[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 168 (Wednesday, November 19, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H11574-H11577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 POISON CONTROL CENTER ENHANCEMENT AND AWARENESS ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2003

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 686) to provide assistance for poison prevention and to 
stabilize the funding of regional poison control centers, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                 S. 686

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Poison Control Center 
     Enhancement and Awareness Act Amendments of 2003''.

      SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) Poison control centers are our Nation's primary defense 
     against injury and deaths from poisoning. Twenty-four hours a 
     day, the general public as well as health care practitioners 
     contact their local poison centers for help in diagnosing and 
     treating victims of poisoning and other toxic exposures.
       (2) Poisoning is the third most common form of 
     unintentional death in the United States. In any given year, 
     there will be between 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 poison 
     exposures. More than 50 percent of these exposures will 
     involve children under the age of 6 who are exposed to toxic 
     substances in their home. Poisoning accounts for 285,000 
     hospitalizations, 1,200,000 days of acute hospital care, and 
     13,000 fatalities annually.
       (3) Stabilizing the funding structure and increasing 
     accessibility to poison control centers will promote the 
     utilization of poison control centers, and reduce the 
     inappropriate use of emergency medical services and other 
     more costly health care services.
       (4) The tragic events of September 11, 2001, and the 
     anthrax cases of October 2001, have dramatically changed our 
     Nation. During this time period, poison centers in many areas 
     of the country were answering thousands of additional calls 
     from concerned residents. Many poison centers were relied 
     upon as a source for accurate medical information about the 
     disease and the complications resulting from prophylactic 
     antibiotic therapy.
       (5) The 2001 Presidential Task Force on Citizen 
     Preparedness in the War on Terrorism recommended that the 
     Poison Control Centers be used as a source of public 
     information and public education regarding potential 
     biological, chemical, and nuclear domestic terrorism.
       (6) The increased demand placed upon poison centers to 
     provide emergency information in the event of a terrorist 
     event involving a biological, chemical, or nuclear toxin will 
     dramatically increase call volume.

     SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

       Title XII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300d 
     et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                        ``Part G--Poison Control

     ``SEC. 1271. MAINTENANCE OF A NATIONAL TOLL-FREE NUMBER.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide coordination 
     and assistance to regional poison control centers for the 
     establishment of a nationwide toll-free phone number to be 
     used to access such centers.
       ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall 
     be construed as prohibiting the establishment or continued 
     operation of any privately funded nationwide toll-free phone 
     number used to provide advice and other assistance for 
     poisonings or accidental exposures.
       ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for 
     each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2009. Funds 
     appropriated under this subsection shall not be used to fund 
     any toll-free phone number described in subsection (b).

[[Page H11575]]

     ``SEC. 1272. NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE POISON 
                   CONTROL CENTER UTILIZATION.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a national 
     media campaign to educate the public and health care 
     providers about poison prevention and the availability of 
     poison control resources in local communities and to conduct 
     advertising campaigns concerning the nationwide toll-free 
     number established under section 1271.
       ``(b) Contract With Entity.--The Secretary may carry out 
     subsection (a) by entering into contracts with 1 or more 
     nationally recognized media firms for the development and 
     distribution of monthly television, radio, and newspaper 
     public service announcements.
       ``(c) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall--
       ``(1) establish baseline measures and benchmarks to 
     quantitatively evaluate the impact of the nationwide media 
     campaign established under this section; and
       ``(2) prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees an evaluation of the nationwide media campaign on 
     an annual basis.
       ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
     $600,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2005 and such 
     sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2006 
     through 2009.

     ``SEC. 1273. MAINTENANCE OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT 
                   PROGRAM.

       ``(a) Regional Poison Control Centers.--The Secretary shall 
     award grants to certified regional poison control centers for 
     the purposes of achieving the financial stability of such 
     centers, and for preventing and providing treatment 
     recommendations for poisonings.
       ``(b) Other Improvements.--The Secretary shall also use 
     amounts received under this section to--
       ``(1) develop standardized poison prevention and poison 
     control promotion programs;
       ``(2) develop standard patient management guidelines for 
     commonly encountered toxic exposures;
       ``(3) improve and expand the poison control data collection 
     systems, including, at the Secretary's discretion, by 
     assisting the poison control centers to improve data 
     collection activities;
       ``(4) improve national toxic exposure surveillance by 
     enhancing activities at the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
     Registry;
       ``(5) expand the toxicologic expertise within poison 
     control centers; and
       ``(6) improve the capacity of poison control centers to 
     answer high volumes of calls during times of national crisis.
       ``(c) Certification.--Except as provided in subsection (d), 
     the Secretary may make a grant to a center under subsection 
     (a) only if--
       ``(1) the center has been certified by a professional 
     organization in the field of poison control, and the 
     Secretary has approved the organization as having in effect 
     standards for certification that reasonably provide for the 
     protection of the public health with respect to poisoning; or
       ``(2) the center has been certified by a State government, 
     and the Secretary has approved the State government as having 
     in effect standards for certification that reasonably provide 
     for the protection of the public health with respect to 
     poisoning.
       ``(d) Waiver of Certification Requirements.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may grant a waiver of the 
     certification requirement of subsection (c) with respect to a 
     noncertified poison control center or a newly established 
     center that applies for a grant under this section if such 
     center can reasonably demonstrate that the center will obtain 
     such a certification within a reasonable period of time as 
     determined appropriate by the Secretary.
       ``(2) Renewal.--The Secretary may renew a waiver under 
     paragraph (1).
       ``(3) Limitation.--In no instance may the sum of the number 
     of years for a waiver under paragraph (1) and a renewal under 
     paragraph (2) exceed 5 years. The preceding sentence shall 
     take effect as if enacted on February 25, 2000.
       ``(e) Supplement Not Supplant.--Amounts made available to a 
     poison control center under this section shall be used to 
     supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, or local 
     funds provided for such center.
       ``(f) Maintenance of Effort.--A poison control center, in 
     utilizing the proceeds of a grant under this section, shall 
     maintain the expenditures of the center for activities of the 
     center at a level that is not less than the level of such 
     expenditures maintained by the center for the fiscal year 
     preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is received.
       ``(g) Matching Requirement.--The Secretary may impose a 
     matching requirement with respect to amounts provided under a 
     grant under this section if the Secretary determines 
     appropriate.
       ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
     $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004 
     and $27,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009.

     ``SEC. 1274. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       ``Nothing in this part may be construed to ease any 
     restriction in Federal law applicable to the amount or 
     percentage of funds appropriated to carry out this part that 
     may be used to prepare or submit a report.''.

     SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

       The Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act (42 
     U.S.C. 14801 et seq.) is hereby repealed.

  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 and include extraneous material on S. 686.
  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, I rise today in support of S. 686, the Poison Control 
Center Enhancement and Awareness Act amendments.
  This bill, Mr. Speaker, amends the Poison Control Enhancement and 
Awareness Act to provide additional assistance for poison prevention 
and to stabilize the funding of regional poison control centers.
  I would like to extend my thanks first to my colleague, the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Upton), for all of his work on this important 
legislation and also add to that list the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Towns), who has been very interested in this subject for a long time, 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), Senator DeWine, and, of course, 
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) and the others who have been so 
very cooperative.
  Poisoning is the third most common form of unintentional death in the 
United States. Many of these exposures involve children. Poison control 
centers are a primary defense against injury and death from poisoning.
  In the events since September 11, poison centers have taken on the 
additional role, Mr. Speaker, of providing medical information about 
biological, chemical, and nuclear domestic terrorism. S. 686 would 
authorize funds to maintain national toll-free poison control hotlines 
and the Poison Control Center Grant Program. Additionally, the 
legislation would create a nationwide media campaign to promote poison 
control center utilization and to allow the Secretary to assist in the 
implementation and maintenance of continuous national surveillance of 
poison control center data to detect new hazards from toxic substances, 
household products and pharmaceuticals.

                              {time}  1645

  I urge my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to support this important 
legislation that the Senate has passed.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I want to thank my colleagues, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Towns), my friend, and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), for 
their hard work on this bill, as well as my friend and colleague, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), with whom we have worked so 
well.
  Every day these specially trained staff of pharmacists and nurses at 
poison control centers across the country field calls from frantic 
parents concerned that their child ingested a poisonous substance. They 
field calls from an elderly couple with questions about whether one 
medication might cause an adverse reaction if taken with another; and 
as the events of September 11 and the cases of anthrax have shown us, 
poison control centers field calls from concerned residents uncertain 
about the danger they have been exposed to.
  Handling an average of one poison exposure call every 15 seconds 
across the country, these men and women answer questions about 
poisonings, about drug abuse, about product contents, about adverse 
reactions.
  Legislation we are considering today will enhance the work of poison 
control centers through improved maintenance of a national toll-free 
number that is linked to regional poison control centers. This bill 
will help promote the nationwide media campaign to promote

[[Page H11576]]

poison control center utilization. If a person has a problem, they need 
to know whom to call and they need to know the number, and they need to 
know that they are reliable. Every parent, every baby-sitter, every 
coworker, every household, and every office should know how to contact 
the poison control center closest to them.
  This bill from the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) and the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton) will help develop standardized 
prevention and poison control centers and will improve national 
surveillance of toxic exposures. It will improve the collection of data 
to help detect new hazards, including those found in our homes.
  Mr. Speaker, every year roughly 120 children under 14 needlessly die 
from unintentional poisoning, 120 children under the age of 14. The 
bill we are considering today can save the lives of many of them. It is 
an important step towards reversing that trend and saving more children 
from poison exposure.
  I urge my colleagues to support S. 686.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might require to 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), the father of this act.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good chairman who has been 
instrumental in getting this important piece of legislation to the 
floor. Again, he has done yeoman's work with so many others here in 
this body.
  Mr. Speaker, as the lead sponsor of the bipartisan House version of 
the Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act Amendments of 
2003, it is my pleasure to help manage this bill, S. 686, the Senate 
version of the legislation on the floor today.
  What we are doing today is taking up the Senate-passed bill and 
inserting updated language from our bill. We are doing so because we 
determined that it was the best way to expedite the final passage of 
this much-needed legislation reauthorizing and strengthening our 
Federal commitment to ensuring that our Nation's poison control centers 
can continue to provide life-saving services to all of our 
constituents, particularly in these last throes of this session of the 
Congress.
  I want to take this opportunity to particularly acknowledge Senator 
DeWine's tremendous leadership on this legislation in the other body 
and to thank our original cosponsor and colleague, the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Towns), who is on the floor; the gentleman from Louisiana 
(Mr. Tauzin), committee chairman; and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Dingell), the ranking member; the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Bilirakis), the House subcommittee chairman; the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Brown), the ranking member; and also for the many staff who have 
helped. I am grateful for their hard work, particularly Cheryl Jaeger 
and John Ford, and for the assistance that we have received from the 
American Association of Poison Control Centers and Jane Williams on my 
staff who helped shepherd this through so many juggernauts; and if we 
had a parking place for the staff member of the month in front of the 
Capitol, her name would be the first inscribed on that plate.
  Mr. Speaker, poison control centers provide vital, very cost-
effective services to the American public. Each year, more than 2 
million poisonings are reported to poison control centers throughout 
this country. More than 90 percent of these poisonings occur in the 
home, and 50 percent of poisoning victims are children under the age of 
6. For every dollar spent on poison control services, we save $7 in 
medical costs. We prevent a nightmare from happening in virtually any 
house that uses the phone number and uses these particular facilities.
  The horrific events of 9/11 and the anthrax cases the next month 
brought home the vital role that our Nation's poison control centers 
must be prepared to play in the event of further terrorist attacks. The 
2001 Presidential Task Force on Citizen Preparedness in the War on 
Terrorism recommended that poison control centers be used as a source 
of public information and public education regarding potential 
biological, chemical, and nuclear domestic terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, the passage and enactment of this bill will ensure that 
our Nation's poison control centers have the resources that they need 
to fulfill their vital mission as the first line of defense against 
accidental poisonings and the response to biological, chemical, and 
nuclear terrorism. I ask that all of the Members join us in voting for 
this legislation. It will indeed save lives for many Americans.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Towns), who has worked so hard on this bill.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the chairman of the committee; 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the ranking member; of 
course, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the Subcommittee on 
Health chair; and of course, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the 
ranking member; and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), who worked 
very closely with me and also the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Waxman).
  Poison control centers have always had broad bipartisan support, and 
I was delighted once again to join my good friend, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Upton), in sponsoring the House version of the 
reauthorization.
  The role of these centers in basic public health care continues to 
grow. For example, the Academy of Pediatrics recently urged parents to 
contact the local poison control centers rather than using the time-
honored method of inducing vomiting in children where poisoning is 
suspected. Our action today will ensure that poison control centers 
will be there to answer the call for those frightened parents.
  Continued strong Federal funding will help to establish new centers 
as well. This effort is particularly critical at a time when we are 
increasingly concerned about poison being used as an element of 
bioterrorism. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that language was 
included to ensure that funds under this bill would go directly to the 
centers for their work and not diverted to costly and unnecessary 
studies.
  I would like to thank the committee leadership and committee staff on 
both sides of the aisle for moving this legislation expeditiously, and 
I would urge our Senate colleagues to ensure that the bill is passed 
with the House modifications prior to our adjournment.
  As a result of what we are doing here today, the lives of people will 
be saved. Not only that, we will save a lot of money because it is 
cost-productive.
  Many times we have youngsters in particular who end up in the 
emergency room, and it costs a whole lot more to treat a person in the 
emergency room than to pick up the phone and call the poison control 
center and for them to tell that mother who has already panicked that 
all they have to do is take this and let their son or daughter go to 
sleep. Therefore, I am excited about this because it is cost-saving, 
and that is something that we should not forget. Anywhere, anytime we 
can cut corners and save lives at the same time, then I think we should 
not hesitate to do it.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton).
  Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by commending 
my good friend from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) for his excellent 
leadership on this and my friends on the Democratic side, the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Brown) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) and 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell).
  The very fact that we have this Poison Control Center Enhancement and 
Awareness Act Amendments on the floor is helping to depoison the 
atmosphere of this House. It is good to be on the floor this afternoon 
working with our friends on the other side of the aisle instead of 
throwing bricks back and forth. So the very fact that we are bringing 
this piece of legislation to the floor is helping depoison the 
atmosphere in the House.
  This is a piece of legislation that builds on what was done back in 
1999 when we authorized these poison control centers. Former Senator 
Dave Karnes, a former White House Fellow friend of mine from Nebraska, 
called me on this piece of legislation several weeks ago, asked if I 
would touch base with the House leadership and encourage them to move 
it, as it had already

[[Page H11577]]

passed the Senate and was awaiting floor time.
  I went to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) and the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), and they were very willing to put this on 
a fast track; and, again, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Bilirakis) for making this part of the package of the bill that is 
on the floor this afternoon.
  There are somewhere between 2 million and 4 million poison exposures 
each year to our Nation's children. Thankfully, in many cases of those 
cases, it does not end up in a catastrophic situation; but 
unfortunately, on occasion, it does.
  The bill before us today, when the President signs it, is going to 
minimize the possibility or the probability that those exposures will 
result in a catastrophic situation. As a father of three children, when 
they were at home, we took advantage of many of the programs that are 
in this act in terms of labeling our household goods and chemicals and 
medicines so that our younger children saw the little smiley face 
turned upside down, the little green poison control, and of course, it 
had the message on it and the phone number to call locally or 
regionally if one had a problem.
  So I rise in strong support of this. I am assured that we are going 
to have bipartisan endorsement; and, again, I want to thank the 
leadership for their strong work, and on our side the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and on the Democrat side, the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Towns) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) for their 
excellent work.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. I think the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) has one. Mr. Speaker, I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I would say that the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Barton) was here earlier, before even the votes. He wanted to 
really speak on this subject because he has a great interest in it, and 
I appreciate that interest.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman 
from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes).
  Mr. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, I want to give my thanks to the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), the subcommittee chairman, and the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) for their help and leadership on 
this vital legislation; and I rise in strong support of S. 686, the 
Poison Control Enhancement and Awareness Act, and urge my colleagues to 
enthusiastically support final passage. As a cosponsor of the House 
version of H.R. 1819, I am pleased we are considering this critical 
legislation for approval today.
  Mr. Speaker, the Poison Control Enhancement and Awareness Act 
provides essential support to our Nation's poison control centers. A 
critical component of the legislation would reauthorize a grant program 
to keep our poison control centers running and prepared for everyday 
emergencies.
  This grant program is vital for the Carolinas Poison Center, which 
serves all of North Carolina. Carolinas Poison Center provides life-
saving help to parents whose children have swallowed something 
dangerous, physicians who have unexplained illnesses, hospital 
emergency rooms which know what the toxic exposure was to a patient but 
need instructions on how to treat it, and many others in need of 
critical information about toxic exposure. Carolinas Poison Center's 
ability to continue these essential services depends on the 
continuation of the essential grant program as provided in Senate 686, 
which funds approximately one-fourth of its budget.
  The tragic events of September 11 and the anthrax cases of October 
2001 have dramatically changed our Nation. During this time, the 
Carolinas Poison Center, as well as poison centers throughout the 
country, answered thousands of additional calls from concerned 
residents. The Carolinas Poison Center was utilized by many citizens as 
the primary source for accurate medical information about anthrax and 
other potential bioterrorism diseases but also for the complications 
resulting from prophylactic antibiotic therapy.

                              {time}  1700

  Poison control centers throughout the country have become critical 
sources of local, State and regional bioterrorism response and 
information in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control. The 
Carolinas Poison Center recently completed an analysis of the 2000-2002 
human exposure and information call volume, as well as reported human 
exposure clinical effects in order to determine daily volume and 
effects baselines, and threshold limits for detection of possible 
biochemical and disease outbreaks. These results were reported to State 
public health officials, and software capabilities that enabled 
Carolinas Poison Control Center were funded, in part, by Federal Prison 
Control Center grant funds.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleagues on the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce for their work on this critical legislation, and our 
leadership for helping to move it forward today. I urge my colleagues 
to join me in securing passage for this essential legislation.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sweeney). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 686, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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