[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 56 (Tuesday, May 3, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H2746-H2747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ASTHMA AWARENESS DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is Asthma Awareness Day. I rise to 
celebrate the October 2003 enacted Asthmatic Students Treatment and 
Health Management Act, ASTHMA. It is now Public Law 108-377 and was 
H.R. 2023 in the House and the Senate bill was S. 2815. I introduced 
this with the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy), and Senator 
Enzi and Senator Kennedy carried the mantle there.
  Mr. Speaker, this law provides incentives for States to pass 
favorable laws that guarantee that students can carry and use 
prescribed medicine and anaphylaxis medications while in school. It is 
not a mandate, and incurs no new spending. The idea has been 
germinating since the early 1990s and has been building momentum since.
  On Asthma Awareness Day, May 7, 2003, there were only 20 asthma-
friendly States in our United States. Even more limiting, of these 20, 
only nine extended that protection even further to anaphylaxis 
medication like epinephrine auto-injectors. Today, according to the 
Allergy and Asthma Network, Mothers of Asthmatics, we have a strong 
number of 41 States protecting for asthma, 26 for asthma plus 
anaphylaxis, and four have legislation pending for both conditions. 
Four that have asthma laws have legislation pending for anaphylaxis, 
and there is one State just getting started and has legislation that is 
pending for asthma anaphylaxis-carrying students.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a dramatic upswing for our children. I am 
especially proud to report what is going on in Florida. Florida has 
been an inhaler-friendly State for years, but now there is legislation 
pending to include epinephrine auto-injectors.
  My friend and constituent, Dr. Karl Altenberger, an allergist in 
Ocala, Florida, has been active in advancing this for his patients in 
the Florida State legislature. He is to be commended. This bill passed 
last week and is ready for the Governor's signature.
  Just yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel reported ``Girl fights for 
allergy law as lives depend on it.'' In Celebration, a central Florida 
town, lives 9-year-old Kelsey Ryan. ``Severely allergic to peanuts, she 
has never known life without her EpiPen. The dose of adrenaline inside 
could save her life and is with her at all times: in classrooms, on 
field trips, and during school activities. Now Kelsey has been urging 
Tallahassee lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow the estimated 
100,000 Florida school children with life-threatening allergies the 
same access to this EpiPen.
  Kelsey has testified before four Tallahassee committees since 
February, meeting lawmakers and passing out practice injectors urging 
them to pass the bill. We might call Kelsey a true respiration 
inspiration. She shares a quote, ``My mom told me in some schools, 
there are children like myself who need the EpiPen with them, but it is 
locked far away in the clinic.'' She told the committee that if someone 
needed their EpiPen, it might not get to them in time.
  Kelsey's charisma and dedication led legislators in Tallahassee to 
rename H.B. 279 the Kelsey Ryan Act. More than 60 State legislators 
cosponsored the bill which the House passed earlier this month 114 to 
0. The Senate passed it last week, and it is on the desk of Governor 
Jeb Bush.
  Brenda Olson, director of governmental affairs for the American Lung 
Association of Florida points out that ``most schools in Florida do not 
allow students to carry the EpiPen.'' As we have been saying for years, 
``Moments count when these reactions start.''
  Kelsey's mother, Blair Ryan, emphasized another point we made in our 
bill, H.R. 2023, that this is a team effort between the student, the 
parents, the physician, and the school. If a parent and physician 
believe that a student is mature and competent to treat him or herself, 
a school should not impede this medical regimen, but help it work for 
the student.
  Currently, school districts across Florida have different policies on 
this matter, and some may well not serve a student who just 
accidentally got stung by a bee or ate a cookie with an unknown walnut. 
Officials in Volusia and Orange counties said the majority of EpiPen 
are kept locked in school clinics. This is disastrous for the student's 
health and potentially a lawsuit on the school.
  In conclusion, I am pleased with the strong progress on this issue 
here in our Nation's Capitol and in the State houses. I invite everyone 
to join us in the Cannon Caucus Room tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. for a 
congressional briefing followed by free asthma screenings and asthma 
health clinics and exhibits from 1 to 3:30 p.m. This year, Asthma 
Awareness Day is truly a breath of fresh air.
  Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, is Asthma Awareness Day and I rise to 
celebrate the October 2003-enacted Asthmatic Students Treatment and 
Health Management Act (ASTHMA). What is now P.l. 108-377, and was H.R. 
2023 in the House and S. 2815 in the Senate, I had introduced on 2003's 
Asthma Awareness Day with my friend Representative Patrick Kennedy from 
Rhode Island. In the Senate, Senator Enzi and Senator Kennedy carried 
the mantel.
  This law provides incentives for States to pass favorable laws 
guaranteeing that students can carry and use prescribed asthma and 
anaphylaxis (anna full AXE iss) medications while at school. It is not 
a mandate, and it incurs no new spending. This idea has been 
germinating since the late 1990s, and has been building momentum since. 
On Asthma Awareness Day, May 7, 2003, there were only 20 ``asthma-
friendly'' States. Even more limiting, of these 20 only 9 extended that 
protection even further to anaphylaxis (anna full AXE

[[Page H2747]]

iss) medication, like epinephrine auto-injectors. Today, according to 
the Allergy and Asthma Network, Mothers of Asthmatics, a grand-slam of 
41 States protect for asthma, 26 for asthma plus anaphylaxis, 4 have 
legislation pending for both conditions, 4 that already have asthma 
laws have legislation pending for anaphylaxis, and 1 State is just 
getting started and has legislation pending for asthma. This is a 
dramatic upswing for our children.
  I am especially proud to report what is going on in Florida. Florida 
has been inhaler-friendly for years, but now there is legislation 
pending to include epinephrine auto-injectors. My friend and 
constituent Karl Altenberger, MD, an allergist in Ocala, FL has been 
active on advancing this for his patients for years in the Florida 
State legislature. The bill passed last week and is ready for the 
Governor.
  Just yesterday (May 2nd), the Orlando Sentinel reported that ``Girl 
fights for allergy law as if lives depend on it.'' In Celebration, a 
central Florida town, lives 9-year-old Kelsey Ryan. ``Severely allergic 
to peanuts, (she) has never known life without her EpiPen. The dose of 
adrenaline inside could save her life and is with her at all times: in 
her classroom, on field trips and during after-school activities.
  Now Kelsey has been urging Tallahassee lawmakers to pass a bill that 
would allow the estimated 100,000 Florida schoolchildren with life-
threatening allergies the same access to their EpiPens--also known as 
epinephrine auto-injectors.
  Kelsey has testified before four Tallahassee committees since 
February, meeting lawmakers and passing out practice injectors with 
tags urging them to pass the bill.'' We might call Kelsey a true 
respiration inspiration. She shares that ``My mom told me that in some 
other schools there's children like myself who need their EpiPen with 
them, but it's locked up far away in the clinic,'' Kelsey told one 
committee. ``If they somehow needed their EpiPen, it might not get to 
them in time.''
  Kelsey's ``charisma and dedication led legislators in Tallahassee to 
rename H.B. 279 the ``Kelsey Ryan Act.'' More than 60 State 
representatives co-sponsored the bill, which the House passed earlier 
this month 114-0. The Senate passed it last week and it is on the desk 
of Governor Jeb Bush.
  Brenda Olsen, director of governmental affairs for the American Lung 
Association of Florida, points out that ``Most schools in the State of 
Florida do not allow students to carry their EpiPens,'' and, as we have 
been saying for years, ``Moments count when these reactions start.''
  Kelsey's mother, Blair Ryan, emphasizes another point we made in H.R. 
2003: This is a ``team effort'' between the student, the parents, the 
physician, and the school. If a parent and physician believe that a 
student is mature and competent to treat him or herself, a school 
should not impede this medical regimen, but help it work for the 
student. Currently, school districts across Florida vary on their 
policies, and some may not well-serve a student who just accidentally 
got stung by a bee, or ate a cookie with an unknown walnut. In the 
Sentinel article, officials in Volusia and Orange counties said the 
majority of EpiPens are kept locked in school clinics. This could prove 
to be just disastrous, for the student's health, and potentially as a 
lawsuit to the school.
  I am pleased with the strong momentous progress of this issue here in 
our Nation's capital and in our statehouses. I invite everyone to join 
us in the Cannon Caucus room tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. for a Congressional 
Briefing, followed by free asthma screenings and asthma health exhibits 
from 1-2:30 p.m. This year's Asthma Awareness Day is truly a breath of 
fresh air.

                          ____________________