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. 20, the Melanie Blocker Stokes Mom's Opportunity to Access Health, Education, Research, and Support for Postpartum Depression Act. Postpartum depression occurs after 10 to 15 percent of all deliveries, and the majority of patients suffer from this illness for more than 6 months. In its most severe form, postpartum psychosis, women may actually suffer from hallucinations and delusions that can put them and their babies at risk. The bill before us today amends the Public Health Service Act to include a new section that authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants for services related to postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. It would encourage continued research into the causes of and treatments for these conditions and would give the Secretary the authority to provide grants to deliver services to women with these conditions and their families. I want to thank my colleague, Representative Bobby Rush, for his work in raising this important issue. He is the sponsor of this bill and has worked hard on it for a long time. I also want to thank Mary Jo Codey, who is the wife of former Governor Codey from my home State of New Jersey. She came and testified before our subcommittee on this bill and has been outspoken on the issue of postpartum depression. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, once again, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 20) to provide for research on, and services for individuals with, postpartum depression and psychosis, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

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

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I also yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and ask for passage of the bill.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 479) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide a means for continued improvement in emergency medical services for children, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the sponsor, Mr. Gene Green of Texas.

Mr. PALLONE. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 577, the Vision Care for Kids Act of 2009. Vision problems are particularly challenging for children because they can cause developmental struggles which can lead to physical, emotional and social consequences. Vision impairment can cause a child to miss learning opportunities, for example, and vision-impaired children often have an inability to understand nonverbal cues, leading to difficulties with social interactions. Correcting vision problems at a young age, however, can improve outcomes. The Vision Care for Kids Act would address these problems by improving access to vision services for children. The bill amends the Public Health Services Act to give the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to award grants to States for first, comprehensive eye examinations for children previously identified as needing these services, second, treatment or services to correct vision problems, and third, development and dissemination of educational materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment. I'd like to thank my colleague, Representative Green, for his sponsorship and again his hard work on this issue. I ask my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. I have no additional speakers. I don't know if my colleague does.

Mr. PALLONE. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 577) to establish a grant program to provide vision care to children, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. I have no speakers. I don't know if the gentleman does. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 60, ``Supporting the Observance of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month''. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the designation of March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States and affects men and women equally. This deadly disease, however, can be prevented through early identification. When found at its early stage, colorectal cancer has a 90 percent survival rate. When detected late, that survival rate drops to only 10 percent. Unfortunately, less than 40 percent of colorectal cancers are detected at an early stage, and because of this, there is a higher mortality rate for this disease than there should be. The resolution before us today supports education about this disease and recognizes national and community organizations for their work in promoting awareness about colorectal cancer. Hopefully, we can build on the good work currently being done to promote awareness and encourage screening to improve early detection of this disease. I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Granger, for her work in raising this important issue. I know this issue is close to her heart, and I want to express my gratitude to her. And I urge us to pass this resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 60) supporting the observance of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island, who has also been a champion on this issue, Mr. Kennedy.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers, but I believe that my colleague from Louisiana does.

Mr. PALLONE. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1253, the Health Insurance Restrictions and Limitations Clarification Act. This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Public Health Services Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require that limitations on benefits in group health plans are explicit and disclosed to the plan's sponsor, and that that plan's sponsor disclose those limitations to the plan participants and beneficiaries in a timely manner. This legislation would ensure that plan beneficiaries who engage in activities such as riding motorcycles, horses, or snowmobiles, or any other legal activity that may result in injury, understand if their health plan won't cover those injuries. I would like to thank my colleagues, both Dr. Burgess as well Mr. Stupak, for their work on this issue. I ask my colleagues to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1253) 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.

Mr. PALLONE. I yield back the balance of my time and urge passage.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, recently, the New York Times reported on a recently published book The Remaining Documents of Talat Pasha by Turkish author Murat Bardakci. The book details Pasha's methodical reordering of the disappearance of nearly 1 million Armenians in a 2- year period. Pasha served as interior minister to the Ottoman Empire and helped orchestrate the Armenian Genocide. Like the Nazis, Pasha kept detailed population figures of the Ottoman Empire's Christian ethnic minority, the Armenians. Before 1915, 1.2 million Armenians lived in what today is modern Turkey. By 1917, the number was down to 284,000 Armenians. Bardakci received these original lists of population figures from Pasha's wife, Hayriye Talat, in 1983. However, he waited to include them in his book until he felt Turkey was ready to receive them. As the New York Times reported in November of 1920, Talat Pasha used to say, ``the only way to dispose of the Armenia question is to kill the Armenians.'' As Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau made many courageous efforts to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians, as well as alert Americans to the genocide that was taking place. Morgenthau, who dealt with Talat in Istanbul, believed strongly that Pasha was fully responsible for the killings of the Armenians. These figures in Bardakci's book provide further evidence that those who masterminded the genocide against the Armenians were obsessed with exterminating all the Armenian people. Talat Pasha's meticulous figures bring to mind the Nazis who kept records of 17 million victims, including the Jews who were exterminated during the holocaust. In aggregate, the Nazis kept 50 million pages of documents now available for the families of those who lost loved ones, scholars, and the public. Unfortunately, Bardakci does not believe that the Armenian Genocide took place. Like his government, he is an outspoken denier. However, he believes that Turkish people should be exposed to historical documents. Bardakci is correct that Turkey needs documents. This week's Times article astutely notes the chilling silence that swept over Turkey in response to these figures. Turkey needs to come to terms with its past. It is with sadness that it may take the figures of the man who orchestrated the genocide to convince the Turkish government and the Turkish people that 90 years ago the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against the Armenians. I am hopeful that Turkey will soon unclench its hold on its people's memory and openly discuss the Armenian genocide; instead of using words like ``alleged'' or funding a multi-million dollar lobby in the United States to distort fact. It has taken a while, but Americans look back constantly on our own history. We question why we enslaved millions of Africans. We question why we slaughtered millions of Native Americans. We discuss it in our schools. We reflect on our history. Doing this helps our nation deal with its past and enables us to learn and heal. Not only does Turkey deny the Armenian Genocide, it asks Americans to deny it as well. It asks the United States Congress not to honor the victims of the genocide. The Armenian Diaspora exists today because of the genocide. Why should Armenian-American voices be silenced? Why are the voices of those who want to end the vicious cycle of genocide being hushed? Why do we allow ourselves year after year to be threatened by Turkey? These are our constituents who lost loved ones in the Genocide. We must honor their memory and not be bullied by Turkey.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to join political leaders of Northern Ireland in condemning the recent murders of two British soldiers and a British police officer in Northern Ireland. Two dissonant republican groups, the Continuity I.R.A. and the Real I.R.A., have claimed responsibility for the attacks. The first, on a Saturday evening, occurred when two British soldiers guarding a base outside of Antrim were gunned down. Two pizza delivery workers were also tragically injured in the attack. The second attack came on a recent Monday when gunmen shot a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on duty near Belfast. This small group of political dissidents is not representative of the overall peace and unity that so many have worked so hard for since the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. They should not be allowed to return us to the days of the Troubles. I call on anyone with information on those who perpetrated these attacks to come forward so that justice can be served. Foolish attacks such as these will not put a stop to the peace process that has been gaining momentum over the last ten years in Northern Ireland. With the news that three political dissidents were arrested this past weekend, I hope all can work towards bringing justice to these senseless murders. The arrests stirred riots by those supportive of the individuals being prosecuted. No matter what their political allegiance, these rioters should allow the police to do what is necessary to charge those that committed these crimes. Since the power-sharing government was reinstated in May 2007, the political process has taken great strides forward. The people of Northern Ireland must pull together and ensure that the cowards who committed these crimes aren't successful in allowing their wrongs to be a political statement. After years of aggression, peace has clearly prevailed over violence in Northern Ireland and these heinous attacks will not change that. I stand in solidarity with those who silently protested these murders last Wednesday in Belfast. These thousands of protesters across the province demonstrate that no amount of senseless violence will fracture the unity of the people in the North of Ireland. Furthermore, it is important that violence not beget violence. Retaliation by those in the Protestant community will only exacerbate this disgraceful spell of terrorism. Peace will ultimately prevail in Northern Ireland. With the mutual condemnation of these attacks from both sides of the political spectrum, I am hopeful that Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson will take the lead in reinforcing their commitment to peace in the province. Events like these recent attacks represent the past in the North of Ireland. We must be focused on developing the economy in the North of Ireland, educating children, and training workers--not reverting to the bloody violence of the past. Madam Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in denouncing this recent disturbing and senseless violence in Northern Ireland. With all of the progress made since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the people of Northern Ireland will only accept peace as the answer. We must not allow these murderers to be successful in disrupting that goal.