[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 134 (Friday, November 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H10055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                NATIONAL VISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION WEEK

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 8) 
expressing the sense of Congress that there should be established a 
National Visiting Nurse Association Week, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the consideration of 
the concurrent resolution?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate concurrent resolution, as follows:

                             S. Con. Res. 8

       Whereas visiting nurse associations (``VNAs'') are 
     nonprofit home health agencies that, for more than 120 years, 
     have been united in their mission to provide cost-effective 
     and compassionate home and community-based health care to 
     individuals, regardless of the individuals' condition or 
     ability to pay for services;
       Whereas there are approximately 500 visiting nurse 
     associations, which employ more than 90,000 clinicians, 
     provide health care to more than 4,000,000 people each year, 
     and provide a critical safety net in communities by 
     developing a network of community support services that 
     enable individuals to live independently at home;
       Whereas visiting nurse associations have historically 
     served as primary public health care providers in their 
     communities, and are today one of the largest providers of 
     mass immunizations in the medicare program (delivering more 
     than 2,500,000 influenza immunizations annually);
       Whereas visiting nurse associations are often the home 
     health providers of last resort, serving the most chronic of 
     conditions (such as congestive heart failure, chronic 
     obstructive pulmonary disease, AIDS, and quadriplegia) and 
     individuals with the least ability to pay for services (more 
     than 50 percent of all medicaid home health admissions are by 
     visiting nurse associations);
       Whereas any visiting nurse association budget surplus is 
     reinvested in supporting the association's mission through 
     services, including charity care, adult day care centers, 
     wellness clinics, Meals-on-Wheels, and immunization programs;
       Whereas visiting nurse associations and other nonprofit 
     home health agencies care for the highest percentage of 
     terminally ill and bedridden patients;
       Whereas thousands of visiting nurse association volunteers 
     across the Nation devote time serving as individual agency 
     board members, raising funds, visiting patients in their 
     homes, assisting in wellness clinics, and delivering meals to 
     patients;
       Whereas the establishment of a National Visiting Nurse 
     Association Week would increase public awareness of the 
     charity-based missions of visiting nurse associations and of 
     their ability to meet the needs of chronically ill and 
     disabled individuals who prefer to live at home rather than 
     in a nursing home, and would spotlight preventive health 
     clinics, adult day care programs, and other customized 
     wellness programs that meet local community needs; and
       Whereas the second week of May 2005 is an appropriate week 
     to establish as National Visiting Nurse Association Week: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that there 
     should be established a National Visiting Nurse Association 
     Week.

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. Con. Res. 8, a 
resolution to establish an annual National Visiting Nurse Associations 
Week in honor of these health care heroes who are dedicated to service 
in the ultimate caring profession.
  The Visiting Nurse Associations, VNAs, of today are founded on the 
principle that people who are sick, disabled and elderly benefit most 
from health care when it is offered in their own homes.
  Home care is an increasingly important part of our health care system 
today.
  The kinds of highly skilled--and often technically complex--services 
that the VNAs provide have enabled millions of our most frail and 
vulnerable patients to avoid hospitals and nursing homes and stay just 
where they want to be--in the comfort and security of their own homes.
  They made a critical difference when they started in the late 19th 
century, and are making a critical difference now as we embark upon the 
21st.
  There currently are approximately 500 VNAs nationwide.
  Through these exceptional organizations, 90,000 clinicians dedicate 
their lives to bringing health care into the homes of an estimated 3 
million Americans every year.
  VNAs are truly the heart of home care in this country today, and it 
is time for Congress to recognize the vital services that visiting 
nurses provide to their patients and their families.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution establishing an 
annual National Visiting Nurse Associations' Week.
  The Senate concurrent resolution was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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