[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H3064-H3067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1086) recognizing National Nurses 
Week on May 6 through May 12, 2008.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1086

       Whereas, since 2003, National Nurses Week is celebrated 
     annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, 
     through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the 
     founder of modern nursing;
       Whereas National Nurses Week is the time each year when 
     nurses are recognized for the critical role they play in 
     providing safe, high-quality, and preventative health care;
       Whereas nurses are the cornerstone of the Nation's complex 
     health care system, representing the largest single component 
     of the health care profession, with an estimated over 
     2,500,000 registered nurses in the United States;
       Whereas, according to a study published in the New England 
     Journal of Medicine in May 2002, a higher proportion of 
     nursing care provided by registered nurses and a greater 
     number of hours of care by registered nurses per day are 
     associated with better outcomes for hospitalized patients;
       Whereas nurses are experienced researchers and their work 
     encompasses a wide scope of scientific inquiry including 
     clinical research, health systems and outcomes research, and 
     nursing education research;
       Whereas nurses are currently serving the Nation admirably 
     in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan;
       Whereas nurses help inform and educate the public to 
     improve the practice of all nurses and, more importantly, the 
     health and safety of the patients they care for;
       Whereas the Nation continues to face a nursing shortage 
     unprecedented in its depth and duration, with a projection of 
     over 1,000,000 new and replacement nurses needed by 2016;
       Whereas the nationwide nursing shortage has caused 
     dedicated nurses to work longer hours and care for more 
     acutely ill patients;
       Whereas nurses are strong allies to Congress as they help 
     inform, educate, and work closely with legislators to improve 
     the education, retention, recruitment, and practice of all 
     nurses and, more importantly, the health and safety of the 
     patients they care for; and
       Whereas nurses are an integral part of the health care 
     delivery team and provide quality care, support, and 
     education to patients and their families, conduct essential 
     research, and serve as strong patient advocates: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the significant contributions of nurses to 
     the health care system of the United States;
       (2) supports the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week, 
     as founded by the American Nurses Association; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     National Nurses Week with appropriate recognition, 
     ceremonies, activities, and programs to demonstrate the 
     importance of nurses to the everyday lives of patients.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gene Green) and the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and insert extraneous material on the resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time 
as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1086 recognizing 
today, May 6, through May 12 as National Nurses Week. As a cosponsor of 
this resolution, I am proud to lend my voice in support of our Nation's 
nurses.
  Continuing in the illustrious tradition of Florence Nightingale, the 
founder of modern nursing, nurses today continue to attend to our Armed 
Forces overseas. These brave men and women place themselves at risk in 
war zones, including the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, to tend to 
our injured soldiers. Besides tending to the wounded abroad, nurses are 
also on the front lines of our health care system here at home. Whether 
their primary function is to care for our aging population or to 
provide immediate aid to the sick and injured, our nurses provide 
quality patient care and support to keep our health care system 
running.
  As the Nation continues to face a nursing shortage, with a projected 
1 million new nurses needed by 2016, it is especially important that 
everyone is aware of the sacrifices nurses make on a daily basis for 
our country. We must continue to encourage more young people and those 
seeking a change in career to join the nursing profession.
  The resolution before us encourages all Americans to observe this 
week as National Nurses Week by showing appropriate recognition to 
nurses and creating programs and activities during the week to 
demonstrate the importance of nurses.

[[Page H3065]]

  I would like to thank my colleagues and former nurses, Congresswoman 
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, and 
Congresswoman Lois Capps, for their leadership on this measure. Again, 
I reiterate, they are former nurses, although I don't know if you are 
ever a former nurse. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
join me in support of the resolution and its adoption.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TERRY. I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of House Resolution 1086, acknowledging May 6 
through May 12, 2008, as National Nurses Week. In addition to kicking 
off National Nurses Week today, we are also celebrating the comforts 
and care that nurses provide by recognizing May 6 as National Nurses 
Day. This tradition started in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan signed 
a proclamation making today National Recognition Day for Nurses.
  This is a week to recognize nurses as being the largest single 
component of the health care profession with over 2.5 million 
registered nurses in the United States and the critical role they play 
in providing care to not only the citizens of America but are also 
serving our Nation in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to the 
immediate care they provide to patients, they also have helped to 
educate, inform and improve education and retention of nurses.
  I would like to thank the author of this resolution, Ms. Eddie 
Bernice Johnson of Texas, for her leadership in honoring nurses that 
have helped promote health, prevent disease and help other Americans 
cope with illness. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of 
this resolution.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my good 
friend and colleague from Texas, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, 
who literally I have served with since 1973 with just a little break in 
the service.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Let me thank my colleague and 
friend of longstanding. I want to also thank the minority side for 
their assistance, and both Chairman Dingell and Ranking Member Barton.
  As a registered nurse with a master's degree, it is a privilege and a 
delight to offer a resolution recognizing National Nurses Week which is 
May 6 through 12. I have two outstanding colleagues that we have found 
to have something in common, Congresswoman Lois Capps and Congresswoman 
Carolyn McCarthy, who are also nurses and champions of this resolution 
and of the profession, and I thank them for their efforts to encourage 
more than 110 congressional colleagues to cosponsor this bill honoring 
nurses.
  The Congressional Nursing Caucus was also helpful in promoting the 
legislation, and I appreciate Members' efforts to rally support for H. 
Res. 1086.
  Nurses are a key component of our Nation's health care system. 
Whether on the battlefield or at sea, in a skilled nursing facility, in 
a hospital or even in a patient's own home, the care that a nurse 
provides is very valuable. Nurses are intelligent individuals who must 
often make quick decisions in an effort to save the life of a patient, 
even before the physician arrives. Nurses are recognized as the 
patient's primary advocate and every poll shows that nurses are always 
very trusted by the patients. They are tasked with closely monitoring 
even small changes in a patient's health. Nurses are tough, directed, 
decision-making people who work under stress and in difficult 
situations.
  For 15 years I provided hands-on patient care as a psychiatric nurse 
at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas. The work was 
challenging but fulfilling. That's why I still remain very interested 
in quality care for all of our veterans. Although more than 2.5 million 
nurses work in the United States, our Nation has suffered from a 
nursing shortage. Those currently in the profession are beginning to 
retire. There are fewer individuals entering the profession. The 
nursing shortage is unprecedented in its depth and duration, with a 
projection of over 1 million new and replacement nurses needed by 2016.
  Nursing schools need help attracting well-prepared faculty to recruit 
the best and brightest into their educational programs. Loan 
forgiveness and educational incentive programs can help, but Congress 
must do more to encourage bright young minds toward nursing.
  Nursing is a career that has been valued for a long time, and it is 
fitting to recognize the Navy Nurse Corps on its 100th anniversary this 
year. For nearly 100 years before Congress formally established the 
Navy Nurse Corps in 1908, women worked as nurses aboard Navy ships and 
in Navy hospitals. As early as the War of 1812, volunteers performed 
nursing duty in places that were often dangerous and required courage 
in the face of adversity. Members of the esteemed Navy Nurse Corps care 
for those brave men and women who fight for our freedoms. They 
contribute to relief efforts in all corners of the globe. They serve in 
lead roles as part of a unified health care team. The Navy Nurse Corps 
practices progressive patient care. It enjoys a rich heritage, 
accompanied by high-tech training. A registered nurse in the Navy is 
also a respected officer, serving in modern facilities at home, at sea, 
around the country and across the globe.
  I am proud to especially recognize the Navy Nurse Corps for its 
centuries of outstanding service for our military men and women.
  Today's resolution honors the good work that all nurses do.
  (1) recognizes the significant contributions of nurses to the health 
care system of the United States;
  (2) supports the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week as founded 
by the American Nurses Association; and
  (3) encourages the people of this Nation to observe National Nurses 
Week with appropriate recognition, ceremonies, activities, and programs 
to demonstrate the importance of nurses to the everyday lives of 
patients.
  Along with my many supportive colleagues, I want to thank the House 
leadership for bringing this important resolution to the floor. I urge 
its support.
  Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to one of 
our physicians in the House of Representatives, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).
  Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House 
Resolution 1086, recognizing National Nurses Week, which is May 6 
through May 12 of this year. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill. 
I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice 
Johnson)--Nurse Johnson--for advancing this legislation to help educate 
the American people about the critical role that nurses play in health 
care delivery.
  With May 12 being the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder 
of modern nursing, there is not a more appropriate time to celebrate 
the work done by nurses. As an OB-GYN physician for almost 30 years, I 
was fortunate to work with intelligent, hardworking, compassionate 
nurses, and they were indeed a cornerstone of the high quality health 
care we provided.
  Madam Speaker, nurses are on the front lines of health care delivery 
not only here at home but also in Iraq and Afghanistan. Therefore, 
because we are relying on our nurses so heavily and because we 
currently are experiencing a shortage of nurses, it is critical to 
support nurse training programs. That is why I recently joined with a 
number of my colleagues in supporting title VIII funding to provide 
loans and grants to our Nation's nursing students.
  I urge all my colleagues to support the goals of National Nurses 
Week.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to a 
colleague on the Energy and Commerce Committee and a good friend, 
Congresswoman Lois Capps, and also a nurse.
  Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 1086 and in 
support of National Nurses Week. I commend my friend and fellow nurse, 
the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson), for introducing 
this resolution. As we observe National Nurses Week, I hope we can work 
together to raise awareness about important issues facing our nursing 
community and the important impact that nurses make to

[[Page H3066]]

the lives of patients and their role in the arena of public health. 
This is central to our delivery of health care.

                              {time}  1400

  We know that nurses advocate for their patients and provide personal 
care at the bedside. Often, it is life-saving care. They are also 
community educators, primary care providers, and they serve in our 
military so often putting themselves in harm's way to carry out their 
duties.
  But we are facing a terrible shortage of nurses. We are jeopardizing 
our ability to provide the best quality care which each individual and 
each family deserves in this country of ours. As a registered nurse 
currently serving in Congress, I feel it is my duty to advocate not 
only on behalf of my patients, but also on behalf of my fellow nurses.
  I am co-Chair of our House Nursing Caucus, and I was honored to be 
joined by 155 of our colleagues in a letter to the Appropriations 
Committee requesting additional funding for nurse education programs. 
These programs have trained thousands of nurses, but we are in 
desperate need of so many more. And the very fact that we are funding 
title VIII nurse education at the same exact amount that we did over 30 
years ago is, quite frankly, inexcusable.
  In addition, nurses face difficult conditions in the workplace such 
as mandatory overtime, unsafe staffing numbers, hazardous lifting, and 
other workplace settings. These conditions are directly contributing to 
our inability to retain many qualified nurses in the hospital setting. 
As our Baby Boomers retire and our demand for nurses soars, let us use 
this week as an opportunity to reinforce our commitment to our current 
and our future nurses and thereby to a safer and healthier Nation.
  Mr. TERRY. I continue to reserve. I have no further speakers.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. I yield 3 minutes to our colleague from New 
York, Carolyn McCarthy.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Lois 
Capps and Eddie Bernice Johnson for bringing this forward on H. Res. 
1086, recognizing National Nurses Week.
  I have spent over 30 years as a nurse, and it was mentioned earlier, 
someone said, Once a nurse. Well, let me say, Once a nurse, always a 
nurse. We carry our duties even here to the House of Representatives.
  I sit on the Education Committee, and what I have been working on 
since I came here was making sure that our nurses get every opportunity 
to increase our numbers. As has been mentioned before by both of my 
colleagues, the nursing shortage in this country is of a crisis 
proportion. We see that our nurses today are a lot older; they're at 
the retirement age, and we must do everything that we can to make sure 
that we have our young people coming into a very, very rewarding 
career. Nursing can be demanding, it can be tiring, it can be 
physically draining; but it couldn't be a better career.
  When I first joined nursing over 30 years ago, I worked in the 
intensive care unit, and I spent most of my life there and just to be 
able to help a patient in their greatest need but also to work with 
their families to comfort them as they saw their loved one going 
through a traumatic injury.
  We need to make sure that this country has a supply of nurses 
continuously. We have many young people that want to go to nursing 
school, but what we have found over the years is we don't have enough 
professors to be able to teach them to be nurses. So in the Higher 
Education Act, there is going to be funding in there to make sure that 
those that want to go into a higher education to be able to teach 
nursing, it can work out for us.
  When we look at the future, we're seeing today in our hospitals such 
a shortage of nurses that a lot of the nurses are doing a lot of 
overtime. When they take a day off, they're always called to come back 
in. That is not acceptable, mainly because you have to be totally alert 
at all times. And I certainly tip my hat to my fellow nurses that go 
through this every single day.
  They stay in the profession because they love the profession. They 
stay in the profession because it is a calling. Not everyone can be a 
nurse. It is a calling. I salute those men and women that go into 
nursing, and I also salute the women and men that are fighting in Iraq 
and Afghanistan and taking their nursing care to the soldiers and 
giving them comfort when they need it. There is no greater, in my 
opinion, profession than to be a nurse.
  With that being said, I hope my colleagues will support H. Res. 1086 
and recognize National Nurses Week.
  Mr. TERRY. May I inquire how much time is remaining.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Serrano). The gentleman from Nebraska 
has 17 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Texas has 10\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. TERRY. We have no further speakers. I continue to reserve.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to our fellow 
Energy and Commerce member, Congressman Towns from New York.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I rise to support my colleague 
for bringing this resolution forward. I want to congratulate him on 
that.
  I rise today in support of H. Res. 1086, recognizing National Nurses 
Week on May 6 through May 12. As a cosponsor of this resolution, I'm 
proud to speak out in honor of our valiant, committed nurses who make 
our Nation and our loved ones safe and well. I pay special tribute to 
my esteemed colleagues in Congress who introduced this resolution and 
who are, themselves, nurses: The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson of 
Texas, the Honorable Lois Capps of California, and the Honorable 
Carolyn McCarthy of my home State, New York.
  Additionally, I want to pay special tribute to the nurses who are 
serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and the nurses who generally attend to 
those who suffer wounds from those conflicts.
  Along with other health care professionals, a nurse is responsible 
for the treatment, safety, and recovery of acutely or chronically ill 
people. They also help to maintain a patient's health and provide 
treatment to those who are facing life-threatening emergencies like 9/
11 and Hurricane Katrina. Nurses are also involved in medical and 
nursing research and provide a wide range of nonclinical functions.
  Today, there are 2.4 million registered nurses in the United States; 
92 percent of the registered nurses are women. There are 531,000 
licensed vocational nurses; 1.8 million is the number of nursing 
psychiatric and home health aides. We cannot do without them.
  I greatly commend the American Nurses Association and the American 
Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and all of the nursing associations and 
academic institutions who train nurses and promote the advancement of 
the profession. I look forward to working with members of the 
associations, academia, and others in making certain that we continue 
to increase the amount of nurses.
  In closing, I wish to thank my colleagues again, Congresswoman 
Johnson, Congresswoman Capps, and Congresswoman McCarthy for their 
leadership on this issue, and I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this resolution. And I want to thank very much my colleague 
from Texas (Mr. Green) and, of course, others who have been involved in 
this resolution.
  Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, in our closing, let me once again reiterate 
our appreciation to the authors of this bill, Ms. Johnson from Texas, 
Mrs. Lois Capps from California, and Mrs. McCarthy from New York; and, 
once again, encourage our side of the aisle to vote ``yes'' on this 
measure.
  We have no further requests for time.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back all of our time.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I join my colleague 
from Nebraska in encouraging all of our Members to support this 
resolution in recognition of National Nurses Week.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1086.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground 
that

[[Page H3067]]

a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is 
not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________