[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2643 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2643

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a biennial report 
  on nutrition and health by the Surgeon General of the Public Health 
                                Service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 1993

  Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a biennial report 
  on nutrition and health by the Surgeon General of the Public Health 
                                Service.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nutrition and Health Information 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF REQUIREMENT OF BIENNIAL REPORT ON NUTRITION 
              AND HEALTH.

    Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u et 
seq.), as amended by section 302 of Public Law 102-531 (106 Stat. 
3483), is amended by adding at the end the following section:

            ``biennial report regarding nutrition and health

    ``Sec. 1709. (a) Biennial Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall require the Surgeon 
        General of the Public Health Service to prepare biennial 
        reports on the relationship between nutrition and health. Such 
        reports may, with respect to such relationship, include any 
        recommendations of the Secretary and the Surgeon General 
        regarding the public health and regarding legislative and 
        administrative initiatives.
            ``(2) Consultations with department of agriculture.--
        Recommendations under paragraph (1) on matters within the 
        jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture may be made only 
        after consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture or the 
        designee of such Secretary.
    ``(b) Certain Topics.--Each report under subsection (a) shall 
address not less than 1 of the following topics:
            ``(1) The role of diet, including nutritional supplements, 
        in the treatment and prevention of diseases, disorders, and 
        other health conditions (including disabilities and chronic 
        diseases) in the general population and in special populations.
            ``(2) The adequacy of the education that health care 
        professionals and caregivers receive with respect to nutrition, 
        including physicians, naturopathic physicians, nurses, and 
        other health and long-term care providers (both in institutions 
        and in the home).
            ``(3) The extent to which nutritional recommendations of 
        governmental agencies are consistent with each other.
            ``(4) The sufficiency of public and private research on the 
        relationship of nutrition and health.
            ``(5)(A) The extent to which the public's understanding of 
        the role of nutrition in health includes understanding--
                    ``(i) the information that appears on the labels of 
                food products; and
                    ``(ii) scientific information regarding the role of 
                nutrition in the prevention and treatment of diseases, 
                disorders, and other health conditions (including 
                disabilities and chronic diseases).
            ``(B) The extent to which the public's understanding of the 
        information described in subparagraph (A) influences dietary 
        habits.
            ``(6) The effect that food-related promotion, advertising, 
        and marketing have on the understanding of the public with 
        respect to the relationship of nutrition and health.
            ``(7) The extent to which hunger and malnutrition exist in 
        the United States, including the extent to which special 
        populations have unmet nutritional needs.
            ``(8) The effect that different methods of food production 
        have on the nutritional value of food.
            ``(9) The nutritional value associated with foods prepared 
        or distributed by mechanical vendors, fast food restaurants, 
        and governmental nutrition programs.
    ``(c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term `special 
populations' means the populations of particular urban regions and of 
particular rural regions; women; children; the elderly; individuals 
with disabilities, including but not limited to individuals who require 
significant personal assistance with 2 or more activities of daily 
living and individuals with an equivalent level of cognitive 
impairment; chronically ill individuals; institutionalized individuals; 
racial and ethnic minorities; and low-income individuals.
    ``(d) Submission to Congress.--The Secretary shall ensure that, not 
later than February 1 of 1995 and of every second year thereafter, a 
report under subsection (a) is submitted to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and 
Human Resources of the Senate.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1998.''.

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