Jan Schakowsky

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I certainly urge all my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 728) to amend title VIII of the Public Health Service Act to extend advanced education nursing grants to support clinical nurse specialist programs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 728.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in great support of H.R. 728, the Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act introduced by Representatives Joyce, Gabbard, Davis, Bonamici, Matsui, Castor, McKinley, and Underwood. The title VIII nursing workforce program ensures that we have a skilled, competent, and diverse nursing workforce, and the Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act will go a long way in strengthening these programs. This bill provides grants to nursing schools, academic health centers, and other entities to help in training graduate-level nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse-midwives and certified registered nurse anesthetists and public health nurses. The bill also reauthorizes the successful Nursing Workforce Diversity grant program which has been shown to reduce health disparities and improve outcomes for patients. As our population ages we are seeing a growing demand for qualified nursing. H.R. 728 helps us prepare for the future by training the next generation of nurses and nurse educators. Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close with this. Nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system. It looks like, in a bipartisan way, everybody loves nurses. They provide frontline care in a variety of settings and often work to supervise and coordinate care for patients. We couldn't live without them, and so we are helping them today. Madam Speaker, I urge the passage of this legislation with all of my colleagues, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2115) to amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide greater transparency of discounts provided by drug manufacturers, as amended.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam 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. 2115.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger), an author and supporter of this bill.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) on this legislation.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close now just by saying the cost of prescription drugs is an issue on the minds of all of our constituents, in a bipartisan way, all across the country, and this bill will provide much-needed transparency around the activity of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. You heard very eloquent statements from our colleagues on this issue. I am going to close now and just say I hope that all of our colleagues will vote for this legislation. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 647) to amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the number of permanent faculty in palliative care at accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, nursing schools, social work schools, and other programs, including physician assistant education programs, to promote education and research in palliative care and hospice, and to support the development of faculty careers in academic palliative medicine, as amended.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. 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 materials on H.R. 647.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), the author of this important legislation.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 647, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act. This bill, introduced by Representatives Engel, Reed, Clarke, and Carter, would establish palliative care and hospice education centers to improve training of interdisciplinary professionals and faculty members in palliative care. The bill would promote career development of physicians who practice hospice and palliative medicine. It also helps train the next generation of practitioners by authorizing funds to train and retain nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and others who are pursuing advanced degrees in palliative care and related fields. H.R. 647 will help patients facing serious conditions at the end of their lives and improve hospice care availability and treatment. I just want to say this bill is personal to me. My father, who lived with me at the end of his life, we were the beneficiaries of hospice, and it made all the difference in the final days of his life. This bill has the support of 294 bipartisan cosponsors, as well as 89 different organizations. I would certainly urge all of my colleagues to endorse, support, and vote for this important piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I think what you heard from Mr. Reed and myself, and those people who have experienced the use of hospice care, what a great and wonderful blessing it can be to our families. Mr. Speaker, I support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I think you could hear from the factual and the heartfelt testimony you have heard about this bill that will make hospice and palliative care more available that we all here urge passage of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1781) to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to provide the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission with access to certain drug payment information, including certain rebate information, as amended.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. 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. 1781.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1781, the Payment Commission Data Act of 2019. This bill will provide the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, otherwise known as MedPAC, and the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, MACPAC, with access to drug pricing and rebate data under Medicare parts B and D, as well as under Medicaid. MedPAC and MACPAC are independent, nonpartisan commissions that advise Congress on issues affecting the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Currently, MedPAC and MACPAC lack access to this drug pricing data and are limited in their ability to provide information to Congress on the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. H.R. 1781 is a simple but critical fix to ensure that the commissions have access to this data in order to analyze and report to Congress on these urgent issues. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that this evening, early evening and now, we have passed a total of five pieces of legislation, a couple of which were also out of the Ways and Means Committee. I think it is a tremendous success and a bipartisan success. So I want to thank Chairman Frank Pallone and the chair of the Health Subcommittee, Anna Eshoo; Ranking Member Walden and ranking member of the Health Subcommittee, Mr. Burgess, for their hard work. But I also do want to just take a moment to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle. On the Democratic staff we have: Stephen Holland, Jacquelyn Bolen, Kimberlee Trzeciak, Una Lee, Tiffany Guarascio, and Waverly Gordon. These bills will strengthen our healthcare workforce and increase transparency in prescription drug prices. They are all critical. I am very proud that we were able to work in a bipartisan way to, hopefully, right now, have them pass. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the greatest example of science diplomacy, the Malta Conferences, their founder and president Professor Zafra Lerman, and the important work that the conferences facilitate. This year marks the ninth meeting of the Malta Conferences. The conferences help identify unique opportunities for collaboration to meet the scientific and technological challenges of the Middle East region. In the Malta Conferences, the common language of science is used for science diplomacy, which serves as a bridge to peace, tolerance and understanding. These peace congresses have made it possible for scientists from countries that are often on opposing sides of political and cultural conflicts to meet in a politically neutral environment, where they can collaborate on solving regional problems, and forge relationships that bridge deep chasms of mistrust and intolerance. These unique gatherings draw scientists from many Middle East countries, including Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In each of the Malta Conferences, Middle East scientists meet with science Nobel Laureates to catalyze enduring collaborations on scientific and technological problems, including water scarcity, environmental degradation, nuclear and chemical security, science and technology education for all, energy, and climate change. The founder and president of the Malta Conferences, Professor Zafra Lerman, is my friend and constituent. Professor Lerman is a life-long champion for human rights, freedom, and peace. For more than four decades, she has worked tirelessly to promote peace and justice around the globe, especially among nations whose governments are hostile to one another. Professor Lerman has received over 40 international awards, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring from President Clinton, the Royal Society of Chemistry Nyholm Education Award, the American Chemical Society George C. Pimentel Award, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Award for Science and Diplomacy, the American Physical Society Andrei Sakharov Prize, and the UN NOVUS Summit Peace and Justice Award. Professor Lerman received her bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Despite many obstacles to success, the Malta Conferences have developed several avenues for change: Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, and Kuwait formed a working group on Drinking Water Quality Assessment in the Middle East; Palestinian students from Al Quds University in Palestine are pursuing PhD studies at Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel; a women's group was formed in order to empower women scientists across the region, and encourage young girls to pursue careers in STEM; and a unified science curriculum for the Middle East is being developed which will include climate change, chemistry, nuclear security, and ethics. More than 700 Middle East scientists and 15 Nobel Laureates are now in the network. I would like to thank Professor Zafra Lerman and the Malta Conferences for their continued hard work to bring peace to the Middle East.