Billy Tauzin

Mr. TAUZIN

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I only want to point out to the House that the substitute offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) in subcommittee and full committee was defeated on a bipartisan vote in full committee of 30 noes to 20 yeas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox).

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the author of this legislation.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), chairman of the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, who has done such great work on this bill.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Mr. Speaker, we would not help this debate by arguing that the other side is catering to trial lawyers. That is not going to help this debate. Let us argue on the facts for a change. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) may not agree with what happened in California, but this is what Senator Feinstein said. ``I believe MICRA is the reason rates have gone down.'' That is a California Senator talking about her State. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt).

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5. I am joined by every major medical association representing the doctors of America across this country and across the very specialty organizations that are so deeply affected by the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance that many of them are leaving the practice that they were trained to do. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Greenwood) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for drafting this legislation. I certainly thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the staff of the Committee on the Judiciary for working so closely with the staff of the Committee on Energy and Commerce to advance the cause of this very important bill. We will hear many stories today about the victims and how they are harmed in the health care system. And, of course, we cannot dispute the fact that many doctors make human errors. In fact, yesterday we indicated that the To Err Is Human report encouraged us to pass a medical errors bill, which we passed yesterday on the floor, which is designed to begin sharing information to reduce the number of those errors and to make sure that doctors are not hauled into court every time they help one another when trying to reduce the number of errors in the system. We know there are victims of medical errors, but we do not often hear about the victims of the medical malpractice system gone awry. They are the victims who get denied access to health care in very critical moments because some doctor could not get his insurance renewed because premiums were too high, some doctor left the practice, some medical clinic, some institute closed down in the community, the stories we heard from victims yesterday here in Washington, D.C. One wife and children were here talking about how the husband and father was in a horrible automobile accident and went to the hospital, only to find out the neurosurgeon who should have been there to help him had lost coverage 4 days earlier and was no longer at the hospital to service them. That gentleman suffers massive brain disabilities as a result of not having someone there to serve him. Many pregnant women look forward to a natural childbirth, only to find out that doctors are increasingly recommending C-sections, and doctors who deliver babies are getting out of the business because they cannot afford the skyrocketing liability coverage policies that they need. 60 Minutes did a piece on one of those doctors who gave his whole life, his career to delivering babies. He cannot do it any more. He is doing prenatal work now because he cannot afford the awful cost of liability coverage. So not only are these doctors harmed because they cannot practice the professions they love and worked so hard to learn, but the patients that come to them are increasingly being harmed. Doctors are moving from one community to another, moving to States that have liability protection because they have learned that they cannot afford the liability coverage in the community they were raised and educated in. They have to move from Mississippi to Louisiana, for example, and Mississippi loses the availability of those good physicians. Those hidden victims, patients who cannot get care, who suffer from a lack of access to health care, are just as real, just as injured as any victim who has been injured by medical error or malpractice in this country. We have to do something about this. It is a broken system. When the health care system breaks down, it is our responsibility to make sure that we fix it, and we fix it so it does not just work in California or Louisiana, it works across America. Our families are spread all over. My children are living in all kinds of States. I want them to be able to walk into a hospital and find somebody ready to serve them. I do not want them to walk into a hospital in Mississippi and find out a needed doctor is not there. That is the task we have before us today. As we move this legislation forward, we will complete the task we started yesterday, on the one hand beginning to cure that awful problem of medical errors within the system, errors which produce injury, and recovery is possible under our legal laws; and, secondly, to make sure that the legal liability system is fixed. What are we doing here? We are recommending to the Congress and to the Nation nothing more, nothing less than the experience of the great State of California, which in 1975 adopted the law upon which H.R. 5 is based, a law which has kept liability premiums in California at one- third the increase level which has been experienced across the country. The other side of the aisle have been debating whether this will reduce insurance premiums. I tell them, go to CBO. CBO has estimated a 25 to 30 percent reduction in insurance costs across America if we pass H.R. 5. Mr. Speaker, guess what, my State will not get that benefit. We already have the benefit of lower premiums because of reforms like this. Those premium reductions will go to States that do not have the benefit of a State law like California and Louisiana. Therefore, the reductions in premiums are likely to be higher in those States where there are no caps on liabilities. One final thought. For those Members that are arguing that we are somehow capping the entire liability award, we are doing what California did with a Democratic governor and a Democratic legislature: We are only capping the noneconomic damages. That is the only thing we are capping. We are capping it at $250,000, but we are telling California and Massachusetts and Louisiana, or any other State in the Nation, if they do not like that cap, they can adopt their own cap. They can adopt a higher or lower cap. This legislation preserves for the States the right to adopt the cap that works for them. But this legislation for the first time will say to everyone in this country, we are all entitled to have a health care professional available to us when we need it who otherwise would not be here because of a liability system that is so broken that it drives decent health care workers out of business and out of their professions at our loss. Mr. Speaker, this legislation has to get passed and has to get passed soon. I urge Members to adopt this legislation today. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAUZIN

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from the great State of Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, that produced this important legislation.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 399) to amend the Public Health Service Act to promote organ donation.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 399, the bill under consideration.

Mr. TAUZIN

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, actually I rise first to commend a Member of the House who has done some extraordinary work, not even on our committee but on the Committee on Ways and Means, and that is the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), who has really contributed mightily to the understanding of this issue and has helped indeed frame much of the solutions that this bill contains. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) of the Committee on Ways and Means for that vital process. I particularly also want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the ranking members of the subcommittee and the full committee, indeed for the fact that this is a bipartisan effort to do something about medical errors which end up creating victims of a health care system who should never have to suffer because of those errors. We are told in the project of 1999 that was done by the Institute of Medicine, in that report entitled ``To Err Is Human,'' that as many as 98,000 people in this country die as a result of medical errors. In fact, the news contains the story today of perhaps some errors in a young child who received an organ transplant just this week again. Those awful stories should come to an end. The first and most important way of ending medical error damage and death in our health care system is in fact to do what we are doing today, and that is to set up a system whereby health care officials and doctors and nurses, clinics and hospitals, can share information. One can learn from the other. The impediments to sharing information today are many. The ability of a doctor to share information about something that went wrong or a hospital to share information with another hospital about something that could go right in the case of a medical error prevented, those inabilities are corrected in this act. The act creates not only the incentive for information sharing but grants an assistance for the technologies that are going to improve the transfer of information that will make less error in the health care system a reality and, therefore, again save human lives and human misery. This act will not only improve the quality of our health care system, it will immeasurably improve the safety of the health care facilities and the safety net that surrounds someone who goes into one of those facilities expecting to be healed rather than to come out with an infection. As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health said, the effort here is to create a culture of safety by providing a legal protection framework for the information that is reported, that is provided, about quality improvement and patient safety. The thrust is to provide the opportunity for health care providers to submit information to a patient safety organization and have an analysis done so that we can learn from all the information coming in, what works, what does not work, what errors are occurring and why they are occurring, and then to have these same organizations have the benefit of that information in preventing those errors and in improving the safety of their procedures. There are several provisions aimed at improving the diffusion and functioning of important information technologies that help prevent medical errors. This legislation is not the only one we will work on to help improve patient safety and quality. There are other efforts being undertaken in the States and in the local medical communities of all of our homes. We want to support those efforts as well and will continue to work in a bipartisan fashion as we have done here to help improve the outcomes in our health care system. In short, today we begin a very aggressive campaign to root out errors within the health care delivery system and to save lives and injury that result from those errors. Tomorrow we will take up the liability questions, the questions of how liability and malpractice cases are pursued in this country. But today we focus on this set of victims as our committee continues to put patients first, as we try to focus all our health care policy and decision-making on how we can better help patients receive good, quality, safe health care when they go to a health care facility in this country or they seek the services of a health care provider. This is extremely important stuff we do today. I hope this House understands that while this is a bipartisan effort, while it passed committee on a voice vote, while we are all very supportive of it and very grateful for the work of not only the members of our committee but other committees who have assisted us, I want everyone to know that this is really serious stuff. If this works, we could save nearly 100,000 American citizens who die yearly from these errors. This is important stuff. I urge the House to agree with this important legislation.

Mr. TAUZIN

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We will be speaking about mosquitos. I think it is appropriate that we represent both sides of the aisle by gentlemen from Louisiana. I am pleased that the House is considering today the Mosquito Abatement for Safety and Health Act. I want to congratulate and thank the gentleman from Crowley, Louisiana (Mr. John) for his authorship of this very important legislation, not just for our State, by the way, but for so many States in the Nation where, in fact, the West Nile virus has threatened lives, and it has, in fact, harmed so many individuals. In fact, today, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa lead the country, three States ahead of Louisiana, in the number of reported cases of West Nile virus, and while we are experiencing wintry weather here in the Nation's capital, we may have rather numbed our senses to the fact that warm and wet weather is just around the corner and with it will come flowers, sunshine and, yes, mosquitos. Just yesterday, USA Today warned, ``Keep the bug spray handy, there is a good chance that West Nile virus will complete its coast-to-coast march this summer''; in fact, warning us that it is going to make it to the West Coast before the summer is over. Last summer, the West Nile infected over 40 States. It has led to the death of 274 of our fellow citizens. It has made 4,000 others seriously ill, and what is remarkable is that many more Americans may have been infected by the West Nile virus but thankfully did not develop its serious complication. Since 1999, when the West Nile was first detected in our country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have taken the lead in assisting the States and the localities in combatting the spread of this disease. The bill we are considering today will complement the work of the CDC and will provide authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States for the purpose of coordinating such things as mosquito control programs, assessment and mosquito control planning grants to political subdivisions, and assistance in combatting the spread of mosquitos that carry West Nile. In addition, this Act authorizes CDC to award grants to political subdivisions of States for the operation of mosquito control programs themselves. The rapid outbreak of West Nile across America, which is fast outpacing the prediction of many scientists, has made it very difficult for our communities to adequately respond. The additional Federal dollars we authorize through this legislation will assist States and localities with their immediate needs to combat it. Notably, this legislation recognizes the importance of keeping mosquito control programs running and controlled at the local level, where they have historically operated. It simply gives additional support to the CDC so it can provide technical and training assistance to the planning, development and operation of these programs. Finally, it directs the National Institutes of Health to support and conduct research to identify or develop methods to control insect and vermin populations that transmit diseases that have significant adverse health consequences for humans. The findings from this research hold the potential for the development of additional products to assist in mosquito control efforts. Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. John) for his enormous leadership in this act and so many other things before the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to just advise that some of my Cajun friends have suggested that if we come up with a good mosquito gumbo recipe we might be able to solve some of these problems. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman), my dear friend from my neighboring State.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Louisiana for his comments and endorsements, and I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Indiana (Mr. Souder), which is, by the way, the fifth in incidents of West Nile virus in the country. (Mr. SOUDER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 342) to authorize grants through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for mosquito control programs to prevent mosquito-borne diseases, and for other purposes.

Mr. TAUZIN

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, let me congratulate the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for this extraordinary bill. This is indeed a life saver. There are many things we do in this House that affect people's pocketbooks or the way in which we do business in this country or the way in which we live in our communities. This one saves lives. And when we have these important bills we ought to really be grateful to the authors who bring them forward and who gave so much time and attention to it, as the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) has done. This bill, H.R. 389, the Automatic Defibrillation in Adam's Memory Act, is a simple clarification of a grant program authorized already by the Public Health Security and Bio-terrorism Response Act for States, Indian tribes and localities to develop and implement public access defibrillation programs. Because many schools also serve as community meeting places, several communities are considering placing the AEDs in their schools. In order to assist the schools interested in installing these AEDs, this bill clarifies that the public access defibrillation program grant dollars already authorized may also be used to establish information clearinghouses to assist in these efforts. Automatic external defibrillators, AEDs, are widely used by emergency personnel and health professionals to assist individuals suffering from sudden cardiac arrest. The use of AEDs has proven effective to save lives when following the chain-of-survival plan developed by the American Heart Association, which includes an immediate call to 911, early CPR and defibrillation, and early advanced life support. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in this country. AEDs have proven helpful in reducing the number of cardiac arrest fatalities and expanding the use of these medical devices will undeniably help save more lives. Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) and my friend, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. John), for all the work our committee did in a bipartisan fashion to bring this bill forward. The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. John) may not remember this, but when Dudley LeBlanc was a senator in the State senate in Louisiana, I watched as he suffered a massive cardiac arrest in the house chamber. And I watched as a defibrillation team came in and saved his life in front of all the other members, a dramatic, if you will, example of how this technology can really save lives. Again, I thank both the gentlemen, but also to all the members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the great work they have done in bringing this bill forward. I urge my colleagues in the House to adopt it expeditiously.

Mr. TAUZIN

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)2 of Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, I hereby submit the Rules of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the 108th Congress for publication in the Congressional Record. The Committee adopted Rules on January 29, 2003, and amended the Rules on February 12, 2003, both in meetings that were open to the public. Rules for the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, 108th Congress Rule 1. General Provisions. (a) Rules of the Committee. The Rules of the House are the rules of the Committee on Energy and Commerce (hereinafter the ``Committee'') and its subcommittees so far as is applicable, except that a motion to recess from day to day, and a motion to dispense with the first reading (in full) of a bill or resolution, if printed copies are available, is nondebatable and privileged in the Committee and its subcommittees. (b) Rules of the Subcommittees. Each subcommittee of the Committee is part of the Committee and is subject to the authority and direction of the Committee and to its rules so far as applicable. Written rules adopted by the Committee, not inconsistent with the Rules of the House, shall be binding on each subcommittee of the Committee. Rule 2. Time and Place of Meetings. (a) Regular Meeting Days. The Committee shall meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m., for the consideration of bills, resolutions, and other business, if the House is in session on that day. If the House is not in session on that day and the Committee has not met during such month, the Committee shall meet at the earliest practicable opportunity when the House is again in session. The chairman of the Committee may, at his discretion, cancel, delay, or defer any meeting required under this section, after consultation with the ranking minority member. (b) Additional Meetings. The chairman may call and convene, as he considers necessary, additional meetings of the Committee for the consideration of any bill or resolution pending before the Committee or for the conduct of other Committee business. The Committee shall meet for such purposes pursuant to that call of the chairman. (c) Vice Chairmen; Presiding Member. The chairman shall designate a member of the majority party to serve as vice chairman of the Committee, and shall designate a majority member of each subcommittee to serve as vice chairman of each subcommittee. The vice chairman of the Committee or subcommittee, as the case may be, shall preside at any meeting or hearing during the temporary absence of the chairman. If the chairman and vice chairman of the Committee or subcommittee are not present at any meeting or hearing, the ranking member of the majority party who is present shall preside at the meeting or hearing. (d) Open Meetings and Hearings. Except as provided by the Rules of the House, each meeting of the Committee or any of its subcommittees for the transaction of business, including the markup of legislation, and each hearing, shall be open to the public including to radio, television and still photography coverage, consistent with the provisions of Rule XI of the Rules of the House. Rule 3. Agenda. The agenda for each Committee or subcommittee meeting (other than a hearing), setting out the date, time, place, and all items of business to be considered, shall be provided to each member of the Committee at least 36 hours in advance of such meeting. Rule 4. Procedure. (a)(1) Hearings. The date, time, place, and subject matter of any hearing of the Committee or any of its subcommittees shall be announced at least one week in advance of the commencement of such hearing, unless the Committee or subcommittee determines in accordance with clause 2(g)(3) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House that there is good cause to begin the hearing sooner. (2)(A) Meetings. The date, time, place, and subject matter of any meeting (other than a hearing) scheduled on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday when the House will be in session, shall be announced at least 36 hours (exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays except when the House is in session on such days) in advance of the commencement of such meeting. (B) Other Meetings. The date, time, place, and subject matter of a meeting (other than a hearing or a meeting to which subparagraph (A) applies) shall be announced at least 72 hours in advance of the commencement of such meeting. (b)(1) Requirements for Testimony. Each witness who is to appear before the Committee or a subcommittee shall file with the clerk of the Committee, at least two working days in advance of his or her appearance, sufficient copies, as determined by the chairman of the Committee or a subcommittee, of a written statement of his or her proposed testimony to provide to members and staff of the Committee or subcommittee, the news media, and the general public. Each witness shall, to the greatest extent practicable, also provide a copy of such written testimony in an electronic format prescribed by the chairman. Each witness shall limit his or her oral presentation to a brief summary of the argument. The chairman of the Committee or of a subcommittee, or the presiding member, may waive the requirements of this paragraph or any part thereof. (2) Additional Requirements for Testimony. To the greatest extent practicable, the written testimony of each witness appearing in a non-governmental capacity shall include a curriculum vitae and a disclosure of the amount and source (by agency and program) of any federal grant (or subgrant thereof) or contract (or subcontract thereof) received during the current fiscal year or either of the two preceding fiscal years by the witness or by an entity represented by the witness. (c) Questioning Witnesses. The right to interrogate the witnesses before the Committee or any of its subcommittees shall alternate between majority and minority members. Each member shall be limited to 5 minutes in the interrogation of witnesses until such time as each member who so desires has had an opportunity to question witnesses. No member shall be recognized for a second period of 5 minutes to interrogate a witness until each member of the Committee present has been recognized once for that purpose. While the Committee or subcommittee is operating under the 5-minute rule for the interrogation of witnesses, the chairman shall recognize in order of appearance members who were not present when the meeting was called to order after all members who were present when the meeting was called to order have been recognized in the order of seniority on the Committee or subcommittee, as the case may be. (d) Explanation of Subcommittee Action. No bill, recommendation, or other matter reported by a subcommittee shall be considered by the full Committee unless the text of the matter reported, together with an explanation, has been available to members of the Committee for at least 36 hours. Such explanation shall include a summary of the major provisions of the legislation, an explanation of the relationship of the matter to present law, and a summary of the need for the legislation. All subcommittee actions shall be reported promptly by the clerk of the Committee to all members of the Committee. (e) Opening Statements. Opening statements by members at the beginning of any hearing or markup of the Committee or any of its subcommittees shall be limited to 5 minutes each for the chairman and ranking minority member (or their respective designee) of the Committee or subcommittee, as applicable, and 3 minutes each for all other members. With the consent of the Committee, prior to the recognition of the first witness for testimony, any Member, when recognized for an opening statement, may completely defer his or her three- minute opening statement and instead use those three minutes during the initial round of witness questioning. Rule 5. Waiver of Agenda, Notice, and Layover Requirements. Requirements of rules 3, 4(a)(2), and 4(d) may be waived by a majority of those present and voting (a majority being present) of the Committee or subcommittee, as the case may be. Rule 6. Quorum. Testimony may be taken and evidence received at any hearing at which there are present not fewer than two members of the Committee or subcommittee in question. A majority of the members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of reporting any measure or matter, of authorizing a subpoena, or of closing a meeting or hearing pursuant to clause 2(g) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House (except as provided in clause 2(g)(2)(A) and (B)). For the purposes of taking any action other than those specified in the preceding sentence, one-third of the members of the Committee or subcommittee shall constitute a quorum. Rule 7. Official Committee Records. (a)(1) Journal. The proceedings of the Committee shall be recorded in a journal which shall, among other things, show those present at each meeting, and include a record of the vote on any question on which a record vote is demanded and a description of the amendment, motion, order, or other proposition voted. A copy of the journal shall be furnished to the ranking minority member. (2) Record Votes. A record vote may be demanded by one- fifth of the members present or, in the apparent absence of a quorum, by any one member. No demand for a record vote shall be made or obtained except for the purpose of procuring a record vote or in the apparent absence of a quorum. The result of each record vote in any meeting of the Committee shall be made available in the Committee office for inspection by the public, as provided in Rule XI, clause 2(e) of the Rules of the House. (b) Archived Records. The records of the Committee at the National Archives and Records Administration shall be made available for public use in accordance with Rule VII of the Rules of the House. The chairman shall notify the ranking minority member of any decision, pursuant to clause 3(b)(3) or clause 4(b) of the Rule, to withhold a record otherwise available, and the matter shall be presented to the Committee for a determination on the written request of any member of the Committee. The chairman shall consult with the ranking minority member on any communication from the Archivist of the United States or the Clerk of the House concerning the disposition of noncurrent records pursuant to clause 3(b) of the Rule. Rule 8. Subcommittees. There shall be such standing subcommittees with such jurisdiction and size as determined by the majority party caucus of the Committee. The jurisdiction, number, and size of the subcommittees shall be determined by the majority party caucus prior to the start of the process for establishing subcommittee chairmanships and assignments. Rule 9. Powers and Duties of Subcommittees. Each subcommittee is authorized to meet, hold hearings, receive testimony, mark up legislation, and report to the Committee on all matters referred to it. Subcommittee chairmen shall set hearing and meeting dates only with the approval of the chairman of the Committee with a view toward assuring the availability of meeting rooms and avoiding simultaneous scheduling of Committee and subcommittee meetings or hearings whenever possible. Rule 10. Reference of Legislation and Other Matters. All legislation and other matters referred to the Committee shall be referred to the subcommittee of appropriate jurisdiction within two weeks of the date of receipt by the Committee unless action is taken by the full committee within those two weeks, or by majority vote of the members of the Committee, consideration is to be by the full Committee. In the case of legislation or other matter within the jurisdiction of more than one subcommittee, the chairman of the Committee may, in his discretion, refer the matter simultaneously to two or more subcommittees for concurrent consideration, or may designate a subcommittee of primary jurisdiction and also refer the matter to one or more additional subcommittees for consideration in sequence (subject to appropriate time limitations), either on its initial referral or after the matter has been reported by the subcommittee of primary jurisdiction. Such authority shall include the authority to refer such legislation or matter to an ad hoc subcommittee appointed by the chairman, with the approval of the Committee, from the members of the subcommittee having legislative or oversight jurisdiction. Rule 11. Ratio of Subcommittees. The majority caucus of the Committee shall determine an appropriate ratio of majority to minority party members for each subcommittee and the chairman shall negotiate that ratio with the minority party, provided that the ratio of party members on each subcommittee shall be no less favorable to the majority than that of the full Committee, nor shall such ratio provide for a majority of less than two majority members. Rule 12. Subcommittee Membership. (a) Selection of Subcommittee Members. Prior to any organizational meeting held by the Committee, the majority and minority caucuses shall select their respective members of the standing subcommittees. (b) Ex Officio Members. The chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee shall be ex officio members with voting privileges of each subcommittee of which they are not assigned as members and may be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum in such subcommittees. Rule 13. Managing Legislation on the House Floor. The chairman, in his discretion, shall designate which member shall manage legislation reported by the Committee to the House. Rule 14. Committee Professional and Clerical Staff Appointments. (a) Delegation of Staff. Whenever the chairman of the Committee determines that any professional staff member appointed pursuant to the provisions of clause 9 of Rule X of the House of Representatives, who is assigned to such chairman and not to the ranking minority member, by reason of such professional staff member's expertise or qualifications will be of assistance to one or more subcommittees in carrying out their assigned responsibilities, he may delegate such member to such subcommittees for such purpose. A delegation of a member of the professional staff pursuant to this subsection shall be made after consultation with subcommittee chairmen and with the approval of the subcommittee chairman or chairmen involved. (b) Minority Professional Staff. Professional staff members appointed pursuant to clause 9 of Rule X of the House of Representatives, who are assigned to the ranking minority member of the Committee and not to the chairman of the Committee, shall be assigned to such Committee business as the minority party members of the Committee consider advisable. (c) Additional Staff Appointments. In addition to the professional staff appointed pursuant to clause 9 of Rule X of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the Committee shall be entitled to make such appointments to the professional and clerical staff of the Committee as may be provided within the budget approved for such purposes by the Committee. Such appointee shall be assigned to such business of the full Committee as the chairman of the Committee considers advisable. (d) Sufficient Staff. The chairman shall ensure that sufficient staff is made available to each subcommittee to carry out its responsibilities under the rules of the Committee. (e) Fair Treatment of Minority Members in Appointment of Committee Staff. The chairman shall ensure that the minority members of the Committee are treated fairly in appointment of Committee staff. (f) Contracts for Temporary or Intermittent Services. Any contract for the temporary services or intermittent service of individual consultants or organizations to make studies or advise the Committee or its subcommittees with respect to any matter within their jurisdiction shall be deemed to have been approved by a majority of the members of the Committee if approved by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee. Such approval shall not be deemed to have been given if at least one- third of the members of the Committee request in writing that the Committee formally act on such a contract, if the request is made within 10 days after the latest date on which such chairman or chairmen, and such ranking minority member or members, approve such contract. Rule 15. Supervision, Duties of Staff. (a) Supervision of Majority Staff. The professional and clerical staff of the Committee not assigned to the minority shall be under the supervision and direction of the chairman who, in consultation with the chairmen of the subcommittees, shall establish and assign the duties and responsibilities of such staff members and delegate such authority as he determines appropriate. (b) Supervision of Minority Staff. The professional and clerical staff assigned to the minority shall be under the supervision and direction of the minority members of the Committee, who may delegate such authority as they determine appropriate. Rule 16. Committee Budget. (a) Preparation of Committee Budget. The chairman of the Committee, after consultation with the ranking minority member of the Committee and the chairmen of the subcommittees, shall for the 108th Congress prepare a preliminary budget for the Committee, with such budget including necessary amounts for professional and clerical staff, travel, investigations, equipment and miscellaneous expenses of the Committee and the subcommittees, and which shall be adequate to fully discharge the Committee's responsibilities for legislation and oversight. Such budget shall be presented by the chairman to the majority party caucus of the Committee and thereafter to the full Committee for its approval. (b) Approval of the Committee Budget. The chairman shall take whatever action is necessary to have the budget as finally approved by the Committee duly authorized by the House. No proposed Committee budget may be submitted to the Committee on House Administration unless it has been presented to and approved by the majority party caucus and thereafter by the full Committee. The chairman of the Committee may authorize all necessary expenses in accordance with these rules and within the limits of the Committee's budget as approved by the House. (c) Monthly Expenditures Report. Committee members shall be furnished a copy of each monthly report, prepared by the chairman for the Committee on House Administration, which shows expenditures made during the reporting period and cumulative for the year by the Committee and subcommittees, anticipated expenditures for the projected Committee program, and detailed information on travel. Rule 17. Broadcasting of Committee Hearings. Any meeting or hearing that is open to the public may be covered in whole or in part by radio or television or still photography, subject to the requirements of clause 4 of Rule XI of the Rules of the House. The coverage of any hearing or other proceeding of the Committee or any subcommittee thereof by television, radio, or still photography shall be under the direct supervision of the chairman of the Committee, the subcommittee chairman, or other member of the Committee presiding at such hearing or other proceeding and may be terminated by such member in accordance with the Rules of the House. Rule 18. Comptroller General Audits. The chairman of the Committee is authorized to request verification examinations by the Comptroller General of the United States pursuant to Title V, Part A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (Public Law 94-163), after consultation with the members of the Committee. Rule 19. Subpoenas. The Committee, or any subcommittee, may authorize and issue a subpoena under clause 2(m)(2)(A) of Rule XI of the House, if authorized by a majority of the members of the Committee or subcommittee (as the case may be) voting, a quorum being present. Authorized subpoenas may be issued over the signature of the chairman of the Committee or any member designated by the Committee, and may be served by any person designated by such chairman or member. The chairman of the Committee may authorize and issue subpoenas under such clause during any period for which the House has adjourned for a period in excess of 3 days when, in the opinion of the chairman, authorization and issuance of the subpoena is necessary to obtain the material set forth in the subpoena. The chairman shall report to the members of the Committee on the authorization and issuance of a subpoena during the recess period as soon as practicable but in no event later than one week after service of such subpoena. Rule 20. Travel of Members and Staff. (a) Approval of Travel. Consistent with the primary expense resolution and such additional expense resolutions as may have been approved, travel to be reimbursed from funds set aside for the Committee for any member or any staff member shall be paid only upon the prior authorization of the chairman. Travel may be authorized by the chairman for any member and any staff member in connection with the attendance of hearings conducted by the Committee or any subcommittee thereof and meetings, conferences, and investigations which involve activities or subject matter under the general jurisdiction of the Committee. Before such authorization is given there shall be submitted to the chairman in writing the following: (1) the purpose of the travel; (2) the dates during which the travel is to be made and the date or dates of the event for which the travel is being made; (3) the location of the event for which the travel is to be made; and (4) the names of members and staff seeking authorization. (b) Approval of Travel by Minority Members and Staff. In the case of travel by minority party members and minority party professional staff for the purpose set out in (a), the prior approval, not only of the chairman but also of the ranking minority member, shall be required. Such prior authorization shall be given by the chairman only upon the representation by the ranking minority member in writing setting forth those items enumerated in (1), (2), (3), and (4) of paragraph (a).

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker,

Mr. TAUZIN

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from the great State of Michigan (Mr. Upton), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications. (Mr. UPTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Florida (Mr. Stearns), the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4, the Personal Responsibility, Work and Family Promotion Act of 2003. This bill does a number of things that are very important to the Committee on Energy and Commerce that I chair. It contains an extension of funding for the abstinence-only education, and also reauthorizes transitional medical assistance, and I want to speak to both of these issues briefly. The 1996 welfare reform law included a permanent appropriation of $50 million over 5 years for abstinence-only education under title V of the Social Security Act. With tight State budgets and a requirement that States must match every 4 Federal dollars with 3 of their own, it is noteworthy that almost every State in the Union has now participated in this block grant program. The high rate of State interest suggests that abstinence-only education is indeed one of the ways to address the terrible problems of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in our society. Last year, my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the chairman of our Subcommittee on Health, held a hearing on abstinence-only education. It was an eye opener. At that hearing we learned that problems stemming from increased sexual activity among teens has not abated at all in this country. Even though teen birth rates have declined, we still have the highest teen birth rates of any industrialized nation in the world, and sexually transmitted diseases have grown dramatically. Every day in America, 10,000 young people contract a sexually transmitted disease, 2,400 become pregnant, and 55 contract HIV. When we were growing up in the 1960s, there were really only two sexually transmitted diseases that were of a real concern. Now we are aware of more than 25, and the diseases that are primarily affecting young people today are now the viral diseases, such as human papillomavirus, herpes and chlamydia. Mr. Chairman, these viral diseases cannot be cured. They are incurable sexually transmitted diseases. Chlamydia, for example, a major cause of infertility in young women, is asymptomatic in up to 85 percent of the cases. That means for 85 percent of the young women contracting this sexually transmitted disease, which is incurable, they may lose their opportunity ever to bear a child, ever to become a mother, ever to experience the joys and the tremendous rewards of motherhood. One of the other things we learned was that 50 percent of the sexually active young women between the ages of 18 and 22 are now infected with the papillomavirus, or HPV. Now, this is a virus, again we learn, that most young women do not realize they have, because again it is asymptomatic in most cases. But what we have learned about it is that it is a precursor, it is one of the incurable diseases that often leads to cervical cancer. And guess what else we learned? We learned that there is no evidence whatsoever that condoms reduce the sexual transmission of this infection. These statistics are terrifying. But they show that the safer sex model has not solved all of these problems despite more than 20 years of a variety of education programs aimed at promoting condom or contraception use. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues, for the sake of these young men and women in our society who are being infected by these incurable diseases, many of which will cause them incredible damage in their lives, and they are not aware, that we extend the abstinence-only education programs under H.R. 4. H.R. 4 simply maintains the status quo, extends the level of funding of $50 million each year through the year 2008. New research is beginning to suggest that abstinence-only education can effectively address the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among young people and the proportion of births occurring to unmarried mothers. We must continue indeed that effort begun in 1996 and support abstinence-only education programs that empower students to choose abstinence for themselves, while receiving the relevant facts and information that would make them want to make that choice. The 1996 welfare reform law also included a critical work support for former welfare recipients called transitional medical assistance. Former welfare recipients typically enter low-wage jobs that do not offer private health insurance coverage or offer coverage with very expensive premiums. Transitional medical assistance extends up to a year of Medicaid coverage to these individuals and their families. This is the bridge of health care coverage that helps take young people out of welfare and into the workforce with adequate medical coverage in the bridge years. There is strong bipartisan support for this assistance, which provides a valuable incentive for people to move off of welfare into work, and this 1 year reauthorization of transitional medical assistance will have a 5-year cost of $355 million. Because funding was not included, Mr. Chairman, in the last year's budget resolution, we had to find the money to pay for it, so H.R. 4 includes a limited offset to do so. We recognize the Medicaid budget difficulties many States are currently experiencing and important functions that are funded with Medicaid administrative costs, and for that reason, the offset included in H.R. 4 is merely a partial adjustment that lasts for only 2 years and pays for the 1-year extension of this important program. Before 1996, common costs for administering food stamps, Medicaid and welfare were often charged to the AFDC program, the predecessor of the TANF program. These common costs have been included in the calculation of each State's TANF funds. The offset reduces Federal reimbursement for Medicaid administrative costs to reflect the portion of these costs that are already included in the TANF block grants the States receive. In effect, this offset for the 2-year period deals with a problem we already corrected in the food stamp program in 1998, this double reimbursement for administrative costs. This is a partial adjustment that lasts for only 2 years and then phases out. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4, which indeed responsibly pays for the 1-year reauthorization of transitional medical assistance. I know there are many in this room who would like us to extend it for longer than a year. We simply have problems funding it in this bill at this time. We recognize the careful balance we have achieved between the offset and this 1-year reauthorization, and commit ourselves to revisiting the issue again next year so that this important program can be continued. I urge Members to join me in full support of this important legislation.

Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, welfare reform passed by this Congress, signed so reluctantly by Bill Clinton, has been an unmitigated success. It was built on one premise. You do not love people by condemning them to a lifetime of poverty and dependence. You love them by giving them a chance for independence and self-dignity. Mr. Chairman, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. DeMint) who will close for this side.