[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 146 (Friday, September 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2015-E2016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCING STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE FERGUSON

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 27, 2007

  Mr. FERGUSON. Madam Speaker, my colleague from Utah, Mr. Matheson, 
and I are introducing legislation to improve public health and 
specifically to provide a more comprehensive approach to combat 
antimicrobial resistance. Simply put, the ``bad bugs'' evolve and build 
resistance to our antibiotics and we need to do more to keep up with 
them.
  As a member of the Energy & Commerce Committee, I and my colleagues, 
recently completed reauthorization of the user fees supporting drug and 
device approvals by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The bill 
included several provisions aimed at enhancing antibiotic research and 
development and improving the resistance information available. New 
antibiotics are an important part of addressing this problem, but a 
multipronged approach is necessary to make a significant difference.
  The story of a young, active 17-year-old girl, Rebecca, from New 
Jersey caught my attention. Rebecca lost her life due to methcillin-
resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic-resistant 
infection. Her mother, Linda, is willing to share her daughter's story 
because she was a public health nurse for 15 years and she wants us all 
to learn from their tragic experience.
  Rebecca's death changed her family, and it should change us too. For 
more than a decade there have been countless studies and reports 
proving antimicrobial resistance is a real and growing problem. The 
Institutes of Medicine, the World Health Organization, the Infectious 
Diseases Society of America, have all helped to define the problem. The 
data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have 
demonstrated the growing trend in resistant infections. We have missed 
opportunities to swiftly identify and address resistant infections 
allowing the spread of these bad bugs--these infections don't recognize 
state or national borders.
  Nearly seven years ago, the Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial 
Resistance published (in January 2001) its Public Health Action Plan to 
Combat Antimicrobial Resistance. The Action Plan identifies 13 ``top 
priority'' action items regarding surveillance, research and education. 
Regrettably, there has not been adequate funding to implement even the 
top priority items of the plan and this is an area that will benefit 
from improved leadership and coordination--especially because it is an 
issue that crosses many agencies and requires involvement from all 
stakeholders.
  The Strategies To Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act 
enhances leadership at HHS to work with the various agencies and 
solicit outside expertise. It reauthorizes and

[[Page E2016]]

enhances the current Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial 
Resistance, section 319E of the Public Health Service Act. The bill 
improves data collection on antibiotic use, supports education to 
encourage appropriate use of antibiotics and provides an organized 
system of surveillance and isolate collection.
  New Jersey, like other states in the Northeast, has a unique problem 
that is quickly spreading to other parts of the country--the emergence 
of Klebsiella pneumonia, a bacteria that is resistant to almost all 
antibiotics available on the market. The trend was not immediately 
noticed and as a result, the bacterium spread to other parts of the 
country. The STAAR Act establishes Antimicrobial Resistance Clinical 
Research and Public Health Network sites which will be coordinated 
across the United States to improve our information about emerging 
infections, as well as conduct and support research.
  This is an issue that requires action, not more study and more talk. 
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation to 
combat antimicrobial resistance.

                          ____________________