[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 9, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H2058]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1445
                   WOMEN'S HEALTH OFFICE ACT OF 2001

  (Mrs. MORELLA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, this week all around the country Americans 
are preparing for a time-honored tradition. This tradition is as apple 
pie as America; it is what we have come to know as Mother's Day.
  Mother's Day is not just a day when we honor mothers, we also honor 
our wives who are mothers, as well as our sisters, our aunts. It is 
indeed a day that honors women.
  Mr. Speaker, I too would like to honor women through our Mother's Day 
tradition. I would like to raise awareness and promote the health of 
American women, an important issue.
  As my colleagues may know, for years the National Institutes of 
Health, our Nation's premier medical research institute, ignored, maybe 
inadvertently, the health concerns of women; and in 1989 we had a 
report issued by the General Accounting Office that reflected that. A 
year later, in 1990, we established the Office of Research on Women's 
Health. Since that time, we have made great strides in women's health 
research, but we still must be vigilant and must address the issues 
that are not receiving the public attention and research priority that 
they deserve.
  That is why today I have introduced legislation that can serve as the 
catalyst to advance women's health. It is called the Women's Health 
Office Act of 2001. It will provide for permanent authorization of 
offices of women's health in five Federal agencies: Health and Human 
Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency 
for Health Care Research and Quality, Health Resources and Services 
Administration, and the Food and Drug Administration.
  The bill has 28 original cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. I 
hope that all will join in sponsoring this important legislation.

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