Joseph Pitts

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. We have no further speakers.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the Record on H.R. 6118.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this commonsense, bipartisan bill, H.R. 6118, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 6118, the Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. H.R. 6118 would give the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services much needed regulatory flexibility to enforce prohibitions against improper referrals of proficiency testing under the clinical laboratory improvement amendments. In order to operate as a business, laboratories must adhere to CMS procedures for processing samples, must share testing results with CMS periodically and are prohibited from intentionally referring testing samples to any other lab. Currently the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is required under statute to revoke the CLIA certificate of any laboratory that intentionally refers its proficiency testing samples to another laboratory for testing for a period of 1 year. In addition, the statute requires that a person who has owned or operated a laboratory which has had its CLIA certification revoked, including those owning multiple labs, may not own or operate a laboratory for a period of 2 years following such revocation. However, there have been instances where a hospital or independent laboratory has accidently referred a PT sample to another lab due to mistakes by employees or through automated systems. In such instances CMS is not allowed by law to consider the circumstances under which the test was accidently referred or if the lab acted in good faith to report and address the incident. H.R. 6118 would address these issues by amending section 353 of the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary discretion to determine whether the 1-year ban on laboratories should be applied and the flexibility to levy immediate sanctions instead of the 2-year prohibition against ownership or operation of the lab. The legislation enjoys bipartisan support among this body as well as numerous organizations, including the American Clinical Laboratory Association, the American Hospital Association, the College of American Pathologists, and the Clinical Laboratory Management Association, among others. I would like to thank Congressman Grimm and Congressman Roskam for their work on this legislation, and I urge Members to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 733, the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act of 2012. This act will bring new hope to patients with cancers. It is never easy to lose someone to cancer, but it is especially difficult when you are not even given a fighting chance. Cancers with low survival rates and poor outcomes have baffled researchers for more than 40 years. These are recalcitrant cancers. While survival rates for many cancers have climbed from 50 percent to 67 percent, there are still cancers that have yet to reach the 50 percent benchmark. While there are various types of cancers that fall under this definition, nearly half of the 577,190 cancer deaths expected in 2012 will be caused by eight deadly cancers, including pancreatic and ovarian cancer. This bill will direct the National Cancer Institute to establish a scientific framework for the study of recalcitrant cancers. Working groups will be appointed to prepare the framework that will include a review of current research and identification of key research questions and a summary of promising discoveries. The NIH would then be required to issue a report to Congress with recommendations on the effectiveness of the scientific framework model so that we can ensure that progress is being made and determine whether this type of model should be expanded to other types of diseases and conditions. I urge my colleagues to vote in support of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 3 minutes to the chair of the full committee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton).

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, (Mr. Lance), a member of the Health Subcommittee.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I want to commend the advocacy of Mr. Lance and Ms. Eshoo, the leadership, Mr. Upton, the ranking member of the full committee and the subcommittee, and thank the staffs of both the subcommittee and the full committee for their tireless work in putting together this bipartisan compromise, an excellent bill. And I urge support from the Members for H.R. 733, the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act of 2012. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on H.R. 733.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 733) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a Pancreatic Cancer Initiative, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on H.R. 4124.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening in support of H.R. 4124, the Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act of 2012. This act would take us forward in two important ways: it would reduce the shortages of emergency medical technicians in the United States and at the same time help our veterans find employment. Emergency response is a crucial component of our health care system and preparedness strategy. EMTs are often the first point of contact in a crisis situation, and their care can make the difference between life and death. Emergency response is even more crucial on the battlefield, where military medics respond to emergencies and provide care for the soldiers until a physician or other health professional can take over. These soldiers, trained as combat medics, become very experienced dealing with massive trauma injuries and other complex health problems. It seems that utilizing those with military medic training in our EMT workforce here at home would be good for the returning soldiers, good for the health care system, and good for patients. Areas throughout the United States are experiencing a shortage of EMTs, and military medics could potentially fill those workforce gaps. However, there are a number of issues keeping military medics from EMT employment. Most importantly are State licensing requirements, which can require duplicative training and education that is likely to be unnecessary for someone with significant experience. It is our hope that this bill would allow States to study this issue and streamline their EMT requirements for those returning from the military that have the experience so desperately needed in many communities. I would like to thank Mr. Kinzinger, a veteran who has served with many of these military medics, and Mrs. Capps for their work on this bill. I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, as a veteran I appreciate the efforts of Mr. Kinzinger and Mrs. Capps and others in this commonsense and very bipartisan bill to support our veterans and provide for this need in the emergency medical technician area. I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4124) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants to States to streamline State requirements and procedures for veterans with military emergency medical training to become civilian emergency medical technicians, as amended.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield at this time 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger).

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6163, the National Pediatric Research Network Act, seeks to address important unmet needs in pediatric health. Pediatric research is so important to the health of our children, and it is essential to finding answers for unmet health needs. According to the National Institutes for Health, there are between 6,000 and 7,000 diseases considered rare that affect 25 to 30 million people. Most of the approximately 7,000 rare diseases are pediatric diseases and often genetic. Unfortunately, the doctors do not have sufficient therapies to treat them. This bill seeks to alleviate that problem by establishing pediatric research networks and consortia. They will help by coordinating research efforts among participating institutions, concentrating that effort on the most pressing needs and enlisting the help of well- trained researchers. Through my association with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, I'm aware that there are too many diseases that children and their families face that do not have easy answers, and few adequate treatments. This bill will strengthen basic and clinical research and bring us closer to finding new treatments and cures. Mr. Speaker, this bill has strong bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been released from prison in Iran. After 3 years of suffering in prison, with the death penalty hanging over his head on false charges, Pastor Youcef is now home with his family. This weekend he was suddenly brought before a court, convicted on a more minor sentence, and granted time served. While we applaud his release, we cannot forget how Pastor Youcef was abused and falsely accused over the past 3 years. He was subject to intense interrogation. His wife was arrested, taken away from their two young sons for a period of time. His lawyer was arrested on trumped-up charges. Earlier this year the House drew attention to this persecution when it overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the immediate release of Pastor Youcef. We made it clear that the world was watching and would not tolerate the execution of an innocent man. The Government of Iran continues to abuse religious minorities within its borders: Jews, Sunni Muslims, Baha'is, as well as Christians. Pastor Youcef's release is a victory for human rights, but we cannot forget about the other victims of this corrupt regime.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to recent attacks by the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria. Attacks in Nigeria's Plateau state on July 7 and 8 left 198 families displaced, 88 people dead, and 187 houses burnt. On July 8, during the mass funeral for the victims, they were attacked. Two serving members of the National Assembly--Gyan Dantong and Gyang Danfulani--were also killed. Boko Haram took credit for the attacks, stating in their release that Christians ``will not know peace again'' if they do not accept Islam. Madam Speaker, these attacks are acts of terrorism performed by a terrorist group against innocent Christians. It's time the State Department labels Boko Haram for what it is--a foreign terrorist organization. We must not be afraid to identify and confront attacks of terrorism wherever they might be. Our prayers are with the innocent victims as they mourn the loss of their loved ones.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the privilege of meeting Shin Dong-hyuk, the only known defector to have escaped from one of the many concentration camps operated by the Communist government in North Korea. He was born in the camp and faced starvation, torture, and brainwashing on a routine basis, which is described in the book, ``Escape From Camp 14.'' On the same day, the authorities executed both his brother and his mother in front of him for attempting to plan an escape. He knew nothing of the outside world, only living day to day, doing whatever was needed to survive. Heartbreakingly, this included informing the guards when he heard about his family's escape plan. Years later, a new prisoner came to the camp from Pyongyang, and Shin began to learn about the outside world and then began to long to escape. By some estimates, as many as 200,000 people are held in the brutal gulags like Shin. As we negotiate with the gangster government of North Korea over their nuclear weapons program, we cannot forget about these human rights atrocities perpetrated against millions of their own people.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins).

Mr. PITTS. If this new law is so outstanding, I wonder why the administration has granted over 1,000 waivers to their friends so they don't have to meet the requirements of the law. The President promised not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000. He has broken that pledge 20 times with this new law. Many of them are impacting the middle class that he promised not to raise taxes on. That's $800 billion in new taxes. My friends, the American people have a clear choice: Keep this law and pay the new taxes or take the law off the books and let's start over again with some real free-market reforms. I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to another member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the gentlelady from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn).

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger), another member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from New York (Ms. Buerkle).

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rehberg).