[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3470 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3470

  To authorize funding for the creation and implementation of infant 
  mortality pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas 
      with high rates of infant mortality, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize funding for the creation and implementation of infant 
  mortality pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas 
      with high rates of infant mortality, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Nationally Enhancing the Wellbeing 
of Babies through Outreach and Research Now Act'' or the ``NEWBORN 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The infant mortality rate of a nation is an important 
        indicator of that nation's overall health.
            (2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 
        found that the United States ranked 29th in the world in infant 
        mortality in 2004, falling from 12th in 1960.
            (3) There are more than 28,000 deaths to children under 1 
        year of age each year in the United States.
            (4) Preterm birth has a considerable impact on the United 
        States infant mortality rate, in 2005, 68.6 percent of all 
        infant deaths occurred to preterm infants, up from 65.6 percent 
        in 2000.
            (5) The United States infant mortality rate for non-
        Hispanic Black women was 2.4 times the rate for non-Hispanic 
        White women in 2005.
            (6) In 2005, the United States infant mortality rates were 
        above average for non-Hispanic Black women at 13.63 deaths per 
        1,000 live births, for Puerto Rican women at 8.30 deaths per 
        1,000 live births, and for American Indian or Alaska Native 
        women at 8.06 deaths per 1,000 live births.
            (7) In Memphis, Tennessee, the infant mortality rate is 
        three times higher than that of the United States (higher than 
        any other city in the country), and the 2005 infant mortality 
        rate in the 38108 zip code of Memphis was deadlier for babies 
        than that of the countries of Vietnam, Iran, and El Salvador 
        with 31 deaths per 1,000 live births, 5 times that of the 2005 
        national average of 6.86 deaths per 1,000 live births.
            (8) Adequate prenatal care has a studied, positive effect 
        on the health of the baby.
            (9) Prenatal care is one of the most important 
        interventions for ensuring the health of pregnant women and 
        their infants.
            (10) Twenty-nine percent of mothers 15 to 19 years of age 
        received no early prenatal care in 2004 according to the 
        Department of Health and Human Services.
            (11) Non-Hispanic Black mothers were 2.6 times more likely 
        than non-Hispanic White mothers to begin prenatal care in the 
        third trimester, or not receive prenatal care at all.
            (12) Babies born to mothers who received no prenatal care 
        are three times more likely to be born at low birth weight, and 
        five times more likely to die, than those whose mothers 
        received prenatal care, as stated by the Department of Health 
        and Human Services.
            (13) The United States high infant mortality rate reflects 
        in part racial disparities in premature and low birthweight 
        babies.
            (14) The racial disparities in infant mortality may relate 
        to socioeconomic status, access to medical care, and the 
        education level of the mother.

SEC. 3. INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall 
award grants to eligible entities to create, implement, and oversee 
infant mortality pilot programs.
    (b) Period of a Grant.--The period of a grant under this section 
shall be 5 consecutive fiscal years.
    (c) Preference.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give preference to eligible entities proposing to serve 
any of the 15 counties or groups of counties with the highest rates of 
infant mortality in the United States in the past 3 years.
    (d) Use of Funds.--Any infant mortality pilot program funded under 
this section may--
            (1) include the development of a plan that identifies the 
        individual needs of each community to be served and strategies 
        to address those needs;
            (2) provide outreach to at-risk mothers through programs 
        deemed appropriate by the Director;
            (3) develop and implement standardized systems for improved 
        access, utilization, and quality of social, educational, and 
        clinical services to promote healthy pregnancies, full term 
        births, and healthy infancies delivered to women and their 
        infants, such as--
                    (A) counseling on infant care, feeding, and 
                parenting;
                    (B) postpartum care;
                    (C) prevention of premature delivery; and
                    (D) additional counseling for at-risk mothers, 
                including smoking cessation programs, drug treatment 
                programs, alcohol treatment programs, nutrition and 
                physical activity programs, postpartum depression and 
                domestic violence programs, social and psychological 
                services, dental care, and parenting programs;
            (4) establish a rural outreach program to provide care to 
        at-risk mothers in rural areas;
            (5) establish a regional public education campaign, 
        including a campaign to--
                    (A) prevent preterm births; and
                    (B) educate the public about infant mortality; and
            (6) provide for any other activities, programs, or 
        strategies as identified by the community plan.
    (e) Limitation.--Of the funds received through a grant under this 
section for a fiscal year, an eligible entity shall not use more than 
10 percent for program evaluation.
    (f) Reports on Pilot Programs.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after receiving a 
        grant, and annually thereafter for the duration of the grant 
        period, each entity that receives a grant under subsection (a) 
        shall submit a report to the Secretary detailing its infant 
        mortality pilot program.
            (2) Contents of report.--The reports required under 
        paragraph (1) shall include information such as the methodology 
        of, and outcomes and statistics from, the grantee's infant 
        mortality pilot program.
            (3) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall use the reports 
        required under paragraph (1) to evaluate, and conduct 
        statistical research on, infant mortality pilot programs funded 
        through this section.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
            (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
            (3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        State, county, city, territorial, or tribal health department 
        that has submitted a proposal to the Secretary that the 
        Secretary deems likely to reduce infant mortality rates within 
        the standard metropolitan statistical area involved.
            (4) Tribal.--The term ``tribal'' refers to an Indian tribe, 
        a Tribal organization, or an Urban Indian organization, as such 
        terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 
        Improvement Act.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    To carry out this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
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