[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 14, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H234-H236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF A DAY OF HEARTS, CONGENITAL HEART
DEFECT DAY
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 629) supporting the goals and ideals
of a Day of Hearts, Congenital Heart Defect Day in order to increase
awareness about congenital heart defects, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 629
Whereas congenital heart defects are structural problems
with the heart that are present at birth;
Whereas such defects range in severity from simple
problems, such as ``holes'' between chambers of the heart, to
very severe malformations, such as the complete absence of
one or more chambers or valves of the heart;
Whereas more than one million Americans have some form of a
congenital heart defect and such defect is the number one
cause of death in infants;
Whereas out of 1000 births, eight babies will have some
form of a congenital heart disorder, and approximately 35,000
babies are born with such defects each year;
Whereas twice as many children die each year from
congenital heart disease compared with childhood cancers, yet
funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher
than such funding for congenital heart disease;
Whereas cardiovascular disease is the Nation's leading
killer in both men and women among all racial and ethnic
groups;
Whereas the United States has a severe shortage of cardiac
centers that are fully equipped to provide care for adults
living with complex heart defects;
Whereas almost one million Americans die of cardiovascular
disease each year, resulting in up to 42 percent of all
deaths in the United States;
Whereas the presence of a serious congenital heart defect
often results in an enormous emotional and financial strain
on young families who are already in a vulnerable stage of
their lives;
Whereas severe congenital heart disease requires that
families dedicate extensive financial resources for
assistance and care both within and outside of a hospital
environment;
Whereas congenial heart defects exceed more than $2.2
million a year for inpatient surgery alone; and
Whereas February 14, 2006, would be an appropriate day to
recognize A Day for Hearts: Congenital Heart Defect Awareness
Day: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the
goals and ideals of A Day of Hearts: Congenital Heart Defect
Awareness Day to--
(1) increase awareness about congenital heart defects;
(2) encourage research with respect to the disease; and
(3) support the millions of Americans who are affected by
this disease.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Michigan (Mrs. Miller) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan.
[[Page H235]]
General Leave
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. 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 the resolution
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
H. Resolution 629, offered by the distinguished gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Price), would support the goals and the ideals of a Day of
Hearts, Congenital Heart Defect Day.
Today in the United States, heart disease and stroke, the basic
components of cardiovascular disease, are the first and third leading
causes of death for both men and women, accounting for nearly 40
percent of all deaths. Over 900,000 Americans die of cardiovascular
disease each year, Mr. Speaker, which amounts to a death every 34
seconds. Even though this dangerous disease attacks those over the age
of 65 most commonly, the number of sudden deaths from heart disease
among people between the ages of 15 and 34 has increased dramatically.
Along with the individual effects of this vastly growing disease,
there is also a widespread economic impact. The U.S. health care system
continues to be hit with the cost of heart disease and stroke in the
U.S. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of permanent
disability in the U.S. workforce, and there are over 6 million
hospitalizations each year due to this disease. As our population ages,
the cost of heart disease and stroke was projected to be $394 billion
in 2005, last year, which includes health care expenditures and lost
productivity from death and disability.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask all Members to support H. Resolution 629
with the hope that, because cardiovascular disease is preventable,
increased awareness and research could enable us as Americans to cut
down on the unnecessary deaths due to this disease each year in our
country.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1445
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the resolution to recognize
the goals and ideas of a Day of Hearts, and I commend the gentleman
from Georgia for making use of Valentine's Day as a way of highlighting
and bringing awareness to one of our major health problems and health
issues.
Every year, eight out of every 1,000 children are born with some form
of congenital heart defect, or CHD. CHDs are the number one killer of
infants in the United States, and while treatment is available for many
of these defects, a number of them are not treatable. Sadly, too, many
families lack the resources necessary to obtain proper treatment for
even the most common and easily treatable defects.
Because CHDs are long-term or often lifelong afflictions, the life of
a child who survives a CHD is made more difficult by restricted
behavior and the laborious effort needed to carry out the daily tasks
of life.
A Day of Hearts is an international effort to raise awareness of this
all-too-common problem. CHD lacks the visibility of some of the
diseases we all know well, yet the effects are no less tragic. Much
progress needs to be made in fighting the disease and in finding and
funding facilities that are dedicated to cutting-edge research related
to all aspects of CHDs, especially factors that contribute to their
occurrence.
In addition, developing countries are far behind the developing world
in treating CHDs. Defects that are easily treatable here in the United
States can be killers in those countries, and our sense of humanity can
no longer tolerate easily preventible deaths from CHDs.
Mr. Speaker, February 14 is a day that many people around the world
associate with love and companionship, and the enduring symbol of
Valentine's Day is the heart. I can think of no day more appropriately
tailored towards raising the public's awareness of CHDs than
Valentine's Day. Therefore, I join in support of this important
resolution and call upon all of my colleagues to support this effort so
that hopefully we will generate the kind of awareness and the kind of
resources that are necessary to fight this tragic and debilitating
illness.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to my distinguished colleague from the State of Georgia (Mr.
Price).
Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for
allowing me to speak on this issue. I appreciate her leadership in
this. I want to thank my Georgia colleagues and all colleagues on both
sides of the aisle who have assisted in supporting this endeavor.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to wish a happy Valentine's Day to Sarah
Anne Voyles. Sarah is a 15-year-old young lady who happens to live in
my district. She is a special young lady who just happened to be born
with a congenital heart defect who brought this whole issue to my
attention.
As a physician, I practiced for nearly 20 years in my community and I
understand the medical importance of being able to treat congenital
heart defects. But as a Member of Congress the issue becomes all that
more important as we work to bring attention to this remarkable
challenge.
So I am proud to stand today and present and support H. Res. 629, a
resolution that will identify today, Valentine's Day 2006, as a Day of
Hearts, Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day.
What is a congenital heart defect? Well, congenital means it is
present at birth, so it is an abnormality that is present at birth. It
is a birth defect. It is a birth defect of the heart. It is a birth
defect, though, that we don't often hear about.
It occurs during the development of the heart, which begins for a
baby shortly after conception. These defects can involve the walls of
the heart, or the valves of the heart, or the blood vessels, the
arteries and veins that supply the heart itself. They are often able to
disrupt the normal flow of blood in the heart, slowing that blood down
or having it flow in the wrong direction or wrong place, or it might
even block the flow of blood altogether. They also can be conduction
defects, defects that make it so the heart doesn't beat in the correct
way.
More than 35,000 infants, about one out of every 150 births, are born
with heart defects every single year; and these defects can be very
minimal in nature and not even be noticed by the family or the child or
the physicians, or they can be life-threatening. Heart defects are
among the most common birth defects, and they are the leading cause of
birth defect-related deaths in the United States.
The good news is that with significantly improving treatment over the
past few decades there are now more adults living with congenital heart
defects than ever before, having been treated in their infancy for
those defects. And this means that there are new medical challenges
that we as a society will confront, and confront them we will.
So it is perfectly fitting and appropriate that we pause today and
recognize Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day in order to do three
specific things: One is to increase the awareness of congenital heart
defects; two is to encourage research with respect to this disease;
and, three, to support the millions of Americans who are affected by
this disease.
So I join with the others and ask my colleagues to support this
resolution and join me in wishing Sarah Anne Voyles, and all Americans
living with congenital heart defects, a very happy Valentine's Day and
a Day of Hearts for Congenital Heart Defect Day.
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to my distinguished colleague from the State of Nebraska (Mr.
Fortenberry).
Mr. FORTENBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Price and my other
colleagues who have cosponsored this Day of Hearts resolution,
recognizing congenital heart defects and the impact they are having on
American society and American families.
[[Page H236]]
As has been mentioned, approximately 35,000 babies are born each year
with some variety of a congenital heart defect. Five years ago, my wife
Celeste and I had a beautiful baby girl, and we named her Kathryn, and
she was one of those 35,000 babies. She was diagnosed shortly after her
birth with a complete atrial ventricular septal defect.
It was a normal birth. Afterward, during a regular checkup, our
family doctor heard something that almost jumped through his
stethoscope. As we later found out, he was holding back his own emotion
as he heard this. So that launched us then on a path, a very intense,
difficult, 3-month period, until she had her first surgery.
But one of the most encouraging things that happened for us then were
other parents who found out we were suffering through this and who took
initiative to call us, to extend a hand of friendship. Because when
this happens to you, your world spins around 360 degrees. It is very
hard to know who to turn to and where to go. So the support network of
parents who simply took their own initiative to contact us was very
deeply meaningful and helped us through this very difficult time.
Kathryn, as many of your saw this past weekend, is a very vibrant,
happy, 5-year-old. She wears a pacemaker, which obviously causes some
security difficulties here and there, but, nonetheless, we are grateful
to the advances that medicine has given us in the last 30 years to be
able to deal successfully with this form of defect.
I am just really thankful that Congress is taking the initiative
today to actually propose a Day of Hearts, not only to bring more
emphasis to the issue, because it does affect so many families, but to
potentially help spur additional research into the potential of finding
a cure, or at least helping parents who have to deal with the
management of this issue for a lifetime.
Thank you, Dr. Price, for proposing this; thank you to my other
colleagues who have cosponsored this; and I urge passage of H.R. 629.
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is especially appropriate that today on
Valentine's Day, when we celebrate love and affection from the bottom
of our hearts, that this House passes a resolution that seeks to
provide protection from our hearts being damaged from disease. I urge
all Members to support the adoption of H. Res. 629.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.
Res. 629, supporting the goals and ideals of a Day of Hearts,
Congenital Heart Defect Day in order to increase awareness about
congenital heart defects. I think it's fitting that on Valentine's Day,
we can discuss a resolution that will help protect our hearts.
Heart disease can affect every aspect of your life: your ability to
work, your ability to get adequate insurance, your ability to exercise
or play sports, and your ability to have children, not to mention your
ability to enjoy your life and live it to the fullest.
Estimates suggest that about 1 million Americans have a congenital
heart defect. If time in the hospital and recuperating from heart
conditions could be measured in years of life, over 91,000 life years
are lost each year in the US due to congenital heart disease. For
inpatient surgery alone, charges for care exceed $2.2 billion every
year.
Even our most vulnerable and innocent citizens are not exempt from
the risk of heart disease: around 35,000 babies are born with a heart
defect each year. Out of 1,000 births, 8 babies will have some form of
congenital heart disorder, although for the most part, these are mild.
Severe heart disease generally becomes apparent during the first couple
of months after birth. Doctors know to watch for certain clues,
including when babies are born blue, have very low blood pressure,
breathing difficulties, feeding problems, or poor weight gain. In
addition, most minor defects are diagnosed on a routine medical check
up.
We've made significant improvements in the treatment of congenital
heart conditions, from preventive treatment, to surgery, to research,
to education and outreach. In the 1960s and 1970s the risk of dying
following congenital heart surgery was about 30 percent and today it is
around 5 percent.
However, recent statistics show that heart disease is still the No. 1
killer of American women, and heart failure is on the rise in the
elderly. This bill is relevant and timely, and a noble effort to bring
much needed awareness and crucial outreach to men, women and children
across the Nation. Knowledge can make all the difference in quality of
life, and a Day of Hearts is the perfect way to start the conversation
and spread the word.
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Issa). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 629.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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