[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S16201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 POISON CONTROL CENTER ENHANCEMENT AND AWARENESS ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2003

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask the Chair lay before the Senate a 
message from the House of Representatives on the bill (S. 686) to 
provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize the funding 
of regional poison control centers.
  The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message 
from the House of Representatives:

                                 S. 686

       Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 686) entitled 
     ``An Act to provide assistance for poison prevention and to 
     stabilize the funding of regional poison control centers'', 
     do pass with the following amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     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).

     ``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.

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
concur in the House amendment, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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