[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H13814-H13816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF WORLD DIABETES DAY

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 211) supporting the 
goals and ideals of World Diabetes Day.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 211

       Whereas the World Health Organization and the International 
     Diabetes Federation established World Diabetes Day in 1991 
     with the aim of coordinating diabetes advocacy worldwide;
       Whereas World Diabetes Day is celebrated annually on 
     November 14;
       Whereas on December 20, 2006, the General Assembly of the 
     United Nations passed a landmark resolution recognizing 
     diabetes as a chronic, debilitating, and costly disease;
       Whereas the resolution designates World Diabetes Day as a 
     United Nations Day to be observed every year starting in 2007 
     in order to raise global awareness of diabetes;
       Whereas the theme of the 2007 United Nations World Diabetes 
     Day campaign focuses on raising awareness of diabetes in 
     children and adolescents, who face unique challenges when 
     diagnosed with diabetes;
       Whereas the United Nations campaign aims, among other 
     objectives, to firmly establish the message that no child 
     should die of diabetes;
       Whereas the global diabetes epidemic has devastating 
     effects on families, societies, and national economies;
       Whereas diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death by 
     disease in the world, and is the sixth leading cause of death 
     in the United States;
       Whereas diabetes is a leading cause of blindness, kidney 
     failure, amputation, heart attack, and stroke;
       Whereas in almost every country the incidence of diabetes 
     is increasing, growing from an estimated 30,000,000 people 
     worldwide in 1985 to an estimated 245,000,000 people in 2007, 
     and to 380,000,000 by 2025, as reported by the International 
     Diabetes Federation;
       Whereas diabetes is one of the most common chronic 
     childhood diseases;
       Whereas diabetes can strike children at any age, and when 
     diagnosed in young people the risk of developing life-
     threatening complications at an early age increases and life 
     expectancy is shortened by, on average, 10 to 20 years;
       Whereas new figures from the International Diabetes 
     Federation's Diabetes Atlas suggest that more than 70,000 
     children develop type 1 diabetes each year and 440,000 
     children worldwide under the age of 14 now live with type 1 
     diabetes;
       Whereas recent data indicate that one out of every three 
     children born in the United States will develop diabetes 
     during their lifetime, including one out of every two 
     children from ethnic minority groups;
       Whereas in low- and middle-income countries, many children 
     with diabetes die because they are diagnosed late or 
     misdiagnosed or because insulin is unaffordable, unavailable, 
     or in short supply;
       Whereas the incidence of type 2 diabetes, which was 
     previously rare in children, is rising at alarming rates, 
     with more than 200 children a day developing this form of 
     diabetes;
       Whereas obesity is a major contributor to type 2 diabetes;
       Whereas according to the International Obesity Task Force 
     of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 
     155,000,000 school-age children worldwide are overweight, 
     representing at least 1 out of every 10 school-age children;
       Whereas at least 30,000,000 of those overweight children 
     are classified as obese, accounting for at least 2 percent of 
     the world's children between the ages of 5 and 17 years of 
     age;
       Whereas research has shown conclusively that type 2 
     diabetes can be prevented or significantly delayed through 
     healthy weight maintenance and regular physical activity;
       Whereas adopting a lifestyle high in physical activity and 
     adopting a low-sugar, low-fat diet can successfully prevent 
     the onset of obesity and diabetes among school-age children;
       Whereas diabetes is costly, with the world estimated to 
     spend at least $232,000,000,000 in 2007 and over 
     $302,500,000,000 by 2025 to treat and prevent diabetes and 
     its complications;

[[Page H13815]]

       Whereas world treatment costs for diabetes are growing more 
     quickly than the world population;
       Whereas diabetes threatens to subvert global economic 
     advancement by both straining government budgets worldwide 
     (with the cost of diabetes-related disability payments, 
     pensions, social and medical service costs, and lost revenue) 
     and burdening private health insurers and employers with 
     spiraling health care costs;
       Whereas by 2025 the largest increases in diabetes 
     prevalence will take place in developing countries, whose 
     economies are less able to support increased expenditures to 
     provide for those with the disease and engage in effective 
     prevention efforts; and
       Whereas the economic impact of diabetes threatens to 
     undermine the achievement of the United Nation's Millennium 
     Development Goals for developing countries: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress supports the goals and ideals of 
     World Diabetes Day.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. It is my pleasure to yield such time as he 
might consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).
  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to offer House Concurrent 
Resolution 211, pronouncing that Congress supports the goals and ideals 
of World Diabetes Day.
  Let me thank Representative Manzullo, who was a prime cosponsor of 
this legislation, and other Members, for cosponsoring this bipartisan 
resolution.
  This global health awareness campaign established in 1991 by the 
World Health Organization and International Diabetes Federation is 
celebrated annually on November 14. This marks the birthday of Dr. 
Frederick Grant Banting, a Canadian medical scientist, Nobel laureate, 
and co-discoverer of insulin. And now, it is an official United Nations 
recognized day.
  World Diabetes Day aims to coordinate diabetes advocacy worldwide. In 
almost every country of the world, the incidence of diabetes is on the 
rise. Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of global death by disease. 
In the United States, it is the sixth leading cause of death including 
accidents, but of deaths by disease it climbs to number five.
  The economic burden on both developed and developing countries due to 
a dramatic increase in the prevalence of diabetes was analyzed in a new 
report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Diabetes currently affects 
246 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 380 million 
people by 2025. In 2007, the five countries with the largest number of 
people with diabetes are India, China, the United States, Russia, and 
Germany. Worse, each year 3.8 million deaths are attributed to 
diabetes. An even greater number die from complications, renal failure, 
vascular loss. Soberly, every 10 seconds, two people develop diabetes 
and a person dies from diabetes-related causes.
  On December 20, 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations 
passed landmark Resolution 61-225, recognizing diabetes as a chronic, 
debilitating, and costly disease. This is the first year, therefore, 
that the World Diabetes Day has risen to such prominence, and it is 
fitting that here in the United States Congress we support it this day.
  Mr. Speaker, World Diabetes Day has annually focused on a particular 
aspect or complication of diabetes, the heart, the eyes, the kidneys, 
and feet. I am especially pleased that this year the World Diabetes 
Day's theme focuses on raising awareness of diabetes in children and 
adolescents who face unique challenges when diagnosed with diabetes. 
The campaign aimed to firmly establish the message that no child should 
die from diabetes.
  As a senior member of the Committee on Education and Labor and 
Foreign Affairs, as a delegate to the United Nations since 2003 and 
2005, I see this year's theme as a perfect synergy of a global health 
and childhood issue, with importance to the United Nations.
  So as we speak here, November 1 in Bermuda, 246 people dressed in 
U.N. blue t-shirts to represent the 246 million people in the world 
with diabetes. They stood up. Tomorrow in Lagos, Nigeria, there will be 
a walk starting at Maryland and ending at Lagos State University, where 
there will be young people asking folks to have their blood sugar level 
checked. In Australia, from November 11 to November 20, there are 
children-centered activities from a Switch-Off Turn On to Play Pledge 
that will once again highlight this.
  And so, as I conclude, while commemorating World Diabetes Day, of 
course I can look no further than my own congressional district of New 
Jersey to find shining examples of the dedication to diabetes in the 
area of education in St. Barnabas Hospital and Newark Beth Israel are 
all leaders, and we hope that everyone will join in this.
  I urge my colleagues to vote for passage of House Concurrent 
Resolution 211, supporting the goals and ideals of World Diabetes Day.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues in this bipartisan 
effort to bring greater awareness to World Diabetes Day.
  As my colleague said, 225,000 people per year die in the United 
States alone from diabetes. But I believe that, as we recognize this 
day, we have to recognize that diabetes doesn't just kill; diabetes 
debilitates. It causes blindness. It takes away all or part of limbs. 
It slows people down in their day-to-day ability to enjoy life. One of 
the great inventors of our time invented the insulin pump, which 
allowed people to not have to periodically stop to take medicine, but 
it didn't change the debilitating effect that artificially-given 
insulin causes.
  We do not have a cure for diabetes today. We need to continue working 
toward that, as many of our pharmaceutical companies are. So bringing 
awareness to this is just a first step in making sure that the United 
States, Europe, and the other developed nations work hard to find real 
cures for this dreadful disease.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge passage of H. Con. Res. 211, which 
supports the goals and ideals of World Diabetes Day.
  Mr. Speaker, diabetes is among the most lethal diseases known to man. 
It kills about 225,000 people per year in the United States alone--
fifth among disease-related deaths and roughly equal to the population 
of New Orleans or Madison, WI.
  And it's generally believed to be significantly under-reported on 
death certificates, especially among the old--who may endure multiple 
chronic conditions, many caused by diabetes.
  Because, as anyone who has diabetes knows all too well, when you have 
diabetes, you don't just have diabetes. The disease leads to increased 
risk of a number of seriously, sometimes life-threatening 
complications.
  These include--but certainly aren't limited to--heart disease and 
stroke, blindness, high blood pressure, kidney disease, nervous-system 
disease, dental disease, even pregnancy complications.
  Strokes and heart disease are two to four times more likely for those 
with diabetes than those without, and diabetes is the leading cause of 
new blindness cases in the United States.
  Most of these associated health problems can be avoided with good 
diabetes control, but many people don't realize they have diabetes 
until it has caused one of these other diseases. Indeed, of the 21 
million people in the United States who have diabetes, nearly a third 
don't yet know it. Those who do spend about one in every 10 dollars we 
spend on health care in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I applaud efforts such as World Diabetes Day that call 
attention to the problems this disease causes and the need for further 
research and outreach.
  We need to do what we can to solve this mystery and slow this 
killer--both to alleviate the pain, suffering and expense of our fellow 
citizens afflicted by the disease and for our own economic benefit.
  Experts say diabetes costs the U.S. economy $132 billion per year. 
That's what we spend on telecom in a year. It's the total Gross 
Domestic Product of Singapore and matches, roughly, what the country 
spends on all research and development in a year.
  Mr. Speaker, I know people who suffer from diabetes. So does everyone 
in this House. Approving a resolution does not do much to alleviate 
that suffering. But today, it is what we have the opportunity to do. 
Let us do it.

[[Page H13816]]

  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues in 
supporting the promotion of awareness about diabetes and all of its 
complications and commend Mr. Payne for his introduction of this 
resolution.
  As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform, I am pleased to join my colleague in the consideration of H. 
Con. Res. 211, a bill that supports the goals and ideals of World 
Diabetes Day.
  H. Con. Res. 211, which has 54 cosponsors, was introduced by Rep. 
Donald Payne on September 17, 2007.
  H. Con. Res. 211 was reported from the Oversight Committee on 
November 8, 2007, by voice vote.
  Mr. Speaker, diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the 
pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot 
effectively use the insulin it produces. Hyperglycemia, which is known 
as raised blood sugar, over time can lead to serious damage to many 
parts of the body, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
  In 1991, the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes 
Federation established World Diabetes Day. World Diabetes Day is 
celebrated on November 14th. This day was designated to promote the 
awareness that every person with diabetes or the risk of acquiring 
diabetes should receive the best possible education, prevention and 
care available.
  Currently, more than 240 million people in the world are living with 
diabetes. Some analysts believed this number will grow to 340 million 
within 20 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague Representative Payne for seeking 
to support the goals and ideals of World Diabetes Day and urge the 
swift passage of this resolution.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 211.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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