Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5265, the Paul Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research, and Education Amendments of 2008, a bill to reauthorize programs at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for research on various forms of muscular dystrophy. Duchenne-Becker muscular dystrophy, DBMD, is a combined spectrum of a genetic disorder. DBMD is usually diagnosed when the child is 3 to 6 years of age. Early signs include delays in walking and frequent falling. As the child grows older, muscle deterioration continues to progress until, finally, the disease reaches a fatal conclusion in the teen years. Enacting H.R. 5265 would make a number of improvements to current programs at the NIH and CDC. It would allow the interagency coordinating committee for muscular dystrophy to give special consideration to enhancing the clinical research infrastructure required to test emerging therapies for the various forms of muscular dystrophy, require the director of the CDC to report on muscular dystrophy surveillance, tracking, and research network data collection and provide for respective health outcome data on the health and survival of people with muscular dystrophy and require the director of the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality to evaluate the available scientific evidence to develop and issue an initial set of care considerations for DBMD and provide ongoing review and updates. All of the above coordinated research and tracking efforts will continue to lead us down a path towards one day finding a cure for this tragic condition. I want to thank my colleague on the Commerce Committee, Congressman Engel of New York, for his leadership on this legislation. He has been working on this bill for a long time, and I appreciate his efforts to craft a strong bipartisan product. I fully support H.R. 5265 and urge my colleagues to join me in its adoption. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5265) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for research with respect to various forms of muscular dystrophy, including Becker, congenital, distal, Duchenne, Emery-Dreifuss facioscapulohumeral, limb-girdle, myotonic, and oculopharyngeal, muscular dystrophies, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I would urge adoption of this bill dealing with pain care policy and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the sponsor of the bill, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2994, the National Pain Care Policy Act of 2007, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to pain care. All of us have probably experienced pain resulting from an illness or disease in our lives. Some people are fortunate enough to be able to access drugs and other treatments to relieve pain and suffering. However, millions are not able to obtain that relief and suffer from acute pain. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that one in every four Americans has suffered from pain that lasts longer than 24 hours. Pain can impact every aspect of our daily lives, from an inability to work, to being unable to spend time with family and friends. This bill would do much to help us better manage pain. H.R. 2994 would encourage the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine to convene a conference on pain, encourage the Director of the National Institutes of Health to expand a research program on the causes of and potential treatment for pain, establish an interagency pain research coordinating committee within HHS, allow the HHS Secretary to award grants to public and private entities for the development of programs to provide education and training to health care professionals in pain care, and require the HHS Secretary to establish and implement a national pain care education outreach and awareness campaign. Pain is the leading reason Americans come into contact with the health care system, and it's also a huge contributor to the growing costs of health care. We must do a better job of helping to alleviate that suffering, and I believe this bill would go a long way towards achieving that end. I want to thank my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee, particularly Congresswoman Capps and Congressman Rogers, for their leadership on this issue. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for adoption of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I would urge support of this tuberculosis act and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1532, the Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act--a bill to amend and reauthorize the preventative health services regarding tuberculosis. Tuberculosis causes more deaths than any other infectious disease caused by a single microorganism with approximately 1.6 million people worldwide succumbing to the disease each year. While the U.S. has done well in combating the disease in the past, the global burden continues to be high, and the emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis has added a new level of difficulty to the problem. The bill before us recognizes these issues by creating a Federal tuberculosis task force, by modifying the structure and duties of the Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis and by encouraging the director of the National Institutes of Health to expand, intensify and coordinate research and development activities with respect to tuberculosis. All of these efforts will steer us closer to the final goal of the elimination of tuberculosis. I want to acknowledge my colleague on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Gene Green of Texas, for his leadership on this issue. This bill was negotiated in a bipartisan and bicameral fashion. I am proud to support it. I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1532) to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to making progress toward the goal of eliminating tuberculosis, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I would urge passage of the Healthy Start Reauthorization Act of 2007. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise this evening in support of S. 1760, the Healthy Start Reauthorization Act of 2007. The Healthy Start Program was developed in 1991 in order to combat alarming rates of infant mortality and racial disparities in maternal and infant health. It has grown from a small demonstration project with 15 grantees to an impressive 97 grantees in 2005. Healthy Start has since expanded its targeted population to include women and infants through 2 years postpartum. S. 1760 promotes grant applications that facilitate a community-based approach to the delivery of services and a comprehensive approach to women's health care to improve perinatal outcomes. S. 1760 also ensures the Secretary is not prohibited from addressing disparities in perinatal health indicators in communities along the U.S.-Mexico border and in Alaska and Hawaii. This legislation reauthorizes appropriations through 2013 for the Healthy Start Initiative. The Healthy Start Program has made great strides in combating infant mortality and in improving maternal and infant health. With increased resources, the Healthy Start Program will be able to continue its important role in improving maternal and infant health outcomes and in reducing health disparities. I want to particularly thank Representative Towns and Representative Upton for all of their hard work on this legislation. Messrs. Towns and Upton introduced the House companion to S. 1760, and both have been huge advocates for the Healthy Start Program and for its reauthorization. S. 1760 passed the Senate by unanimous consent on April 30, 2008. I urge its passage. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would urge passage of this meth addiction bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I would urge the support for and the passage of this bill, not only because of its significance but also in honor of our colleague Ms. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional minute.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 additional minute to the gentleman.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the sponsor of the legislation, the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 6469, the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Organ Transplant Authorization Act of 2008. This legislation would provide important new funding for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Nearly 100,000 people are on the U.S. organ transplant waiting list, and 19 people in the U.S. die every day because a lifesaving organ does not become available to them. The Organ Procurement and Transportation Network, OPTN, performs the critical functions of maintaining the Nation's organ transplant waiting list and facilitating the matching of deceased donor organs with individuals in need of a transplant. It also develops policies and procedures for organ recovery, distribution and transportation, collects data about organ donation and transplantation and provides professional and public education about organ donation and transplantation. Since its creation in 1984, authorization levels for the OPTN have stagnated at no more than $2 million annually. Today the projected cost of operating the OPTN is approximately $27 million. Over the years, both the demand for transplantation and the responsibilities of the OPTN have increased, yet funding levels have obviously not followed suit. This legislation provides a much-needed increase in the authorization of appropriations for OPTN from $2 million to $7 million annually. The bill is aptly named in honor of Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, our Democrat of Ohio who died on August 20, 2008, from a brain aneurysm. Representative Tubbs Jones was a strong and vocal advocate for organ donation during her life and donated her organs upon her passing. It is estimated that as many as 58 people will benefit from her donation. When enacted, Mr. Speaker, this legislation will provide critical funding to ensure the OPTN has resources it needs to continue to perform its valuable services to our Nation. I would particularly like to thank Representative Diana DeGette for all her hard work on ensuring passage of this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 758) to require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer and coverage for secondary consultations, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6908) to require that limitations and restrictions on coverage under group health plans be timely disclosed to group health plan sponsors and timely communicated to participants and beneficiaries under such plans in a form that is easily understandable, as amended.