[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 30, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1713-H1716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORTING NATIONAL BETTER HEARING AND SPEECH MONTH

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 358) supporting the goals and 
ideals of National Better Hearing and Speech Month, and for other 
purposes.

[[Page H1714]]

  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 358

       Whereas the National Institute on Deafness and Other 
     Communication Disorders (NIDCD) reports that approximately 
     42,000,000 people in the United States suffer from a speech, 
     voice, language, or hearing impairment;
       Whereas almost 28,000,000 people in the United States 
     suffer from hearing loss;
       Whereas 1 out of every 3 people in the United States more 
     than 65 years of age suffers from hearing loss;
       Whereas although more than 25,000,000 people in the United 
     States would benefit from the use of a hearing aid, fewer 
     than 7,000,000 people in the United States use a hearing aid;
       Whereas sounds louder than 80 decibels are considered 
     potentially dangerous and can lead to hearing loss;
       Whereas the number of young children who suffer hearing 
     loss as a result of environmental noise has been increasing;
       Whereas every day in the United States approximately 33 
     babies are born with significant hearing loss;
       Whereas hearing loss is the most common congenital disorder 
     in newborns;
       Whereas a delay in diagnosing a newborn's hearing loss can 
     affect the child's social, emotional, and academic 
     development;
       Whereas the average age at which newborns with hearing loss 
     are diagnosed is between 12 and 25 months;
       Whereas more than 1,000,000 children received speech or 
     language disorder services under the Individuals with 
     Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) during 
     the school year ending in 1998;
       Whereas children with language impairments are 4 to 5 times 
     more likely than their peers to experience reading problems;
       Whereas 10 percent of children entering the first grade 
     have moderate to severe speech disorders, including 
     stuttering;
       Whereas stuttering affects more than 2,000,000 people in 
     the United States;
       Whereas approximately 1,000,000 people in the United States 
     have aphasia, a language disorder inhibiting spoken 
     communication that results from damage caused by a stroke or 
     other traumatic injury to the language centers of the brain; 
     and
       Whereas for the last 75 years May has been celebrated as 
     National Better Hearing and Speech Month in order to raise 
     awareness regarding speech, voice, language, and hearing 
     impairments and to provide an opportunity for Federal, State, 
     and local governments, members of the private and nonprofit 
     sectors, speech and hearing professionals, and the people of 
     the United States to focus on preventing, mitigating, and 
     curing such impairments: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of National Better 
     Hearing and Speech Month;
       (2) commends the 41 States that have implemented routine 
     hearing screenings for every newborn before the newborn 
     leaves the hospital;
       (3) supports the efforts of speech and hearing 
     professionals in their efforts to improve the speech and 
     hearing development of children; and
       (4) encourages the people of the United States to have 
     their hearing checked regularly and to avoid environmental 
     noise that can lead to hearing loss.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on H. 
Con. Res. 358.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 358, which 
supports the goals and ideals of a National Better Hearing and Speech 
Month. Approximately 42 million Americans suffer from a speech, voice, 
language or hearing disability. For the last 75 years, the month of May 
has been celebrated as National Better Hearing and Speech Month to help 
raise awareness on how to prevent, mitigate and cure these impairments.
  Communication is indispensable for learning, working, playing, and 
enjoying family life and friendships. Children with listening 
difficulties due to hearing loss continue to be an underidentified and 
underserved population. The earlier the problem is diagnosed and 
addressed, the less serious the long-term impact. That is why I was so 
pleased that provisions relating to hearing loss in infants were 
included in the Children's Health Act of 2000. My good friend from New 
York (Mr. Walsh) was instrumental in this effort.
  This resolution commended the 41 States that have implemented routine 
hearing screening for every newborn delivered in a hospital. I am happy 
to report that my home State of Florida vigorously promotes this policy 
by screening the newborns at all birthing facilities prior to 
discharge. Recent developments have shown that interventions to address 
auditory problems in newborns greatly enhanced the success rate in 
overcoming hearing-loss issues. Each adult and child with hearing loss 
is affected differently, which is why it is critical to detect hearing 
loss early and to determine the extent of loss in order to intervene 
appropriately.
  This resolution encourages all Americans to have their hearing 
checked regularly and encourages individuals to avoid environmental 
noise that can lead to hearing loss.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 358.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the National Institute of Deafness and Other 
Communication Disorders reports that some 40 million people suffer from 
a speech, voice, language, or hearing impediments.
  Many of these impairments are found at birth. Every day about 33 
babies are born with hearing loss, the most common congenital disorder 
in newborns. For the past 75 years, May has been celebrated as National 
Better Hearing and Speech Month, raising awareness about speech, voice, 
hearing, and language impairments.
  Federal, State, and local governments, as well as members of the 
speech and hearing profession, have used May as an opportunity to 
educate the public about preventing, mitigating, and treating these 
impairments.
  This resolution commends their work and that of the 41 States that 
have implemented routine hearing screening for every newborn.
  I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun), 
and others for introducing this resolution; and I hope my colleagues 
would support it.
  I would add, Mr. Speaker, as we occupy time on the House floor today 
doing not inconsequential things but things that do not directly have 
major positive impact on people's lives, passing resolutions like this, 
which I do support, and using them to educate the public about 
preventing and mitigating and treating speech and hearing loss, I think 
this Congress needs to do more on real health issues. That means issues 
like prescription drugs, issues like access to health care, issues like 
ensuring 40 million Americans are insured. Because to be sure, Mr. 
Speaker, checking for hearing, doing screenings, all of these things 
are programs that we can do something about.
  In addition to doing a resolution, I would hope this Congress would 
put aside its fervor to cut taxes on the wealthiest people and instead 
would be using some of those resources for prescription drugs, for 
hearing and speech screening, for all the kinds of things that will 
make people's health care better and make people's lives better.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun), who not only is the author of 
this resolution but who has personally experienced this problem and who 
has shared that with many of us over the years.
  Mr. RYUN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, today I come to the House in support 
of the National Better Hearing and Speech Month. For 75 years, the 
month of May has been designated as a time to celebrate the hope 
available to Americans with speech and hearing impairments and to raise 
awareness about the need to protect their hearing.
  Speech and hearing impairments impair the lives of many Americans. In 
fact, almost 28 million people in the United States suffer from a 
hearing loss. One out of every three people in the United States of an 
age greater than 65 suffer some sort of a hearing loss and every day in 
the United States approximately 33 babies are born with significant 
hearing loss.

[[Page H1715]]

  As someone who has had a hearing impairment, I certainly know what a 
gift sound is, and I also know some of the struggles that go along with 
finding a proper hearing aid. My hearing loss is as a result of an 
illness that I had as a child. It was discovered a time later, and then 
it was decades before I could find the proper hearing devices to help 
me.
  My wife, Ann, served as my hearing aid. She graciously helped me 
communicate for years before I could find the solution that would help 
me and I could work with.
  Many dedicated professionals have assisted me over the years in my 
quest to find the help I have sought. And I would like to thank them 
for the work they have done in making not only my life better but so 
many others.
  For those who have yet to have a hearing loss and have good hearing, 
I urge you to avoid harsh environments with noises that can damage your 
hearing and cause permanent hearing loss. Any sounds over 85 decibels 
can damage your hearing. For example, listening to an ambulance siren 
for 9 seconds, a smoke alarm for a minute and a half, or airplane cabin 
noise for a couple of minutes can damage your hearing. And I will say 
it is not retraceable. It is much easier to protect your hearing now 
than to suffering from hearing impairments.
  I urge my colleagues to support May as National Better Hearing and 
Speech Month. It would be an encouragement not only to your 
constituents but those who suffer some sort of hearing and speech 
impairment back in the district, as well as those dedicated 
professionals who have worked together to help make this a better 
field.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, speaking earlier today, in fact, walking over from my 
office in Rayburn to the House floor to work with the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) on the Ryun legislation today, and I was 
talking to some people whose families have Alzheimer's, who are 
advocating for Alzheimer's patients, again, this Congress is falling 
short on substantive kinds of issues to help people with Alzheimer's. 
There are some four or five million people suffering from Alzheimer's 
today.
  If we do not do the research right, if we do not take care of those 
people well enough, that number is going to be as high, they say, in 
the next few years as 14 million patients.
  We are falling short on what we are doing for community health 
centers and the National Health Service Corps, from the Community 
Access Program that my friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), 
has worked on, the Chronic Disease Prevention program with CDC, nurses 
shortage, pharmacist shortage, the problems with home health care 
reimbursement, the problems with physician reimbursements, the problems 
with hospitals, especially rural hospital and inner-city hospitals 
reimbursement.
  Those are the kinds of issues this Congress should work on. Not to 
belittle this resolution, which is important to educate people on 
speech and hearing loss, but this Congress needs to get its act in gear 
and begin to deal with issues like prescription drugs and 
reimbursements issues for providers and all the kinds of public health 
issues that this Republican Congress does not seem too very interested 
in.
  The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the chairman of our 
subcommittee, has done yeoman's work in trying to bring these issues 
forward. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership is not nearly so 
interested as many of us are on the committee in moving forward on 
public health issues, on prescription drug issues, community health 
centers and community access programs and CDC, and all the things that 
really will make a difference beyond the passage of a few resolutions 
that this Congress seems intent on doing week after week after week.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Before I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh), I would 
thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) for his kind remarks. 
Certainly I do not disagree with them. I think it is important that all 
of us, rather than just a lot of rhetoric, sit down and try to work 
these things out, and if we have basically hard, fast, nonobjective 
thoughts about how things ought to be, nothing is ever going to get 
done.
  I dare say that the gentleman from Ohio is not among the category of 
some people who would rather have an issue November. I really feel with 
my heart that he wants to do something about these things, and 
hopefully, working together, we can accomplish it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Walsh), the author of the hearing bill in the year 
2000, who along with the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun) has really 
been the conscience of the Congress on this issue.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Bilirakis) for the leadership that he provides in this Congress on 
health issues and especially those that affect children.
  I would respectfully disagree with my colleague from Ohio who spoke 
earlier. There is no partisanship in this issue. There is great 
leadership on both sides of the aisle from both parties. Our health is 
something we all hold in common.
  I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. 358 designating May 
2002 as National Better Hearing and Speech Month. I commend my 
colleague, the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun), for introducing this 
resolution and also for his hard work and contributions as a co-chair 
of the bipartisan Congressional Hearing Health Caucus. Because of his 
personal experience with hearing loss, he brings firsthand knowledge of 
living with hearing loss to our caucus and to the public as a whole.
  Thirteen years ago I began working with the deaf and hard-of-hearing 
community to craft legislation to have all infants screened for hearing 
loss at birth. At that time, only three hospitals in the country had 
programs, and only 3 percent of all infants born in the United States 
were being screened.
  Since passage of the Newborn Infant Hearing Screening and 
Intervention Act of 1999, which gives States seed money through HRSA 
and CDC to set up their own screening and intervention programs, we are 
now screening 66 percent of infants born. This is remarkable progress, 
and yet we have much more to do.
  Unfortunately, this year's budget zeros out funding at HRSA for these 
programs and basically level-funds the programs at CDC. I am working 
very closely with my fellow caucus co-chairs, the gentleman from Kansas 
(Mr. Ryun), the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps), and the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy), to ensure that this critical 
program receives additional appropriations so that we can screen all 
children.
  The science in this area is clear. By identifying children with 
hearing loss by age 3 months and beginning intensive intervention by 
age 6 months, these children can and do develop communication skills on 
par with their normal hearing counterparts by the time they are ready 
to enter school. The next step is to ensure that children identified 
get appropriate interventions through the medical, audiological, 
educational and community support systems. All of these components are 
equally important.
  Before I close, I want to invite all of my colleagues to a hearing 
health fair to be held on Wednesday, May 8, 2002, from 11:00 a.m. to 
1:00 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building foyer. At this event our 
Federal agency counterparts, as well as several advocacy groups, will 
have representatives at booths to meet with anyone needing information 
on hearing health issues. I encourage everyone to attend as this will 
be a wonderful opportunity to have questions answered on anything from 
hearing aids to testing and living with hearing loss.
  While most of my comments have focused on infants with hearing loss, 
the issue affects people of all ages. Regardless of whether hearing 
loss is genetic, disease-based, a function of the aging process or of 
unknown etiology, most people can be helped to maximize their hearing 
capabilities and communication skills, and I encourage my colleagues to 
take the opportunity to get a hearing screening during National Better 
Hearing and Speech Month.

[[Page H1716]]

  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would just like again to thank the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) for his leadership. He is one of 
the newest members of the Health Hearing Caucus. We are delighted that 
he is and we urge him to continue his important leadership.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, for 75 years, May has been designated 
Better Hearing and Speech Month. With an estimated 42 million Americans 
affected by speech, language, and hearing disorders, audiologist and 
speech language pathologist have made a special effort during this 
month to inform, educate, and raise awareness about this critical 
health care issue.
  It is estimated that one in six Americans has a hearing, speech, or 
language problem--a condition that makes it difficult to communicate 
with others. An impairment of the ability to hear, speak, or understand 
effectively can affect anyone, of any age, at any time. If left 
untreated these problems can limit a person at home, school, and work. 
With proper treatment, however, the isolating effects of communication 
disorders can be minimized or completely eliminated.
  As with most health care conditions, it is critical that 
communication disorders be diagnosed early. As the most common 
congenital birth defect, hearing loss can severely affect a child's 
social, emotional, and academic development. That is why I urge all 50 
states to follow the example of my home state of Michigan, and 
implement routine hearing screens for every newborn before they leave 
the hospital. Also, hearing loss among Americans age 65 and over 
affects one out of three people, but without effective screening, many 
are condemned to suffer in silence. We must seek comprehensive hearing 
screening for all Americans.
  Therefore, I support this resolution recognizing May as Better 
Hearing and Speech Month and urge the people of the United States to 
focus on preventing, mitigating, and curing communication disorders.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. 
Con. Res. 358 and in celebration of May, National Better Hearing and 
Speech Month.
  Did you know that 28 million people in the United States today suffer 
from hearing loss, and 16 million people have a speech or language 
disorder? 42 million people have a speech, language, voice or hearing 
impediment. Hearing loss is the most common congenital disorder found 
in newborns, and ten percent of children entering the first grade 
suffer from mild speech disorders like stuttering.
  As a nurse, I know the issue of speech and hearing health affects 
many different people, from infants to adults to senior citizens. You 
can be born with a disorder, or you can develop one later in life due 
to late onset of a specific impediment, a stroke or traumatic event. 
But many Americans don't realize the extent to which our society deals 
with speech and hearing disorders. That is why, since 1927, the speech 
and hearing community has celebrated May as a month to increase 
national awareness of this health problem.
  As a nurse, I understand the importance of getting the right 
healthcare immediately, especially when it comes to our children. 
Deafness is the most common birth defect; that out of the 12,000 babies 
born in the U.S. each year with hearing loss, 4,000 of them are 
profoundly deaf and need a cochlear implant, and 8,000 need hearing 
aids. Unless a child gets medical attention by the time they are two, 
permanent damage is done to his or her language and speech.
  A newborn hearing test is simple and easy, and only costs $35. Our 
babies are subjected to batteries of other tests, and I think it's 
crucial for this one to be included.
  As a founding member of the Congressional Hearing Caucus, I am 
extremely proud of H. Con. Res. 358. Not only does this resolution 
support the goals and ideals of National Better Hearing and Speech 
Month, it calls attention to and commends the 41 states that have 
implemented routine hearing screenings of every newborn before the baby 
leaves the hospital.
  The resolution also supports the efforts of speech and hearing 
professionals to improve the speech and hearing development of children 
and encourages all Americans to have their hearing checked regularly 
and to avoid environmental noise that can lead to hearing loss.
  All across the United States, people are trying to make a difference. 
I commend everyone in the speech and hearing community for their 
education and awareness efforts, as well as the extraordinary level of 
care and medical attention they give to their patients.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I do not have any further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Walden of Oregon). The question is on 
the motion offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) that 
the House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. 
Con. Res. 358.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________