Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I do urge support for this legislation. It is a good bill. It expands access in a number of ways in coverage. But I do also want to point out that there are limitations to the bill. In other words, we do need to do a lot more. For example, we still haven't expanded Medicaid coverage in many States. Medicaid coverage is crucial, in terms of providing treatment. The bottom line is that the treatment infrastructure in our country is very much inadequate. Many people really do not have access to treatment in many parts of the country, including my home State. I want to close by urging everyone to support this bipartisan and bicameral bill, because it does do a lot. At the same time, I remind my colleagues that we have a lot more to do if we are going to address this opioid crisis, which actually is getting worse instead of better. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting the Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, Risk Assessment and Training in the Schools (HEARTS) Act and in recognition of Children's Cardiomyopathy Awareness Month. Cardiomyopathy affects both children and adults and is a chronic and potentially life-threatening heart condition that affects how the heart pumps blood through the body. The disease presents differently in individuals, and it can be difficult to detect when there are no apparent symptoms. For those not diagnosed, the consequences can be devastating. Research has shown that cardiomyopathy is a leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest. All too often, we hear of an adult or child collapsing unexpectedly due to an undiagnosed heart condition. The Cardiomyopathy HEARTS Act will help educate affected individuals and their families, as well as school and health professionals about cardiomyopathy and encourage families to evaluate their family's cardiac history, check for cardiomyopathy symptoms, and seek medical screening if necessary. Despite the severity of the cardiomyopathy, little is known about the prevalence, causes, and reasons for its variability. The Cardiomyopathy HEARTS Act also addresses this by requesting the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to evaluate current research initiatives on cardiomyopathy and direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collect and analyze national data to identify the impact, prevalence, and natural history of cardiomyopathy. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and helping the many families and children who are touched by this under-recognized condition. And now is a great time to show our support. September is Children's Cardiomyopathy Awareness, to help raise the profile and spread information about this terrible disease. By encouraging individuals to know one's family's history and heart health, and discussing it with their doctor, can help determine whether one's child is at risk. The Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation, based in my home state of New Jersey, is the leading nonprofit in providing resources and support to families and children struggling with this terrible disease. They also work to raise awareness, along with their grassroots network of families and advocate for research and policies to help those suffering from pediatric cardiomyopathy. It is my pleasure to help raise awareness for the Foundation and for pediatric cardiomyopathy.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Armenian Assembly's 2018 Distinguished Humanitarian Award honoree, Ms. Annie Simonian Totah. For over forty years, Ms. Totah has been a leading defender of human rights and a vocal advocate of Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian- American community. Ms. Totah was the first woman to serve as Chair of the Armenian Assembly of America and she remains an effective spokesperson for Armenian issues on Capitol Hill. Her life as a community leader and activist has truly been a journey of dedication. I have known Annie throughout my entire congressional career and I can say without hesitation that Annie's passion, dedication and commitment to Armenia and Artsakh is unparalleled. Since the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Annie has worked tirelessly with Members of Congress to help secure billions of dollars in assistance to Armenia. Her contributions with the Armenian Assembly have included efforts that saw the enactment of several pieces of legislation and Missions to Armenia that have raised awareness and understanding of key issues. Ms. Totah helped mobilize relief efforts to provide temporary shelters for the homeless victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, and collaborated with the Marshall Legacy Institute to help launch the ``Mine Detection Dog-Partnership'' program in Armenia. Annie was also involved early on in the creation of the U.S.-Armenia Task Force for Economic Cooperation, and continues to encourage trade and investment between the two countries. Ms. Totah is the recipient of many honors and awards, including: The Ellis Island Medal of Honor; Medal of Appreciation by the President of Artsakh; and the Encyclical of Gratitude and Appreciation by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. Mr. Speaker, I applaud Annie Totah and the Armenian Assembly on this occasion and for its powerful voice and professionalism that has truly made a difference.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6378, the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018. I want to thank Chairman Walden and Representatives Eshoo and Brooks, as well as all the staff, for their hard work on this bill. Together, we have ensured a robust product that reflects priorities for Members on both sides of the aisle and the agencies responsible for ensuring our emergency preparedness. This is a vitally important public health bill that ensures that we can prepare for and respond to health security events like bioterrorism, emerging infectious diseases, and natural disasters. It will support the development of new treatments and the stockpiling of medications and supplies that will be deployed to communities nationwide in the case of an emergency. As we all know, effectively preparing for and responding to these events requires extensive coordination between Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations across the country. This bill reauthorizes or establishes critical programs that will help us better prepare and respond to any major health emergency. Let me discuss some of the specifics of how this bill will help us do that. It reauthorizes a loan repayment program that would help to strengthen and grow our public health workforce. This is critically important, as we are still trying to dig out of a public health funding hole that began during the Great Recession. This bill also makes a technical update to the Hospital Preparedness Program to reflect the use of the term ``coalition'' instead of ``partnership'' by grantees and other stakeholders. This language change is not intended to make changes related to the current cooperative agreement structure, nor does it intend to alter the role and responsibilities of States, territories, and directly funded cities, which are awardees of funding under the Hospital Preparedness Program. Therefore, it continues to require that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, provide funding through cooperative agreements to States, territories, and cities to support healthcare coalitions in their communities through the Hospital Preparedness Program. The bill also amends the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program to require public health departments to partner with nursing homes and hospitals to promote and improve public health preparedness and response. It also requires public health departments to work with utility companies and other critical infrastructure partners to help ensure that electricity and other critical infrastructure will remain functioning or return to function as soon as practicable after a public health emergency. Both of these requirements are intended to help prevent another tragedy like the tragic deaths that occurred at a Florida nursing home last year in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Mr. Speaker, this bill also updates the authorization for the public health emergency rapid response fund so we can prevent any delay in HHS' rapid response to public health emergencies in the future. It also maintains the administration's flexibility to determine the best placement for the Strategic National Stockpile, or SNS. I have concerns with moving the SNS from the direction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. To date, I have yet to hear a strong argument in support of this move. I also believe CDC has the relationships and expertise that make the most sense for managing and operationalizing the stockpile. The CDC also has a record of successful stewardship of the SNS. That is why I supported the increased transparency and reporting included in this bill. Wherever the Strategic National Stockpile is placed, it is critical that we ensure that our current preparedness and response capabilities are not weakened by its placement. I also want to highlight two provisions that were included that will ensure Congress receives the information it needs to respond to the Trump administration's family separation crisis. The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response will be required to submit to the Energy and Commerce Committee a formal strategy on their family reunification efforts as well as keep the committee informed on the status of the children still awaiting reunification. The Trump administration's cruel zero-tolerance policy resulted in a manmade crisis that has impacted the lives of thousands of parents and children. While we can't undo the damage done by this policy, these provisions ensure that Congress has the information it needs to help reunite each child with their family and make sure this never happens again. Furthermore, while these provisions are important, they should not take the place of an actual oversight hearing on this cruel policy. This is something committee Democrats have repeatedly requested, and we will continue to do so. Finally, Mr. Speaker, overall, I want to say this is a good bill. Our national preparedness and response capabilities will be better prepared to respond to public health threats thanks to the passage of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6378, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for moving and working on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6378, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1320, the Nuclear Utilization of Keynote Energy Act. This bill makes commonsense revisions to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC's licensing process that can ease the financial pressure on the nuclear industry without jeopardizing safety or the environment. Specifically, the bill makes a number of changes to the NRC's budget process and fee structure, most significantly by limiting the fees charged to innovate and advance nuclear reactor projects. An important component of the bill requires NRC to report back to Congress on the commission's actions to address instances of employees facing reprisal for raising safety concerns that differ from the commission's position on a particular licensing action. A recent internal NRC report identified several troubling cases of NRC employees, who raised safety issues, being passed over for promotions or being excluded from work activities by management. This can't stand, and I am pleased that this bill will take steps toward addressing this unacceptable situation. The bill also requires NRC to report to Congress on best practices for community engagement in regions where a nuclear power plant has shut down and is going through the decommissioning process. This is particularly important in my home State of New Jersey where the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station ceased operations last week. I appreciate the efforts of the sponsors of this bill, Representatives Doyle and Kinzinger, to work with Ranking Member Rush and me to make important changes to their original draft bill that significantly improved the legislation. I commend Mr. Doyle and Mr. Kinzinger for their efforts. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F. Doyle), my colleague on the committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan initiative, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6511, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Reform Act. This bill would set up a pilot program to facilitate the leasing of unused storage space in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, while attempting to ensure that the government and taxpayers benefit from these leases. This is a worthy cause, and I commend Representatives Barton and Rush for their efforts. In recent years, Congress has turned to the SPR repeatedly as an offset for deficits, transportation funding, and other items. In fact, it has been used far more in recent years for those purposes than for energy security. And these SPR sales, which will occur over the next several years, will free up a great deal of physical space in the reserve. This bill puts that empty space to good use. The bill is part of our committee's ongoing efforts to modernize the SPR. Going forward, we need to rethink its whole structure, including exploring the authorization of regional refined product reserves. Today, there are two regional supply reserves, both serving the Northeastern States: The Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve and the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve. The Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve was created by our committee in the Energy Act of 2000; and the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve was created by President Obama and Energy Secretary Moniz in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, using authorities provided to the Secretary in section 171 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. President Trump has proposed eliminating the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, and I think that is a mistake. I remain committed to authorizing the existing gasoline reserve in statute, and I am convinced that regional reserves are a critical component of any SPR modernization effort. Madam Speaker, I believe other regions should benefit, or could benefit greatly, from having a refined product reserve. This is particularly true for the Southeast, which is extremely supply constrained. A Southeast regional reserve could provide relief and flexibility in the event of a natural disaster in the region itself or in the Gulf States that supply the Southeast region with refined product. Now, expanding the number of regional reserves is something that we must do in the future, but I believe this legislation is a good step forward on the road to SPR modernization, and so I do urge my colleagues to support this bill. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2389, which reauthorizes the West Valley demonstration project. The Western New York Service Center in West Valley, New York, has a unique history. The site is owned by New York State, but from 1966 to 1972 it was operated by a private business to reprocess spent nuclear fuel primarily provided by the Federal Government. Those reprocessing activities ended decades ago, but high-level and transuranic waste continued to be stored at the site. While a cost-sharing agreement between New York State and the Department of Energy has been resolved for the site's remediation, the ultimate disposal of the waste remains a point of contention. There have been ongoing disputes and legislative actions spanning from the 1980s through today, with DOE and New York State continuing to disagree over who should be responsible for paying for waste disposal. This disagreement has major consequences for how the waste can be disposed of and who will be responsible for covering the disposal costs. H.R. 2389 would require a report by the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, to help clarify the origins of and disposal pathways for the waste, including cost estimates. The bill also reauthorizes the West Valley demonstration project at $75 million annually for 7 years, and this funding level is identical to the amount appropriated in fiscal year 2018 and will help ensure the cleanup continues on schedule. While this bill does not settle the decades-old dispute between New York and DOE, it takes positive steps towards the site's remediation and attempts to move the ball forward to ensure that wastes are disposed of properly. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Representative Tonko, the ranking member of the committee's Environment Subcommittee, for his work on this bill, and commend both him and the bill's sponsor for their efforts. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I would just ask support from my colleagues to pass this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act and the next bill we will be considering, the Know the Lowest Price Act. These two bills are the product of bipartisan efforts in the Energy and Commerce Committee to ban so-called gag clauses, which prevent pharmacists from providing consumers information about cheaper prescription drug options. I did want to mention I see that my colleague, Mr. Doggett from Texas, is here, and the Senate bills being considered today are companion legislation to a House bill that Congressman Doggett introduced with 32 colleagues earlier this year. Specifically, gag clauses are contractual provisions that can limit pharmacists from informing consumers that their prescriptions may be purchased for a lower price if paid out of pocket instead of through their insurance plan. These bills increase consumer transparency and may help some consumers who get their insurance through the private market or through Medicare save money. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank, again, Congressman Doggett and Mr. Welch, also from our committee, for their long-time leadership on this issue. I see also that Mr. Sarbanes is here, who has also been involved in this legislation in a major way. I am glad to see we are voting on these policies today. The Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act also includes an important provision that ensures biologic and biosimilar drug manufacturers are required to inform the Federal Trade Commission of potentially anticompetitive agreements that may delay lower cost drugs from entering the market in the same manner that brand and generic drug manufacturers do today. This notification will allow the FTC to challenge any ``pay for delay'' agreements in court Madam Speaker, the language included in this bill is based on legislation introduced by Congressmen Sarbanes and Johnson, and I thank them for their leadership on this important issue. Now, I must say, Madam Speaker, while I believe both bills are commonsense measures that we should all support, I also strongly believe that this cannot and should not be Congress' only effort to reduce drug prices. When I am home--and we have been home a lot, as you know, over the last couple of months--one of the number one issues that people are concerned about is the high cost of prescription drugs. We need to address that. I personally believe we should be negotiating the prices of drugs under Medicare, but there are many other measures, including encouraging more generics, that could accomplish the goal of trying to reduce drug prices. These bills do nothing to address the biggest drivers of high drug costs in this country, namely, the high list prices set by drug companies for branded drugs. So we must address overall drug affordability, which these bills do not, but I continue to urge my colleagues to work together to find solutions that can actually lower drug prices in a meaningful way. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, let me just say these are commonsense initiatives that help address the drug pricing issue. As I have said before, we still need to do a lot more, and we haven't this Congress. But I do agree that these bills will be helpful in that regard. Madam Speaker, I urge support for this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I already spoke in support of both this bill, S. 2553, and the previous one, S. 2554, so, at this time, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I support these two bills, this one and the previous one. I do think that they are good, bipartisan measures. But I do want to repeat what Mr. Doggett said, that this Congress and the next have to do a lot more to deal with the issue of prescription drug prices. Probably the most effective thing, which I support, is negotiated prices under Medicare, as well as trying to do more with generic drugs. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.