[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2011-E2012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TUBERCULOSIS AND TUCKER HIGH SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 13, 2002

  Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a 
forgotten disease, which is anything but forgotten right now in my 
congressional district. A number of students and administrators at 
Tucker High School in DeKalb County, Georgia are learning more than 
they care to know about tuberculosis.
  Last week, about 200 Tucker High School students and staff had to be 
tested and treated after someone at the high school tested positive for 
tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is the forgotten disease, and as history 
continues to show us every time we forget and ignore TB, we are doomed 
to repeat history with continued outbreaks of tuberculosis as well as 
stronger strains of the disease such as multi-drug resistant 
tuberculosis. Every time government agencies are forced to cut back on 
funding for tuberculosis programs the rate of infection increases in 
populations who need our help the most.
  Tuberculosis is truly a global disease, with more than 2 billion 
people around the world carrying the infection. Right here in the 
United States, the South has one of the highest rates of TB infection 
because of the vast health disparities between blacks and whites. 
African Americans have higher rates of TB in the United States because 
of poverty conditions in the South and in urban areas. Because of that 
poverty, African American also have a difficult time accessing 
tuberculosis medications and primary care treatment for the disease.
  That is why I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 1167: The Comprehensive 
Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2001 and H.R. 1168: The Stop TB Now 
Act. This legislation effectively implements recommendations listed in 
an Institute of Medicine report entitled ``Ending Neglect: The 
Elimination of Tuberculosis in the United States''. These 
recommendations attack tuberculosis on a national and international 
level. The legislation does so by increasing the authorized funding 
levels for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as 
well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), giving them more 
ammunition to fight this treacherous disease here in the United States 
and abroad.
  We in the Congress have an unprecedented opportunity to eliminate 
tuberculosis in the United States and reduce this scourge, so other 
high schools do not have to go through the same trauma and interruption 
of their daily lives as the students, staff, and faculty have faced at 
Tucker High School. I urge the House of Representatives to pass H.R. 
1167: The Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2001 and H.R. 
1168: The Stop TB Now Act.

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