[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 961 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 961

Encouraging the establishment of programs to increase public awareness 
                    of vision disorders in children.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2006

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. 
Mack, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Grijalva, 
Mr. Doggett, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. 
      Scott of Georgia, Mr. Payne, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Fitzpatrick of 
  Pennsylvania, Mr. Bonner, Mr. Hayworth, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Shaw, Mr. 
Wexler, Mr. Ramstad, and Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
                              and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Encouraging the establishment of programs to increase public awareness 
                    of vision disorders in children.

Whereas there is a need to enhance national awareness and to educate the public 
        and health care providers about vision disorders in children;
Whereas millions of children in the United States suffer from vision problems, 
        and many cases go undetected;
Whereas there is no recent nationwide study to accurately determine the 
        percentage of United States children who have particular vision 
        problems;
Whereas there is a need for the establishment of national standards or 
        guidelines to further encourage early identification and treatment of 
        vision problems in children, from birth to age 18;
Whereas 80 percent of individual learning is through the visual processing of 
        information;
Whereas vision impairment affects how a child experiences and functions in the 
        world;
Whereas children with vision problems struggle throughout their developmental 
        and school years with resulting physical, emotional, and social 
        consequences;
Whereas some health care and educational systems are not effectively detecting 
        children's vision problems due to a lack of, or inadequate, vision 
        screenings and comprehensive eye examinations in those systems;
Whereas common vision problems in children include refractive errors, amblyopia, 
        strabismus, ocular trauma, and infections;
Whereas rare but sight-threatening and life-threatening vision problems include 
        retinoblastoma (a malignant tumor that usually appears in the first 3 
        years of age), infantile cataracts, congenital glaucoma, and genetic or 
        metabolic diseases of the eye; and
Whereas the costs to society and government is enormous from not detecting, 
        evaluating, and treating early on the vision problems in children: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
programs should be established--
            (1) to increase public awareness about the prevalence and 
        devastating consequences of vision disorders in children; and
            (2) to educate the public and health care providers about--
                    (A) the warning signs and symptoms of ocular and 
                vision disorders and the benefits of early detection, 
                evaluation, and treatment; and
                    (B) the importance of early and regular vision 
                screening and comprehensive eye exams to detect vision 
                disorders that may not be readily apparent.
                                 <all>