or referred to community resources. The CACDC provides a welcoming area to counsel victims of child abuse, is able to refer victims to other helpful community resources, and fights to ensure that abusers are held accountable for their wrongs. The Center is able to ease the pain and future negative impact of child abuse by giving children the care and encouragement they need to move forward after these traumatic events. The CACDC will now build a brand new 14,000 square foot building to use as its primary facility for dealing with child abuse cases. I am especially proud of all the community leaders, as well as members of my staff, who have helped make this dream a reality. I am honored to represent the people of the Child's Advocacy Center for Denton County in the 26th District of Texas, and I wish them the best of luck as they break ground today.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1014. This legislation encourages manufacturers of drugs and devices to report to the Food and Drug Administration gender and race-specific information on their products. The legislation also authorizes the Secretary to develop a public awareness campaign relating to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases in women. Lastly, the bill authorizes the WISEWOMAN program at the Centers for Disease Control which provides heart disease and stroke prevention screening, such as tests for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, to low-come uninsured and underinsured women. I urge Members to support the bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, in deference to the primary sponsor of the bill, I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I would just also make the observation that September is Infant Mortality Awareness Month, so it's appropriate that we're passing the bill at this time. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of S. 1760, the Healthy Start Reauthorization Act of 2007. I want to commend Congressman Towns and Congressman Upton of Michigan on this bill. This bill reauthorizes the Healthy Start Program. In the United States, each year, approximately 6 million women become pregnant. Most women have a safe pregnancy and deliver a healthy infant, but that's not the experience for all. Healthy Start provides services tailored to the needs of high-risk pregnancies--to high-risk pregnant women, infants and their mothers in geographically, racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities with exceptionally high rates of infant mortality--in an effort to reduce the factors that contribute to that high infant mortality rate, particularly among minority groups. It is an important program which deserves reauthorization. That's why I'm happy to support it this evening. I urge Members to support this legislation. I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1532, the Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2008. I certainly want to join in commending Congressman Gene Green, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, and Congresswoman Heather Wilson for their work on this bill. This bill revises the national strategy to combat tuberculosis at the Centers for Disease Control. The Centers for Disease Control provides leadership and assistance to domestic and international efforts to prevent, control and eliminate tuberculosis. Despite the lower incidence rate of tuberculosis in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the average annual percentage decline in the tuberculosis rate slowed from just over 7 percent per year in the 1993 to 2000 range to under 4 percent from 2000 to 2007. The high global burden of this disease, coupled with continued problems of drug-resistant strains and lack of better tools for tuberculosis control, threatens our ability to eliminate tuberculosis in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control's national TB program provides grants to States and other entities for prevention and control services, researches the prevention and control of tuberculosis, funds demonstration projects, sponsors public information and education programs and supports education training and clinical skills improvement activities to address tuberculosis. This bill will help in the noble goal of continuing to try to eradicate this disease. I do urge Members to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. I also have no further requests for time, and I will yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Barton. (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, this is an important bill. It raises a fundamental question, who should make a medical decision? Is it the insurance company? Is it the HMO? Is it the United States Congress? Or is it a Federal agency? The answer to that question is ``none of the above,'' it is the patient's physician, in consultation with the patient and her family. And this rightfully puts the decision back where it should have been all the time. Patient, in consultation with physician or family, should make the appropriate decision. There is nothing in this bill that says a 48-hour stay is required or mandated. There is nothing in this bill that says a 48-hour stay is a maximum length of time. I also want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Barton, of the full committee for bringing the important amendment that would disallow an insurance company for rejecting an patient's claim based on an inadvertent error in the application process. This amounts to a clerical error that might seriously jeopardize a patient's health or leave a patient who was not expecting a very large medical expenditure to suddenly be facing one. And certainly, given the status of today's economic climate, that would be an intolerable occurrence as well. I thank the author of the bill for bringing it forward. I thank the subcommittee chairman for bringing it to the floor. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

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

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6469, the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Organ Transplant Authorization Act of 2008. I am proud to support this bill in honor of the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. I would also like to commend Congresswoman Diana DeGette for her work on this bill. This bill increases the authorized funding for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which has not been increased since 1984. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network provides coordination between individuals in need of an organ transplant and donor organs made available from deceased donors. I support the increased authorization levels for the program, which currently represent only 7 percent of the operating cost for this valuable resource. For those concerned about the increased expenditure, do consider for a moment, in just the arena of kidney dialysis and of kidney transplant, the cost of keeping someone on dialysis three times a week indefinitely. That person can be relieved of that burden, of that dialysis burden. The dialysis, itself, costs significant amounts of money. Of course, that's not to say anything about the quality of life that may be returned to that person who is a recipient of a transplant. I agree with the gentleman from California. We should sign our donor cards, if we're able, and should become donors because there are people on waiting lists. There is no point in sending organs to heaven. Heaven knows we need them here. With that, I urge support of the legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee for bringing the bill to the floor tonight. This is an important bill, an important bill to me and an important bill to Mr. Stupak of Michigan. We've worked on this for a number of years through a number of sessions of Congress. In January 2001, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service and the Health Care Financing Administration, as it was then known, issued a rule in accordance to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 that was designed to guard against discrimination in coverage in the group health market. While addressing the issue of discrimination based upon participation in certain activities, these rules allowed continued health plan nonpayment based upon the source of an injury. This resulted in a situation where some people who have paid the premiums and believed they would be covered by their plans were actually responsible for paying for their own medical treatment because the exclusions were either unclear or very, very broad. The lack of clarity underlying these exclusions has created a confusing situation for individuals that may ride a motorcycle, might ride on horseback, might operate a snowmobile or participate in other activities that could result in an injury. Millions of Americans enjoy these activities safely every year within the framework of State laws and utilizing proper safety precautions. Earlier last year Congressman Stupak and I introduced H.R. 1076 to restore fairness and equity to the situation. In response to concerns raised during discussions on this bill, the House Energy and Commerce staff, my staff and Mr. Stupak's staff have all worked together in a bipartisan manner to address certain areas of concern. As a result of these conversations in negotiations, we have reintroduced our original legislation to encapsulate the agreed-to principles. H.R. 6908, the Health Insurance Source of Injury Clarification Act will, number one, require any limitations and restrictions on health plan benefits be spelled out, that they be explicit, that they be clear; number two, require that they be disclosed to the sponsor of the group health plan in advance of the point of sale of the group health plan; and, thirdly, require that the issuer of the health insurance coverage make available to participants and beneficiaries in an easily understandable manner a description of the limitations and restrictions upon their enrollment. This legislation is supported by a number of groups. The American Motorcyclist Association has been very supportive and very vocal in their support of this legislation, and I certainly appreciate their efforts in advocating for an issue that is very important to them, likewise the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. In addition, the American Council of Snowmobile Association, the American Horse Council, the American Recreational Coalition, American Trails, Americans for Responsible Recreational Access, the Blue Ribbon Coalition, the International Mountain Bicycling Association, the National Ski Areas Association, the Specialty Vehicle Industry Council, the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, the Washington Road Riders Association, and many others support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, again, this is a culmination of many, many months and indeed years of work on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Again I want to congratulate the cosponsor of the bill, Mr. Stupak of Michigan, and thank the chairman and the ranking member of the subcommittee for allowing this bill to come forward this evening.

Mr. BURGESS. Seeing no other speakers on my side, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume and rise in support of H.R. 6353. I would like to commend Congressman Bart Stupak and Ranking Member Lamar Smith of the Judiciary Committee for their work on this bill. This bill prohibits the delivery, distribution or dispensing of controlled substances over the Internet without a valid prescription. Ryan Haight overdosed and died on February 12, 2001 on narcotics that he had purchased over the Internet. He was prescribed the medication from a doctor on the Internet, and the doctor never examined the patient. He was 17 when he purchased the narcotics and 18 when he died. This bill will provide the Drug Enforcement Agency better tools to combat rogue Internet sites that are peddling narcotics to our children. I urge Members to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I also rise in support of House Resolution 1381, a resolution expressing the sense of the House that there should be an increased public and private commitment prioritizing prevention and public health for all people in the United States. Each year almost 2 million people in the United States die from chronic diseases that are often preventible and also account for almost three-quarters of health care spending. It costs the United States almost $1 trillion a year in lost productivity that erodes our national competitiveness. In an effort to alleviate chronic diseases, Americans need to eat right, quit smoking, and get exercise. You probably don't need to be an economist to understand why that will help increase economic productivity, and it's intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that this can help prevent the onset of chronic disease and improve the quality of our lives. This resolution urges the people of the United States to use the five prevention strategies to create healthier lifestyles. It encourages daily aspirin therapy, smoking cessation, colorectal cancer screening, annual flue immunizations, and breast cancer screenings that can save more than 100,000 lives each year by addressing behavioral choices. In addition, the resolution suggests that the Congressional Budget Office process should reflect the significant savings associated with prevention of disease and injury. And that's of particular concern to me and something that I argue for in many other vocations and other legislation that we have to have the ability to do dynamic scoring when we follow policies that are likely to result in savings. So the line in the bill, that it is the sense of the House we believe ``the congressional budget process should reflect the significant savings associated with investments in prevention of disease and injury,'' and that is an important concept and one that this Congress and the next Congress would do well to recognize and encourage our Congressional Budget Office to follow likewise. I would like to thank the author of this resolution, Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, for her leadership in improving the awareness of the benefits of prevention and her efforts to lower the number of preventable chronic diseases in the United States. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, again, in deference to the author of the bill, I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I also rise in favor of House Resolution 988 and support designating the month of March as the Methicillin- Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Awareness Month. I also want to thank the sponsor of this resolution, Representative Jim Matheson of Utah, for his work on this issue. Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as ``staph,'' is a potentially dangerous bacterium that can cause skin infections that look like pimples or boils. Staph infections also can cause redness, swelling, pain, and drainage at the site of infection. They can be warm to the touch and cause a fever. Some staph infections are resistant to certain antibiotics and this makes it harder to treat. These infections are known as methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. They result from direct contact with people who have the infection. Now anyone can get a staph infection, anyone can get a resistant staph infection. It is becoming more and more common. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that Americans visit their physicians approximately 12 million times a year to get checked for potential staph infections. In some areas of the country, more than half of the skin infections are caused by resistant strains of staph, according to the CDC. While most serious methicillin-resistant staph infections occur among individuals in hospitals and health care facilities, there are community-acquired infections among competitive sports teams, correctional facilities, schools, workplaces, military facilities, homeless shelters, and other community settings. These infections usually occur through skin-to-skin contact, and even individuals who are not infected with resistant staph can be a vehicle for its transmission. This resolution recognizes the importance of raising the awareness of methicillin-resistant staph aureus and methods of preventing infections through appropriate hygienic practices, such as hand washing, appropriate first aid to open wounds. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control conducts MRSA surveillance, prevention, education campaigns to raise awareness, and laboratory research to identify genetic patterns or relationships among the different types of resistant staph that could be used for prevention and control strategies. I urge my colleagues to join us in recognizing March as the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Awareness Month, and I urge Members to support the resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 2994, the National Pain Care Policy Act of 2008. Certainly, I also want to join the chairman of the subcommittee in commending Congresswoman Lois Capps and Congressman Mike Rogers for their work on this bill. Chronic pain is disabling, and it's debilitating. It would certainly be frustrating for both the patients and caregivers alike. Fortunately, most painful conditions can be relieved with proper treatment and adequate pain management. This bill will create an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate all the efforts within the Health and Human Services and other Federal agencies related to pain research. This effort, along with other efforts of the National Institutes of Health, via the pain consortium, will go a long way towards increasing research and awareness of chronic pain. I do urge Members to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.