Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, this bill includes a provision prohibiting the implementation of the administration's damaging new rule for the Title X Family Planning program. It is often referred to as the domestic gag rule. The administration's domestic gag rule is an ideological assault on family planning services. The Title X Family Planning program is the only Federal program that provides quality, affordable, comprehensive, preventive, and reproductive healthcare services in every single State. Title X clinics serve more than 4 million women and men each year at 4,000 health clinics across every State. Over two-thirds of the patients who seek care at Title X clinics are in a household that is at or below the poverty level. Many of these patients are uninsured or underinsured. To be clear, the Title X program does not provide funding for abortions, despite what the others may be saying. However, the proposed rule would make clinics that use non-Federal funding to provide abortions or even referrals for abortions ineligible for funding. The proposed rule also eliminates the requirement that grantees provide nondirective pregnancy options counseling. That means grantees can simply refuse to offer complete and accurate information to patients. The rule also allows grantees to refuse to give referrals to patients or even give misleading information to patients when they request a referral. When patients can no longer rely on their healthcare provider to share full and accurate information with them or to refer them to other care when necessary or when they request it, then the provider-patient relationship has been broken. We need to trust women. We need to respect women to make choices that are best for themselves and for their families, and we must support providers to offer medically accurate information to patients. This bill's provision to block the domestic gag rule is critical to maintaining support for healthcare providers offering evidence-based preventive and reproductive healthcare across the country. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, let me just repeat: Over two-thirds of the patients who seek care at Title X clinics are in a household that is at or below the poverty level. Many of these patients are uninsured and underinsured. We are looking at the opportunity for healthcare screenings in 4,000 clinics around this country, which is what we want to do. That is not happening because of some ideological assault on family planning, again, someone's personal beliefs being foisted on millions of people around the country. That is not the job we came here to do. Our job is to be able to have people get the kinds of services that they need, to be told where they can go to get those services, to make the referrals on healthcare that they need. This is not one's own personal view of what someone else's healthcare needs are. Fundamentally, at the root of all of this is a distrust and a lack of respect for the decisions that women make on behalf of themselves and their families. Let's trust women. They know what is good for themselves and their families, not 435 people who sit in this body who have their own personal religious beliefs. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend for yielding. She is a loyal champion for her constituents, for the children who benefit from the high-quality early childhood education and services that Head Start offers, and for the business owners in her district. We want to hold these facilities to high standards. The recompete process needs to be sensitive to the needs of the communities that rely on these services. I promise to work closely with Representative Waters and ACF to conduct the proper oversight that this issue deserves.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition, although I do not oppose the amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. I support this amendment, Mr. Chairman. I know the gentleman is a longtime supporter of increased funding for the CDC's Lyme disease program. I commend him for his continued efforts to address this issue, and I thank him for appearing before this subcommittee on Member Day to talk about the importance of this issue. I have a particular interest in this effort as well as the Lyme disease was discovered in Lyme, Connecticut, so I know all about the illness. The underlying bill does include a $1 million increase. It is a total funding level of $13 million for the CDC to intensify efforts to develop better diagnostics and to bolster critical prevention and surveillance networks, which are critically important as Lyme disease is being reported in every single State. This amendment would increase the program by an additional $1 million. And I do know from reviewing the amendments that are coming up in the next several hours that there, in fact, is another Lyme disease amendment. So, Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment. This is about protecting existing beryllium standards established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for construction and maritime workers. Any effort to weaken or revoke the 2017 rule limiting exposure to beryllium would reflect the first time that OSHA has proposed to weaken a standard protecting workers against a known human carcinogen. It leaves construction and shipyard workers vulnerable to life-threatening beryllium-related diseases and increases their risk of developing lung cancer. I appreciate that the amendment is drawing attention to the importance of strengthening--not weakening--worker health and safety standards. This is about saving people's lives. Mr. Chairman, how can you be opposed and support bureaucracy versus saving people's lives? I am so happy to support this amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment, which rejects the administration's plan to terminate the joint partnership between the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor that governs the operation of the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers. The Trump administration wants to turn its back on disconnected and vulnerable youth, especially those who depend on Job Corps programs in rural communities. These centers give disadvantaged young people valuable, on-the-job experience and training, putting them on a path to a good job while learning about how to conserve and protect our natural resources. As a matter of fact, of the top-performing 15 centers, 6 were Civilian Conservation Centers. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bipartisan amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment. African American adults are almost twice as likely to suffer from diabetes as White adults and are also more likely to suffer from serious complications, such as limb amputations. I agree with the gentlewoman that increasing the representation of African Americans among biomedical researchers, as well as participants in clinical trials, is essential to addressing disparities in health outcomes for African Americans suffering from this disease. I would tell the gentlewoman that I was part of a bipartisan effort in the early nineties where we changed the rules of the NIH, including minorities and women in clinical trials, but it would appear that we have more to do. And we have increased funding for research centers in minority institutions by $11 million to support the next generation of researchers and enhance the research infrastructure in minority-serving institutions. I thank the gentlewoman for offering this amendment. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I look forward to working with her to see if we can turn this around.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment. The TRIO programs provide student support services to students in helping them to pursue and to complete a college education. These students may be the first in their families to attend college or face other challenges. The student support services provided under the TRIO programs include tutoring, academic advice, financial aid counseling, college preparation, and so much more. To help our most vulnerable youth access and succeed in college, the Labor-HHS bill increases funding for TRIO by $100 million, for a total of $1.16 billion. And I can tell you, there is bipartisan support for this effort because I know that Ranking Member Cole is a strong supporter of the TRIO program. He recognizes its ability to help youngsters be able to realize their dreams and their aspirations. So I appreciate that the amendment is highlighting the importance of providing services to encourage individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter, to complete college, and postgraduate education, and I am happy to support it.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, is leading the effort to track the link between the workplace exposures of firefighters and cancer. This registry will provide something that is a more complete, broader representation of our firefighters in our country compared to previous studies. The underlying bill that we are considering includes an increase of $600,000 to the National Firefighter Registry, and this amendment would provide an additional increase of $900,000. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for offering this amendment to highlight the importance of the health of our firefighters, first responders who never say no. They were going up in the building on 9/11 while others were coming down in order to be able to survive, and so many lost their lives on that day. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for yielding, and I rise in support of this amendment. Sickle cell disease is a major public health concern. It affects an estimated 100,000 Americans, with a disproportionate effect on African Americans. People living with sickle cell disease experience significant pain and life-threatening complications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to better identify affected individuals, to understand their health outcomes, and to evaluate strategies to prevent complications and factors that affect individuals living with sickle cell disease. We may be close to a cure for sickle cell disease because of gene editing, making it all the more important for us to work with people who live day after day with sickle cell. Mr. Chair, I commend the gentleman for raising attention about this important program, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition, although I do not oppose the amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I rise in support of the amendment. I share the gentleman's concerns about the potential health impacts of red tide and harmful algal blooms and recognize the opportunity for NIH research to contribute to the body of knowledge on this topic. I would note that the underlying bill under consideration today provides an additional $1 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand its efforts related to surveillance and reporting of health concerns related to harmful algal blooms. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for his amendment and urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I strongly support my friend's amendment to increase the Administration for Community Living's lifespan respite care program. There are over 43 million family caregivers in this country providing the vast majority of our Nation's long-term services and support. National, State, and local surveys have shown respite care to be among the most frequently requested services by family caregivers. In kitchen-cabinet meetings I hosted in my home State of Connecticut, I had constituents asking me about how respite care relief could be available to them. The committee included additional resources for respite care in several places in the bill. We provided a $21 million increase for the national family caregivers program. We included a $4 million demonstration project through the Alzheimer's disease program to provide direct respite services to these caregivers and to demonstrate the benefits these services can provide.

Ms. DeLAURO. We included a modest increase for the lifespan respite care program, but this program really is unique in that it is the only Federal effort that addresses respite care issues for families regardless of age or disability. An additional $4.5 million will go a long way for this small but mighty program. I appreciate my friend taking the time to highlight it, and I thank him for all of his service. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I rise in support of Congressman Foster's amendment, a bipartisan amendment to allow for the creation of a unique health identifier. We must do all we can to bring down the skyrocketing costs of healthcare. A universal and interoperable patient identifier could do so by reducing avoidable administrative errors. Inaccurate patient information costs patients $2,000 per inpatient stay and $800 per ER visit, according to a 2018 survey by Black Book Market Research. We could improve patient matching, reduce avoidable errors, and bring down costs if we stop tying the hands of the Department of Health and Human Services with regard to universal identifiers. As Pew Trusts reported in 2018, ``The ban has limited government actions to collaborate with the private sector on solutions.'' Let us reduce skyrocketing healthcare costs by reducing avoidable medical administrative errors. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. As noted in the report accompanying the underlying bill that we are considering, relapse following opioid detoxification is a contributing factor to the overdose crisis. Medication-assisted treatment provides a whole-patient approach to the treatment of substance use disorders, especially opioids. In combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, FDA-approved medications are used to treat substance misuse to prevent relapse and to sustain recovery. This amendment calls for the prioritization of funding for medication-assisted treatment at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. As part of our commitment to support people to enter into treatment, to be in sustained recovery, medication-assisted treatment is an effective option. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. The underlying bill that we are considering includes a $5 million increase to HHS' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, BARDA. This organization has the significant responsibility to help counter biological threats and other challenges to domestic and global health security and safety, while fostering scientific progress. This amendment would provide an additional $1 million specifically for biosecurity research and development, further supporting efforts to accelerate the development of emerging technologies and products vital to our national security. Research and development investments help our Nation to be prepared for a wide range of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats; pandemic influenza; and emerging infectious diseases. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. As noted in the report accompanying the underlying bill that we are considering, the current measles outbreak that has cases confirmed in 28 States, including in my State of Connecticut and in my colleague's State of California, highlights the importance of immunizations. Vaccines are one of the greatest success stories in public health. They are the most effective way to protect the public from highly infectious and potentially deadly diseases. This amendment highlights efforts conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services to understand the reasons that people do not vaccinate themselves and their children, as well as to combat misinformation about vaccines. What we need is, through research, to dispel that misinformation which is, in fact, today, right now, putting the lives of our children and families at risk. Vaccines are safe; they are effective; and I urge my colleagues to support this lifesaving amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition, although I do not oppose the amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this, in fact, bipartisan amendment. Drug overdose deaths continue to increase in the United States. Nearly 70 percent of these deaths involve an opioid. It is staggering that, on average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. This amendment provides $10 million for a new program at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, to develop best practices for emergency treatment and the coordination and continuation of care for overdose patients. By providing overdose reversal medications, we can save lives. By providing overdose reversal medication, we can, I will repeat it, save lives. We have no higher calling in this institution than to save lives. Those who have experienced a nonfatal drug overdose can benefit from evidence-based, long-term treatment to prevent relapse and future overdoses. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I rise to support the gentleman's amendment. There is no doubt that the child welfare system is overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic. This additional funding would build upon existing data efforts and provide child welfare caseworkers with evidence-based data that can better inform how children are cared for if they are in the system because of parental substance abuse. Think about the tragedy of these youngsters. Please, let us not let these children fall through the cracks such that we don't provide them with the kinds of services that they need. Madam Chair, we have both sides of the aisle recognizing the ongoing opioid crisis, and I think this effort to help these innocent bystanders to the crisis is an important one. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.