Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 5502, the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act, also known as the INFORM Consumers Act. In the 21st century, e-commerce is no longer a luxury but a necessity for millions of Americans seeking to purchase household essentials. For thousands of businesses across the country, e-commerce sites serve as a vital platform connecting American producers to consumers worldwide. Regrettably, online marketplaces have become pervasive sources of counterfeit, defective, and unsafe goods. The Government Accountability Office found that 20 of 47 items it purchased from third-party sellers on popular consumer websites were counterfeit. Sixteen percent of counterfeit products seized in fiscal year 2018 posed a direct risk to health, safety, and security. Such frauds steal market share from legitimate businesses and can cause severe reputational damage to the companies and products they impersonate. The INFORM Consumers Act will help curb the deluge of counterfeit, defective, and unsafe products on e-commerce sites. The bill requires these sites to display critical information about high-volume sellers, including contact information, business tax ID numbers, and working email addresses and phone numbers. Such transparency will help prevent those fake and unsafe goods from getting into our homes and empower consumers and businesses to seek recourse. I commend Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chairwoman Schakowsky and Ranking Member Bilirakis for coming together on this bill. It passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote last November. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to help protect consumers by supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), the sponsor of this legislation and the chair of the subcommittee from which it came.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, as you can see, this bill is truly bipartisan, and I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of it. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman of the Committee on Appropriations for all she has done to get us to the point where we are able to pass this continuing resolution today. In June, House Democrats and Republicans came together to pass, by an overwhelming supermajority, a sweeping package of reforms at the Food and Drug Administration. That bipartisan legislation would strengthen the integrity of the accelerated approval program, foster innovation, improve clinical trial diversity, and reauthorize the agency's medical product user fee programs. Those user fee programs help fund FDA reviews for safety and efficacy of drugs and medical devices. While the House concluded its work in June, the Senate failed to act. As soon as we passed our legislation through the House, I reached out to Ranking Member Rodgers and the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate HELP Committee to begin bipartisan, bicameral conversations to come to an agreement on a package of mutually agreeable FDA reforms. After weeks of negotiations, our talks hit a temporary roadblock with Senator Burr, the Republican ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee, but we stayed at the table, and eventually, the negotiations were fruitful. We were able to come together to find common ground across several meaningful policy areas. Unfortunately, despite this progress, Senate Minority Leader McConnell decided to stand in the way of enacting bipartisan policies to improve public health. Senator McConnell threatened to hold up government funding if our FDA reforms were included in the continuing resolution we are debating today. While I am pleased that we are reauthorizing user fees, which will prevent layoffs at the agency and allow the FDA to continue its mission, I will continue pushing for the widely supported improvements at the agency. I have secured commitments from Senators Murray and Burr, as well as Ranking Member Rodgers, to continue working to finalize a package of FDA reforms before the continuing resolution expires in December, and I look forward to taking meaningful action in the near future. For now, I encourage Members to support continuing the work at the FDA by voting in favor of the continuing resolution.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 8163.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I also urge support. This is bipartisan. This is really important to rural areas, in particular. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8163) to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to trauma care, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8163, the Improving Trauma Systems and Emergency Care Act, sponsored by Representative O'Halleran of Arizona. This bill will improve access to trauma services throughout the country and better coordinate emergency care when patients need it the very most. Traumatic injury is a major public health issue claiming more than 270,000 lives every year, and accounting for billions of dollars in healthcare spending throughout the Nation. Trauma affects every one of our communities, but about 46 million Americans, most of whom live in rural areas, do not live within one hour of a Level I or Level II trauma center. This is often referred to as the ``golden hour'' following traumatic injury. Prompt medical treatment during this hour produces the highest likelihood of preventing a patient's death. H.R. 8163 reauthorizes grants that will enhance access to trauma care, improve coordination among trauma systems, and provide resources for rural access to trauma services. The grants included in the bill are intended to help trauma systems develop best practices, not only for their own patients, but also to facilitate the dissemination of those best practices to similar trauma systems throughout the Nation to improve overall care. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee for their tremendous work to reach bipartisan agreement on this bill. I also commend Representative O'Halleran for his tireless advocacy on this issue for all rural communities. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8163 is a strong bill that will help people in every community. I urge my colleagues to support it, 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. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 958) to amend the Public Health Service Act to expand the allowable use criteria for new access points grants for community health centers.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 958.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 958, the Maximizing Outcomes through Better Investments in Lifesaving Equipment for Health Care Act, or the MOBILE Health Care Act. This Senate bill is the companion to H.R. 5141, which passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee last week. The bipartisan bill will help expand access to community health centers and the important care they provide to individuals who live in hard-to-reach areas of the country. Community health centers are a critical source of care for nearly 30 million Americans. Unfortunately, many people who live in rural and geographically isolated areas can struggle to reach a community health center. Many others may lack access to reliable transportation that can make it difficult to get the care they need. Now, one way to mitigate these barriers to access is to allow community health centers to establish mobile health clinics. These clinics can meet people where they live to provide the care they need. There is already funding to establish new community health centers through the New Access Points grants but, unfortunately, existing rules for these grants make it difficult to receive Federal funding to set up these mobile sites. So this legislation will make it easier for community health centers to use New Access Points grants to establish mobile clinics and help eliminate one of the barriers to care for rural areas. I thank Representatives Susie Lee, Hudson, Ruiz, and Herrera Beutler for their leadership on this issue and their hard work to advance this important bill. The House companion to this commonsense, bipartisan legislation was voted out of the Energy and Commerce Committee by a unanimous vote of 52-to-0 last week, so I am proud to support this bill, and I look forward to sending it to the President's desk. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 958, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this is an important bill. It is bipartisan. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Mrs. Lee), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4081) to require the disclosure of a camera or recording capability in certain internet-connected devices, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4081.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4081, the Informing Consumers About Smart Devices Act. For consumers, the benefits of technological progress are all around us. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in our homes. The growing array of smart devices and household appliances with voice, video, and internet connectivity and technology make our lives easier, more entertaining, and more comfortable. So, while there is no question that smart refrigerators, home assistants like Amazon's Alexa, and the countless other internet- connected devices that have microphones or cameras benefit consumers, there is also no question that these devices should not be able to listen to or watch us without our knowledge or consent. Unfortunately, studies confirm that many devices do not disclose these capabilities. Some are easily tricked into recording when people do not want them to do so. So H.R. 4081 addresses this straightforward problem with a straightforward solution. The bill requires manufacturers of internet- connected devices that are equipped with a camera or microphone to disclose to consumers that a camera or microphone is part of the device. The bill does not apply to mobile phones, laptops, or other devices that a consumer would already reasonably expect to include a camera or microphone. Now, the Federal Trade Commission must issue guidance to help businesses comply with these new requirements and may seek penalties, including civil penalties, for violations. This bill will protect consumers; and I commend Representatives Curtis and Moulton for their bipartisan work on this legislation. This bill is commonsense, balanced, and bipartisan. It is a solution to an issue that touches all Americans. It unanimously passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in July by a vote of 53-to-0 and is yet another example of the work the committee is doing to protect consumers. I hope that trend continues today here on the House floor because there is no reason why consumers should ever be spied on by their own household devices without their knowledge and consent. So, Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this important consumer protection legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to take this opportunity to talk about one of our key staff people who is leaving in the next few days. The person, of course, is Jerry Leverich, who is right behind me here. Jerry has played an instrumental role in the committee's work, not only with consumer protection but on so many issues. Shortly after I became the top Democrat on the committee, more than 7 years ago, he started. He is currently the staff director for both our Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and our Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. Over these last 7 years since he has been here, he has played a critical role in our efforts to expand access to broadband nationwide, make internet service more affordable, and protect consumers from annoying robocalls. I have to also say that if it wasn't for him, I don't know that I would be able to deal with a lot of technological issues in the committee or even explain a lot of what we are doing on the issues. He led our efforts this summer, on the Democratic side, on passing out of committee for the first time the bicameral and bipartisan consumer data privacy bill, which we consider on both sides of the aisle a significant achievement. We are still working, obviously, to bring that to the House floor before the end of this session of Congress. Mr. Speaker, I thank him for his counsel. I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors. Obviously, we don't want him to leave. I also want to say that not only is Jerry such an expert and so intelligent and wise on so many issues, but he is also a great individual and someone you can always rely on to be straightforward and tell us when we are doing good things, tell us when we are not, telling us when we can do things that are achievable and when they are not. Generally, overall, he has been a great staff member, so I thank him. Mr. Speaker, I ask that we all support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1377, I call up the bill (H.R. 8542) to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to States, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Urban Indian organizations, and political subdivisions thereof to hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental health professionals to respond in lieu of law enforcement officers in emergencies involving one or more persons with a mental illness or an intellectual or developmental disability, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 8542, the Mental Health Justice Act of 2022.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I only have one speaker, so I will continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 8542, the Mental Health Justice Act of 2022, sponsored by Congresswoman Katie Porter of California. As my colleagues well know, the Nation is facing a mental health crisis. One in five adults experience a mental health illness in their life, and 1 in 20 experience a serious mental illness. The Mental Health Justice Act creates a grant program for local governments to hire, train, and dispatch mental health professionals when 911 is called because someone is experiencing a mental health crisis. Mr. Speaker, we must ensure people have access to the support they need, especially in moments of crisis when emergency responders are called. This legislation would help support connecting those experiencing a mental health crisis with the appropriate responders, resources, and care. The appropriate responder here is crucial. In an effort to balance the needs of individuals and communities, this bill still maintains States' and public entities' hiring and recruiting authority for law enforcement officers and in no way limits their ability to intervene in dangerous circumstances. It is through such coordination and collaboration with law enforcement and the community that we make our communities safer. By ensuring that a mental health professional is the responder in situations where a person is experiencing a mental health or disability-related crisis, this bill will help keep some of the most vulnerable members of our community safe. This is a good bill that will help strengthen the communities we serve, and I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 8542 today. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Porter), the sponsor of this legislation, someone who has worked so hard in her time here on mental health and behavioral health issues.

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