[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 5, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H2772-H2773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, as one of only three nurses in Congress, 
it is my great honor today to rise in support of National Nurses Week.
  My training and education as a nurse and my 20 years in my profession 
in the schools of Santa Barbara in the public school district have 
given me a unique perspective on my new duties in Congress. As a nurse, 
I have learned to recognize the importance of so many issues which 
affect families every day, families in my community, in my 
congressional district, families across this great country.

                              {time}  1915

  Nurses are good listeners. They withhold superficial, quick judgments 
and take the time to assess situations before them, before they act 
accordingly. Nurses use common sense skills to put the common good 
before individual interests.
  My nursing background has had the strongest influence on my 
priorities in Congress. As a nurse, I feel that it has been my duty and 
also my privilege to speak out on behalf of patients and health care 
providers on what is the critical task before us today. We know what is 
before us in the world where life and death situations take place, and 
we also see so clearly the current shortcomings in our health care 
environment.
  I sought a seat on the Committee on Commerce which oversees health 
care so that I could be a part of this discussion. In the age of 
managed care, where values are often driven by profit motives over 
health care needs, nurses have been presented with critical new 
challenges.
  I have stood with nurses in my district in their frustration over 
staffing ratios in our hospitals, in our communities. I have been with 
nurses as they have shed tears over having to discharge frail elderly 
patients before they are really ready to go home into home situations 
where there is not adequate health care and support.
  Nurses know that we should not compromise a patient's quality of care 
to save a few dollars. Nurses understand the real benefits of real 
managed care reform.
  I have been working hard with Republicans and Democrats to pass a 
common sense Patients' Bill of Rights, legislation which will put 
patients, nurses, doctors and other providers back in charge of their 
own health care and holds HMOs accountable when they deny critical, 
sometimes lifesaving, treatment.
  Nurses know these basic rights can mean the difference between life 
and death and between a quality of life that they have spent their 
profession and their training to uphold. They can and they should and 
we are speaking out.
  The Subcommittee on Health and Environment, on which I am privileged 
to serve, has held only one hearing so far on managed care reform. In 
that hearing I called for greater participation of nurses. Nurses can 
and will make valuable additions in this discussion and in the debate 
before us.
  In Congress, there is also other legislation originally drafted by a 
nurse that will protect nurses and other health care workers in all 
States. The

[[Page H2773]]

Healthcare Worker Protection Act builds on a California health care 
initiative by ensuring that all nurses and others in hospitals and 
treatment centers have safe needle devices and information available on 
how to use them. We must make sure these workers are protected at all 
costs.
  As a nurse in Congress, I am working hard to promote these important 
issues, but Congress will only be successful in passing meaningful 
health care legislation when the contributions of those on the front 
lines, on the every day front lines, are recognized and brought into 
the discussion.
  Madam Speaker, the profession of nursing also gives people a unique 
perspective on other critical issues. As a nurse in a school setting I 
have seen what children need for successful learning, growth and 
development. I know firsthand that children learn better in small class 
sizes and in classrooms that are not deteriorating.
  From this background, I know that health insurance which covers 
regular checkups, immunizations and prescription drugs for children is 
the best preventive medicine. I know that clean water and clean air are 
not merely environmental issues; they are health issues.
  In addition to essential contributions to quality health care, nurses 
are the heart and soul of so many of our communities. There are over 
2.5 million nurses across this great land and they stand for, to me, 
the heart and soul of our values and what binds us together in our 
communities.
  We need to pay attention to what our nurses are saying. Despite their 
busy schedules and hectic work environments, nurses take the time to 
reach out to our communities, educating neighbors to increase awareness 
and promote healthy lifestyles.
  Nurses' efforts in my own community on the central coast of 
California have raised awareness on the harmful consequences of 
drinking and driving, taught parents how to properly install safety 
seats and educated our children about underaged alcohol abuse.
  As we discuss the positive contributions of nurses during National 
Nurses Week, we need to work to ensure that these voices of compassion 
and experience are included in our health care policy debate today.

                          ____________________