[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 410 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. J. RES. 410

To authorize the President to issue a proclamation designating October 
          1994 as ``National Spina Bifida Prevention Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 1994

   Mr. Brewster introduced the following joint resolution; which was 
       referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
To authorize the President to issue a proclamation designating October 
          1994 as ``National Spina Bifida Prevention Month''.

Whereas spina bifida is the most frequently occurring and permanently disabling 
        birth defect of newborns, affecting approximately one of every one 
        thousand pregnancies in the United States;
Whereas the Spina Bifida Association of America supports the United States 
        Public Health Service's recommendation that all women of childbearing 
        age consume 0.4 milligram of folic acid daily in order to reduce the 
        incidence of spina bifida and other neural tube defects;
Whereas between 1980 and 1989, 18,000 children were born with spina bifida in 
        the United States and of that number 13,500 have survived;
Whereas spina bifida is a birth defect resulting from the failure of the spine 
        to close properly during the first month of pregnancy;
Whereas although most of the March of Dimes and Easter Seal poster children have 
        spina bifida, many people across this Nation have not heard of the 
        defect and its debilitating consequences for children;
Whereas only a few cities in the United States have proper care centers and 
        specialized professionals that can provide the most effective and 
        aggressive treatment for children and adults with spina bifida; and
Whereas an increase in the national awareness of spina bifida may stimulate the 
        interest and concern of the American people, which may lead, in turn, to 
        increased research into the needs of individuals with spina bifida and 
        the prevention of spina bifida: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the month of October 1994 
is designated ``National Spina Bifida Month'', and the President is 
authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the 
people of the United States to observe that month with appropriate 
ceremonies and activities.
                                 <all>