[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 89 (Tuesday, July 11, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H5003-H5005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AMENDING PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT WITH RESPECT TO NATIONAL FOUNDATION
FOR THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the Senate bill (S. 655) to amend the Public Health Service Act
with respect to the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
S. 655
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE
CONTROL AND PREVENTION; ACCEPTANCE OF VOLUNTARY
SERVICES; FEDERAL FUNDING.
(a) Authority for Acceptance of Voluntary Services;
Striking Two-Year Limit Per Individual.--Section
399G(h)(2)(A) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
280e-11(h)(2)(A)) is amended by striking the second sentence
and inserting the following: ``In the case of an individual,
such Director may accept the services provided under the
preceding sentence by the individual until such time as the
private funding for such individual ends.''.
(b) Reports.--Section 399G(h)(7) of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280e-11(h)(7)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, including an
accounting of the use of amounts provided for under
subsection (i)'' before the period at the end of the second
sentence; and
(2) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the
following:
``(C) The Foundation shall make copies of each report
submitted under subparagraph (A) available--
``(i) for public inspection, and shall upon request provide
a copy of the report to any individual for a charge not to
exceed the cost of providing the copy; and
``(ii) to the appropriate committees of Congress.''.
(c) Federal Funding.--Section 399G(i) of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280e-11(i)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``$500,000'', and
inserting ``$1,250,000''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``not more than
$500,000'' and inserting ``not less than $500,000, and not
more than $1,250,000''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Support services.--The Director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention may provide facilities,
utilities, and support services to the Foundation if it is
determined by the Director to be advantageous to the programs
of such Centers.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Deal) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.
General Leave
Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on
the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 655, legislation to make
needed improvements to the CDC Foundation. The CDC Foundation is a
private, nonprofit foundation established by Congress in 1992 to help
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fulfill its mission on
protecting health and promoting safety. It is located in my State of
Georgia. The CDC Foundation is a unique private-public partnership that
supports the important work of the CDC both here in the United States
and around the world.
When public health emergencies strike, the CDC Foundation harnesses
the know-how of the private sector to fill the gaps and get around
government red tape, helping to keep Americans safe from harm.
To fulfill its mission, the CDC Foundation relies heavily on the
ingenuity and resources of private donations. In the 11 years since its
incorporation, the CDC Foundation has raised more than $100 million in
private donations from individuals, corporate partners, and other
foundations. With the relatively small Federal investment of half a
million dollars per year for operating expenses, the CDC Foundation has
been able to leverage over $15 million per
[[Page H5004]]
year in private funds over the last 5 years. This represents an amazing
30-to-1 return on the Federal investment.
These funds allow the foundation to manage over 100 programs that
work directly with the CDC and the United States in over 30 countries
around the world.
{time} 1400
The CDC Foundation helps to bring an international focus to the work
of the CDC that is having a direct impact on the health of U.S.
citizens here at home. When deadly infections like SARS or bird flu
arise in distant parts of the world, the world-renowned expertise of
CDC experts can play an important role in disease monitoring and
prevention. Effective intervention at the source can stop these
diseases in their tracks, preventing them from ever reaching our soil.
With help from the CDC Foundation, experts at the CDC train local
public health officials from around the world, offering valuable
resources and expertise to fight deadly infections and save lives.
But the CDC Foundation doesn't just protect Americans by supporting
overseas activities. Here in the United States the Foundation gives CDC
needed flexibility during public health emergencies. In the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina last year, for example, the lack of computers and
Internet access was hampering the CDC's work in detecting and
containing potential disease outbreaks among Houston-area hurricane
evacuees. Thanks to the ready availability of CDC Foundation funds,
these CDC teams were able to cut through the red tape and purchase the
equipment they needed to get the job done.
Furthermore, the CDC Foundation is served by an outstanding
internationally renowned board of directors that draws its members from
the corporate, philanthropic, educational and public health sectors.
These leaders have served ably in bringing about both accountability
and flexibility to this unique public-private partnership. And I would
urge the support of this legislation today.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I would like to thank Ranking Member Dingell and our ranking member
of the subcommittee, Sherrod Brown, for allowing me to manage the bill.
I rise in support of this legislation which the Energy and Commerce
Committee reported out last month. This legislation makes minor changes
in the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention so that it can have the flexibility it needs to build on its
success to date.
First authorized by Congress in 1992, the CDC Foundation is an
excellent example of a public-private partnership that can yield
tremendous results with minimal taxpayer investment.
Specifically, the Foundation has utilized $500,000 in Federal funding
to bring in approximately $15 million in private sector dollars each
year. This amounts to a 30-to-1 return on CDC's annual investment in
the Foundation.
With this funding, the CDC Foundation has implemented more than 100
health and safety programs in over 30 countries. These programs stretch
across the world and reach all levels of society from corporate leaders
and health care professionals to patients.
For example, the Foundation has addressed global health concerns with
the Round Table on Global Health Threats, which brought global
government and corporate leaders together to develop ways to better
detect global health threats.
The Foundation has also been instrumental in the establishment of a
health leadership academy that provides management training for
midcareer health care professionals from local and State health
departments.
The CDC Foundation has also improved the health of underserved women
here at home through its mobile mammogram van. This partnership with
Avon has put mobile vans on the ground in rural and underserved
communities. There is no question that these vans have saved the lives
of American women who face significant barriers to health care and
whose cancer would have most likely gone undetected until it was too
late.
What's more, the CDC has now assigned a scientist to the program to
evaluate the program and determine the best practices for similar
programs around the country.
This bill makes minor changes in the Foundation's authorization that
will have a major impact on the Foundation's ability to leverage its
resources and maximize the outcome. For example, the bill increases the
authorization levels the CDC director can put toward the Foundation.
This change will provide the CDC director with the flexibility to
increase CDC's investment in the Foundation, but not at additional
taxpayer expense, since the CDC's contribution to the Foundation is not
appropriated, but comes from the director's budget.
The bill would also allow for better alignment of private fellowships
and Foundation activities. Currently, fellows may be assigned to the
Foundation program for 2 years, despite the program's duration of 3 to
4. This small change will allow fellows to remain throughout the
program's duration, providing the program with invaluable institutional
memory and increased efficiency, which will no doubt improve the
outcomes.
This is a commonsense bill that will improve the public-private
partnerships that are so important to the current success of the CDC
Foundation.
I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and
ensure we build on this success in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague
from Georgia (Mr. Linder), who is the sponsor of the House version of
this same bill that we are now considering from the Senate.
Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House passage for S.
655 and I urge my colleagues on both sides to join me in supporting the
measure.
S. 655 closely mirrors legislation I introduced in the House last
year, H.R. 1569. Both of these measures seek the same objective, to
make very few limited changes to current Federal law governing the
National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In light of the fact that the U.S. Senate approved an amended version
of S. 655 last July, I worked with my friend and colleague from Georgia
(Mr. Deal), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on
Health, to bring this measure to the floor today. I commend him for all
of his work on this project, and express my appreciation for his
support and leadership on health policy matters, including the CDC.
The legislation before us today, S. 655, would allow research fellows
at the Foundation to remain in their positions for as long as their
privately funded fellowships remain in effect. Currently, such
fellowships must end after 2 years.
Second, the bill gives the director of the CDC authority to provide
facilities, utilities and support services to the Foundation, provided
that doing so furthers the CDC's public health mission.
Third, it would allow the Secretary of HHS, on behalf of the CDC, to
make up to $1.25 million in funding available to the Foundation each
year, an increase from the current law level of $500,000.
This bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent and has moved
quickly through Energy and Commerce. The important part is the raising
the funding part. For every dollar in public funds, the Foundation
generates $30 in nongovernmental funding from the private sector. For
example, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals paid $30,000 for an Asian
rotavirus surveillance network meeting.
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals gave $2 million to emergency preparedness
and the response fund.
Sanofi Pasteur paid $1.5 million for a meningcoccal vaccine study.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals paid $3 million for a study of the blood
inhibitors in hemophilia patients. These were of parochial interest to
these corporations, but of general interest to the public health, and
have been helpful to all of us.
In short, the Foundation leverages a modest amount of public money
and uses that to generate a large amount of private nongovernmental
support for the CDC and its mission. Passing S. 655
[[Page H5005]]
will help enable the Foundation to surpass this exemplary record of
achievement.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my other
Georgia colleague, Mr. Gingrey.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. As I
listened to my colleagues, I realized that a lot of what I am going to
say is going to be a repeat, but I will tell you what, the story is so
good, Mr. Speaker, I want to hear it again myself.
Let me just say that this legislation contains two crucial provisions
that allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more
flexibility to expand its successful National Foundation Program.
This Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization that was
authorized back in 1992 by Congress to raise private funds to support
the work of the CDC. It was established to unite outside partners and
resources with CDC scientists and employees in order to build programs
which substantially strengthen the influence of the CDC.
Some examples of the Foundation's current successful partnerships are
Home Depot, UPS and BellSouth.
Currently, the Foundation is required to enforce a maximum of 2
years' participation in the program. However, S. 655 would allow the
Foundation to work with these and other partners and employees for as
long as they deem appropriate.
Since it was incorporated as a nonprofit back in 1996, the National
Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
raised, and it has been stated earlier, more than $100 million. This
has been accomplished with a maximum annual investment limit of only
$500,000, meaning that each year the CDC can transfer a maximum of
500,000 from its own budget to fund the Foundation.
In recent years, the Foundation has established a reputation of
raising almost $15 million annually. And that, as Mr. Green said, is a
30-fold return on investment.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation increases this maximum investment limit
to $1.25 million, an amount equal to the ceiling placed on the
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.
This provision allows the CDC to transfer an additional $750,000
annually from its budget to support the operating expenses of the
Foundation, thereby allowing it to continue to raise private funds for
CDC research.
In this time of uncertainty with respect to things like avian flu and
other public health threats, our country needs more from this agency
than ever. S. 655 gives the Foundation the flexibility to make crucial
changes that will increase the capacity of the CDC by leveraging this
successful public-private sector collaboration.
It is in the best interest of the American taxpayer to allow a
successful program to leverage more private funds to support this
crucial agency. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the proposed legislation today, as
has already been stated, has already received strong bipartisan support
as it unanimously passed the Senate, and likewise, passed the Energy
and Commerce Committee of the House.
The bill makes several changes to the existing CDC Foundation
statute. For example, it allows greater sharing of resources such as
private office space and facilities from the CDC to the Foundation. It
also extends the lengths of fellowships granted by the Foundation
beyond the current limit of 2 years.
The bill will allow the director of the CDC to shift more of her
discretionary funding to cover the administrative and operating cost of
the foundation. Like any nonprofit or charitable foundation, the CDC
Foundation must cover its administrative costs out of its own funds.
This legislation will allow the CDC director to provide the Foundation
between $500,000 per year up to the $1.25 million per year for
operating expenses, depending on need.
Finally, the bill provides additional accountability for Federal
resources by requiring a report of the Foundation's activities to be
submitted to Congress each year. With these improvements contained in
this legislation, I am confident that the CDC Foundation will be able
to attract additional significant private funds and expand its role in
assisting the CDC.
The continuing partnership between the Foundation and the Federal
Government is helping the CDC to have a positive impact on people's
health in the United States and around the world.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kirk). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Deal) that the House suspend
the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 655, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill, as amended, was
passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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