[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 55 (Thursday, March 29, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4208-S4209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 1069. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act regarding 
early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to introdnce the Early Hearing 
Detection and Intervention Act of 2007. This bill is a companion bill 
to H.R. 1198, introduced in the House by Representative Lois Capps. I 
am pleased to be joined again this year by my colleague from Iowa, 
Senator Harkin, who has long been a champion of the hearing impaired. 
Together we worked to address hearing impairment in children in 1999, 
and today we unite again to achieve even greater progress for children.
  The number of Americans with a hearing loss has doubled during the 
past 30 years. Most of us associate hearing problems with the aging 
process, and it is true that the largest group of Americans suffering 
from hearing impairment are those in the 65 to 75 year age range. At 
the same time, each year more than 12,000 babies in the United States 
are born with permanent hearing loss. With another 2 to 3 of every 
1,000 newborns suffering partial hearing loss, this is the number one 
birth defect in America. Unfortunately, hearing loss can go undiagnosed 
for years.
  In recent years, scientists have stressed how crucial the first years 
of a child's life are to their future development. Specialists in 
speech and language development tell us that the crucial period for 
developing speech and communication in a child's life can begin as 
early as 6 months of age. Many babies with hearing loss experience 
delays in speech, language, and cognitive development which compromises 
the foundation they need for later schooling and success in society. 
This makes early detection and intervention of hearing loss a necessity 
if we are to ensure that all our children get the strong start they 
deserve.
  The ability to hear is a major element of one's ability to read and 
communicate. To the extent that we can help infants and young children 
overcome disabilities detected early in life, we will improve their 
ability to function in society, receive an education, obtain meaningful 
employment, and enjoy a better quality of life. Without early diagnosis 
and intervention, these children are behind the learning curve, 
literally. before they have even started. They should not be denied a 
strong start in life simply for the lack of a simple screening test.
  For 50 years, expert commissions and task forces have emphasized the 
need to detect hearing loss early. In 1989, concerned about the lack of 
progress in this area, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop set a goal that 
by the year 2000, all infants--at least 90 percent of all births or 
admissions--would be screened for hearing loss prior to discharge from 
hospital. Subsequent Federal initiatives, combined with improved 
technology and concerted action from hospitals and State agencies, have 
since led to dramatic advances in procedures for early identification. 
By the beginning of 1993, about a dozen hospitals had instituted 
essentially universal screening--defined as testing at least 90 percent 
of all newborns or infants admitted, prior to discharge. In 1997, an 
expert panel at the National Institute of Deafness and Other 
Communication Disorders recommended that the first hearing screening be 
carried out before an infant is 3 months old in order to ensure that 
treatment can begin before 6 months of age. The panel also recommended 
that the most comprehensive and effective way of ensuring screening 
before an infant is 6 months old is to have newborns screened before 
they are sent home from the hospital. Yet a 1998 report by the 
Commission on Education of the Deaf estimated that the average age at 
which a child with congenital hearing loss was identified in the United 
States was a 2\1/2\ to 3 years old, with many children not being 
identified until 5 or 6 years old.
  Today we have seen substantial progress in screening, 69 percent of 
babies are now screened for hearing loss before one month of age. This 
is an increase of 47 percent compared to back in 1998. That improvement 
is the result of a bipartisan effort I undertook with Senators Harkin 
and Frist in 1999 when we introduced the Newborn and Infant Hearing 
Screening and Intervention Act of 1999.
  That act helped states to establish programs to detect and diagnose 
hearing loss in all newborn children and to promote appropriate 
treatment and intervention for newborns with hearing loss. The 
legislation funded research by the National Institutes of Health to 
determine the best detection, diagnostic, treatment and intervention 
techniques and technologies.
  The legislation we are introducing today builds on that success. The 
bill we are introducing today provides the additional assistance 
necessary to help States in implementing programs to ensure that all 
our newborns are tested and to ensure that those identified with a 
hearing impairment get the help they need. Therefore, this legislation 
assures that reasonable action will be taken to identify hearing loss 
within the groups of newborns and infants, so we reach each child as 
early as possible. Furthermore, the bill supports the recruitment, 
retention, education, and training of qualified personnel and

[[Page S4209]]

health care providers, which will provide us with the healthcare 
professionals we need. And finally the legislation sets targets for a 
long-term follow-up. It requires the development of models that reduce 
the loss to follow-up of newborns and infants who are identified with a 
hearing loss through screening.
  A baby born today will be part of this country's future. Surely we 
owe it to that child to give them a strong start on that future by 
ensuring that if they do have a hearing impairment it is diagnosed and 
treatment started well before their first year of life is completed. I 
urge my colleagues to join with Senator Harkin and myself in supporting 
the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2007.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1069

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Early Hearing Detection and 
     Intervention Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT OF HEARING 
                   LOSS.

       Section 399M of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
     280g-1) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``INFANTS'' and 
     inserting ``NEWBORNS AND INFANTS'';
       (2) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation and 
     intervention programs and systems'' and inserting ``newborn 
     and infant hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and 
     intervention programs and systems, and to assist in the 
     recruitment, retention, education, and training of qualified 
     personnel and health care providers,''; and
       (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
       ``(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of statewide 
     programs and systems for hearing screening of newborns and 
     infants; prompt evaluation and diagnosis of children referred 
     from screening programs; and appropriate educational, 
     audiological, and medical interventions for children 
     identified with hearing loss. Early intervention includes 
     referral to and delivery of information and services by 
     schools and agencies, including community, consumer, and 
     parent-based agencies and organizations and other programs 
     mandated by part C of the Individuals with Disabilities 
     Education Act, which offer programs specifically designed to 
     meet the unique language and communication needs of deaf and 
     hard of hearing newborns and infants. Programs and systems 
     under this paragraph shall establish and foster family-to-
     family support mechanisms that are critical in the first 
     months after a child is identified with hearing loss.''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) To develop efficient models to ensure that newborns 
     and infants who are identified with a hearing loss through 
     screening are not lost to follow-up by a qualified health 
     care provider. These models shall be evaluated for their 
     effectiveness, and State agencies shall be encouraged to 
     adopt models that effectively reduce loss to follow-up.
       ``(4) To ensure an adequate supply of qualified personnel 
     to meet the screening, evaluation, and early intervention 
     needs of children.'';
       (3) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``hearing loss 
     screening, evaluation, and intervention programs'' and 
     inserting ``hearing loss screening, evaluation, diagnosis, 
     and intervention programs'';
       (B) in paragraph (2)--
       (i) by striking ``for purposes of this section, continue'' 
     and insert the following: ``for purposes of this section--
       ``(A) continue'';
       (ii) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
     and''; and
       (iii) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B) establish a postdoctoral fellowship program to foster 
     research and development in the area of early hearing 
     detection and intervention.'';
       (4) in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c), by 
     striking the term ``newborn and infant hearing screening, 
     evaluation and intervention programs'' each place such term 
     appears and inserting ``newborn and infant hearing screening, 
     evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs''; and
       (5) in subsection (e)--
       (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``ensuring that families 
     of the child'' and all that follows and inserting ``ensuring 
     that families of the child are provided comprehensive, 
     consumer-oriented information about the full range of family 
     support, training, information services, and language and 
     communication options and are given the opportunity to 
     consider and obtain the full range of early intervention 
     services, educational and program placements, and other 
     options for their child from highly qualified providers.''; 
     and
       (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ``, after rescreening,''; 
     and
       (6) in subsection (f)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2008 through 2013'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2008 through 2013''; and
       (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2008 through 2013''.
                                 ______