[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 140 (Monday, October 30, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2029-E2030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE PUBLIC HEALTH ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM BLILEY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 30, 2000

  Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, some of my colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle have decided to do a little distortion for Halloween about 
the record of the Republican-led Congress. Let's make a comparison 
based on the facts.
  As we all remember, the Democrat-led 103rd Congress was a not a 
success for public health in this country. As Congressional Quarterly 
noted, ``Clinton'' had presented his health care plan--crafted under 
the direction of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a massive, secret 
and much-criticized task force process . . . the bill was immensely 
complex.... The committee system, designed to resolve both the policy 
and political problems of legislation, broke down entirely . . . For 
all their work, not one committee had managed to write a health care 
bill that the leadership was willing to bring to the floor. . . .''
  With the Democrat leadership resorting to scare tactics in the past 
few days, it might bode well for the American people to remember their 
record
  The Republican-led Congress has been active and provided real public 
health improvements for the American people. In the prior two 
Congresses, we have empowered states and localities to meet the health 
care and nutritional needs of two-income residents, and provided relief 
to those hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. We provided portability so 
working Americans can change jobs without risking the loss of their 
health care insurance due to a preexisting condition. This was a 
fundamental change that the Democrats weren't able to get done on their 
watch.
  Our Republican led Congress has also reined in health care fraud and 
abuse, eliminated tax code discrimination against millions of small 
businesses and the self-employed and provided tax relief for the long-
term health care needs of terminally ill patients and their families. 
We enhanced Americans' access to safe, abundant, and affordable food 
and water. In the Food and Drug Modernization Act of 1997, we enacted 
measures which have significantly cut down the waiting time at the FDA 
for approval of new medicines. As a result, many patients will have 
access to life saving drugs much quicker. Our Republican Congress also 
passed landmark legislation in 1997 that established the 
Medicare+Choice Program and the State Children's Health Insurance 
Program. Under our legislation, low-income children will have expanded 
access to quality health care coverage. Democrats talked about that for 
years; it took a Republican Congress to make it happen.
  We enhanced the Birth Defects Prevention Program, reauthorized the 
National Bone Marrow Registry, reauthorized Mammography Quality 
Standards, and enhanced Women's Health Research and Prevention.
  That's a pretty strong record for public health.
  Now let's look at the 106th Congress. Here are a number of public 
health provisions that are already enacted into law: the Nursing Home 
Resident Protection Amendments, and the Medicare, Medicaid, & SCHIP 
Balanced Budget Refinement Act. Under this Act--
  Hospitals received an additional $7.3 billion;
  Skilled nursing facilities received over $2 billion;
  Home health agencies received an additional $1.3 billion;
  Health plans participating in the Medicare+Choice program received an 
additional $1.9 billion;
  Nearly $1 billion in additional monies were provided for the Medicaid 
and State Children's Health Insurance Programs; and,
  $150 million was provided to ensure that organ transplant recipients 
could continue to receive access to immunosuppressive drugs.
  We also enacted into law the Health Research and Quality Act, and the 
Work Incentives Improvement Act. This law was sponsored by Mr. Lazio 
and expands the availability of health care coverage for workers with 
disabilities. Add to this list the Date-Rape Prevention Drug Act and 
the Children's Health Act of 2000, which increases and intensifies 
research on and programs for autism, juvenile diabetes, asthma, 
prevention of birth defects, epilepsy, infant health, pediatric 
research, skeletal malignancies, adoption awareness, healthy start, 
traumatic injuries and autoimmune diseases. This Act also reauthorizes 
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and 
improves drug addiction treatment programs.
  Add to this list the Ryan White CARE Act of 2000, which provides 
funding for those suffering with AIDS, the Breast and Cervical Cancer 
Prevention and Treatment Act, and the Developmental Disabilities 
Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000.
  Those bills that have already been enacted are a solid record but we 
have even more that are sent or being sent to the President. This 
includes the Public Health Improvements Act. This bill was sent to the 
President containing the following provisions which are bipartisan 
efforts:
  Public Health Threats and Emergencies Act;
  Clinical Research Enhancement Act;
  Twenty-First Century Research Laboratories Act;
  Cardiac Arrest Survival Act;
  Rural Access to Emergency Devices Act;
  Lupus Research and Care Act;
  Prostate Cancer Research and Protection Act;
  Organ Procurement Organization Certification Act;
  Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinical Research and Training; and,
  Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Research and Training.
  We are also sending to the President the Medicare, Medicaid, and S-
CHIP Benefits Improvement & Protection Act. This Act increases 
preventive benefits, including glaucoma screening, medical nutrition 
therapy, colonoscopy, and biennial pap smears, limits beneficiary 
exposure to hospital outpatient charges, increases payments to 
providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, adjusts the 
allocation formula under the State Children Health Insurance Program 
(SCHIP), and provides $475 million for the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Trust 
Fund.
  These are real and meaningful bipartisan accomplishments.
  There are other important bills we have not been able to reach 
consensus on. That should not be an excuse for dismissing the many 
public health accomplishments of the Republican-led Congress. Nor 
should we easily forget the failure of the Hillary-care Congress.
  We have heard that Republicans are not for a real patients bill of 
rights. That is false. Indeed, the distortion from Al Gore and the 
White House is the problem. Republicans have voted for legislation both 
to increase access to insurance and to provide for HMO reform. The Vice 
President erroneously claimed in his last debate that Republicans 
opposed an enforceable, independent external review board. He also 
claimed that Republicans opposed emergency room and access to 
specialists provisions. That is nonsense and distorts our record.
  Republicans have voted for legislation that provides an enforceable 
independent external review board for benefits denials. This will make 
sure health care professionals make

[[Page E2030]]

medical decisions and that we don't resort to unnecessary litigation.
  Republicans have also supported the patient protections which 
included the emergency room issue and access to specialist issues Mr. 
Gore mentioned. We have basic bipartisan agreement on these issues and 
could easily have such legislation alone.
  Let's look at the remaining disagreements. The White House and the 
trial lawyers want uncapped liability and litigation. Employers around 
the country are opposed to these features of Norwood-Dingell because 
they would increase litigation, drive up costs, and would force many 
employers to drop health insurance. That is the opposite of what we 
want.
  We are also concerned about interfering with State patient protection 
programs. We need to make sure that States can implement their own 
programs where they want to without federal interference and disruption 
to programs that are already in place. Norwood-Dingell does not address 
this problem and places a huge implementation burden on the Federal 
government. We need to find a middle road on this.
  Finally, we cannot understand the failure of the White House and 
Democrat leadership to support provisions which provide choice, access 
and tax deductions to help increase the number of people with health 
insurance. There are over 40 million uninsured people in America. The 
Republican-led Congress has passed serious proposals to address this 
problem and they are being ignored by the White House.
  When Democrats sent a letter to Senator Nickles in early summer 
saying that they would no longer meet with him in private conference, 
that was not a good sign. Obviously, you can't negotiate through the 
press and you can't negotiate if you do not meet.
  The plain fact is that the Republican-led Congresses have been 
energetic, productive, and responsible on public health. The many 
bipartisan accomplishments are a tribute to both Democrat and 
Republicans. We have enacted legislation that improves Americans' 
access to quality health care. Under our proposals, our country's 
commitment to basic medical research has been expanded and our promises 
to provide high quality to seniors and the most vulnerable in our 
society kept. Distortion of this record is not helpful and will only 
risk jeopardizing future gains.

                          ____________________