[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 26, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E247-E248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 
                                  ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 26, 2008

  Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce the ``Public 
Health Peparedness Workforce Development Act of 2008.'' This much-
needed legislation will help provide the critical workers that our 
public health community so desperately needs.
  These skilled public health professionals include the nurses, 
epidemiologists, lab technicians, and others who keep our communities 
healthy and safe. They deliver our vaccines, ensure that our drinking 
water is safe, test for infectious diseases, and serve as our front-
line defense against biological and chemical attacks. The 
responsibilities of our public health workers reach into our daily 
lives.
  Unfortunately, our country has under-invested in this critical area 
for decades, and our public health workforce is near the breaking 
point.
  We are simply not producing or retaining enough public health workers 
to meet the increasing demand for their essential services. Nearly a 
quarter of the public health workforce is set to retire by 2012.
  As a result, the Association of Schools of Public Health estimates 
that our country's public health schools would have to train three time 
the current number of graduates over the next 12 years just to maintain 
current levels of preparedness.
  We cannot continue to underestimate or undervalue the importance of a 
strong public health system. As we focus on preventing outbreaks and 
attacks through preparedness and vigilance, we will rely ever more 
heavily on our public health workers.
  However, public health positions are often not economically 
competitive with those offered by the private sector. We must create 
the proper incentives offered for our Nation's brightest public health 
graduates to serve in the public sector, and the Public Health 
Preparedness Workforce Development Act is a strong step toward doing 
so.
  It offers scholarships, loan repayment programs, and mid-career 
training grants to recent public health graduates and to current

[[Page E248]]

public health employees looking to supplement their education. It also 
creates an electronic clearinghouse to make it easier for workers to 
find available public health positions to the Federal Government.
  Additionally, this bill will improve the training of public health 
workers and introduce many more of them to the field by spurring the 
creation of academic health departments. These departments, formed by 
the union of State and local health agencies with schools of public 
health, will serve as training grounds analogous to medical schools and 
teaching hospitals.
  Closer coordination between academia and the people we charge with 
protecting the public welfare is essential to keeping our constituents 
safe from threats like avian flu, staph infections, and other public 
health challenges, By melding the academic and the practical, this 
legislation will significantly improve our ability to respond 
effectively to public health emergencies.
  A strong and robust public health workforce is not a luxury, Madam 
Speaker. It is a necessity. The Public Health Preparedness Workforce 
Development all my colleagues to support it.