[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 4, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H2938-H2940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AWARENESS WEEK

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 14) supporting the goals and ideals 
of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 14

       Whereas multiple sclerosis can impact men and women of all 
     ages, races, and ethnicities;
       Whereas more than 400,000 Americans live with multiple 
     sclerosis;
       Whereas approximately 2,500,000 people worldwide have been 
     diagnosed with multiple sclerosis;
       Whereas every hour of every day, someone is newly diagnosed 
     with multiple sclerosis;
       Whereas it is estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 
     children and adolescents are living with multiple sclerosis;
       Whereas the exact cause of multiple sclerosis is still 
     unknown;
       Whereas the symptoms of multiple sclerosis are 
     unpredictable and vary from person to person;
       Whereas there is no diagnostic laboratory test available 
     for multiple sclerosis;
       Whereas multiple sclerosis is not genetic, contagious, or 
     directly inherited, but studies show there are genetic 
     factors that indicate certain individuals are susceptible to 
     the disease;
       Whereas multiple sclerosis symptoms occur when an immune 
     system attack affects the myelin in nerve fibers of the 
     central nervous system, damaging or destroying it and 
     replacing it with scar tissue, thereby interfering with or 
     preventing the transmission of nerve signals;
       Whereas in rare cases multiple sclerosis is so progressive 
     it is fatal;
       Whereas there is no known cure for multiple sclerosis;
       Whereas the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition, an affiliation of 
     multiple sclerosis organizations dedicated to the enhancement 
     of the quality of life for all those affected by multiple 
     sclerosis, recognizes, and celebrates Multiple Sclerosis 
     Awareness Week;
       Whereas the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition's mission is to 
     increase opportunities for cooperation and provide greater 
     opportunity to leverage the effective use of resources for 
     the benefit of the multiple sclerosis community;
       Whereas the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition recognizes and 
     celebrates Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week during 1 week in 
     March every calendar year;
       Whereas the goals of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week are 
     to invite people to join the movement to end multiple 
     sclerosis, encourage everyone to do something to demonstrate 
     their commitment to moving toward a world free of multiple 
     sclerosis, and to acknowledge those who have dedicated their 
     time and talent to help promote multiple sclerosis research 
     and programs; and
       Whereas this year Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week is 
     recognized during the week of March 2, 2009 through March 8, 
     2009: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of Multiple Sclerosis 
     Awareness Week;
       (2) encourages the President to issue a proclamation in 
     support of the goals and ideals of Multiple Sclerosis 
     Awareness Week;
       (3) encourages States, territories, possessions of the 
     United States, and localities to support the goals and ideals 
     of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week by issuing proclamations 
     designating Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week;
       (4) encourages media organizations to participate in 
     Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week and help educate the public 
     about multiple sclerosis;
       (5) commends the efforts of the States, territories, and 
     possessions of the United States who support the goals and 
     ideals of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week;
       (6) recognizes and reaffirms our Nation's commitment to 
     combating multiple sclerosis by promoting awareness about its 
     causes and risks and by promoting new education programs, 
     supporting research, and expanding access to medical 
     treatment; and
       (7) recognizes all people in the United States living with 
     multiple sclerosis, expresses gratitude to their family 
     members and friends who are a source of love and 
     encouragement to them, and salutes the health care 
     professionals and medical researchers who provide assistance 
     to those so afflicted and continue to work to find cures and 
     improve treatments.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Capps) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.

                              {time}  1330


                             General Leave

  Mrs. CAPPS. 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 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, first let me thank my colleague 
the gentlewoman from California, Mrs. Capps, for yielding me the time. 
As a former nurse, Congresswoman Capps understands very, very well what 
people with multiple sclerosis must go through. I appreciate her work 
in managing this resolution. I thank her for her advocacy on behalf of 
people with MS and for working to ensure that everyone has access to 
quality, affordable

[[Page H2939]]

health care in America. Thank you, Congresswoman Capps.
  I also want to thank my colleagues Congressman Russ Carnahan and 
Congressman Michael Burgess, the cochairs of the Multiple Sclerosis 
Caucus in the House, for working with me on this resolution and for 
keeping the Congress focused on MS issues. This is really a bipartisan 
issue, and I appreciate both of my colleagues for working together to 
make sure that it stays that way.
  I also have to thank the over 110 cosponsors who joined with us to 
champion MS Awareness Week and who made the consideration of this 
resolution today possible on the suspension calendar. In particular I 
want to thank Chairman Henry Waxman and Ranking Member Joe Barton and 
their staffs for agreeing to bring this resolution straight to the 
floor, and, of course, to Christos Tsentas on my staff, who understands 
this issue very well and has shepherded us through this process.
  Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the work also of 
the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition and in particular the National MS 
Society and its staff, especially Shawn O'Neail, for leading the charge 
to create MS Awareness Week and for helping us with this resolution. 
And, of course, I have to thank all of those who are living and 
suffering with multiple sclerosis and all of the friends and family and 
loved ones who care for them and take care of them when they are in 
need. This resolution is about commending you as well. And let me just 
say I have to thank my dear sister Mildred for teaching me what it is 
like to live with multiple sclerosis.
  Mr. Speaker, Congresswoman Capps, I called my sister and I talked to 
her before I was going to share her story to make sure that she didn't 
have a problem with any privacy issues, and she said to me, ``Barbara, 
if there is anything you can do to raise awareness about the condition 
that not only myself has, but many, many, many Americans, then just do 
it and share what I have to tell you.'' So this is her story, coming 
from my sister Mildred.
  She said to me, ``You know, it is so frustrating to go to a doctor 
and for me to ask a doctor a question about the symptoms of my disease 
and the doctor says `I just don't know.''' She said at first she 
thought the doctors were just putting her off, but come to find out the 
doctors just don't know.
  So this bill is for all of the times that she told me she gets up in 
the morning, and this is very typical of MS patients, she gets up in 
the morning and wonders whether she will be able to walk that day. Let 
me just say for all of the times that she is in remission, dreading the 
next flare-up, she said to me that every day she wonders what is going 
to trigger the return of her symptoms.
  Mr. Speaker, she also said to me that it is very important that we 
raise awareness about MS and that we do more outreach and more public 
education, more research, and really provide for more care for MS 
patients and more supportive services. My sister, I believe she was 
diagnosed when she was about 26 or 27. She didn't tell me I could tell 
her age, so I won't do that, but she is a year younger than I am and 2 
years ago I celebrated the 21st anniversary of my 39th birthday. So you 
can figure that out.
  She has been living a productive and fruitful life. She has learned 
about the treatments and medications. Fortunately, she has had access 
to some of the best, and she wants everybody to have access to the 
types of treatment she has had. But she also recognizes there may or 
may not be a cure during her lifetime, and that this Multiple Sclerosis 
Awareness Week, which we designated for March 2 to March 8, is really 
the beginning of this effort. So, for that she is deeply grateful, like 
I know all MS patients are throughout the country.
  Some people may not know what multiple sclerosis is. Let me just 
explain a little bit about it, because this resolution is about raising 
awareness.
  MS is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. 
It is thought to be an autoimmune disorder where the immune system 
incorrectly attacks healthy nerve fibers of the central nervous system, 
interfering with transmission of nerve signals throughout the body. 
People with MS can experience a range of symptoms that can either have 
permanent or intermittent damage, depending on the type of MS that they 
have. These symptoms can include blurred vision, loss of balance, poor 
coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, 
problems with memory and concentration, paralysis, blindness and more.
  Most people are diagnosed with MS between the ages of 20 to 50, just 
as my sister was, though there is no actual diagnostic laboratory test 
for multiple sclerosis. I remember my sister was diagnosed by the 
process of elimination, given all the tests that were available then. 
Given the range of symptoms that occur, it is also quite common for 
someone to be misdiagnosed, and typically it takes about 10 years to 
receive a correct diagnosis.
  There are over 400,000 people, 400,000 people, throughout the United 
States suffering from MS, and worldwide over 2.5 million cases have 
been diagnosed. But the real numbers of people living with MS are 
almost certainly higher.
  Although MS is largely characterized as a disease that affects 
Caucasian populations, it does occur among African Americans and other 
minority groups and can be quite severe. As my sister said, it is a 
disease that really does need to come out of the closet for people of 
color. Because people of color tend to access the health care system 
less frequently, they may not get diagnosed at the rates they should.
  Let me just say, our First Lady, Michelle Obama, her dad, Mr. Frasier 
Robinson, had multiple sclerosis, so our First Family clearly 
understands the need for this awareness and for outreach efforts and 
for more resources put forth toward really finding the cause and cure 
of MS.
  The causes of MS are unknown, though there are an unusually high 
number of MS cases among Gulf War veterans. There is no cure for the 
disease.
  So the resolution that we are considering today will support the work 
of the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition in raising awareness about MS by 
urging States, localities and the media to participate in MS Awareness 
Week. Also we are pleased that the defense appropriations bill included 
$5 million to fund research into multiple sclerosis among our veterans, 
so I look forward to working with Chairman Obey and Chairman Murtha to 
ensure that these funds are well used.
  Again, let me thank all of my colleagues for their support. It is 
very timely and urgent that we consider this. On behalf of my sister 
Mildred, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, and all of those individuals 
throughout the country with MS, let me just thank you so much for your 
leadership and for this resolution.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 14, 
supporting the goals and ideals of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week. I 
certainly want to commend my colleague from California, Representative 
Barbara Lee, for introducing this very important and very timely 
resolution.
  As many of you are now aware, this week is Multiple Sclerosis 
Awareness Week, and I would encourage everyone listening today and all 
Americans to take some time and reflect on this disease and its impact 
on our families, our friends and our society.
  Representative Lee talked about her sister and what the family has 
gone through, and I think as a physician, although I am not a 
neurologist, I think she explained it, Mr. Speaker, perfectly in regard 
to her description of the disease of multiple sclerosis. I know to her 
disappointment it really hasn't changed much over the 10 or 15 years 
since her sister came down with the disease. It is still a diagnosis of 
exclusion. It is hard. There is no marker, there is no blood marker, 
and it is very difficult. So the points that Barbara Lee brought out 
are absolutely accurate and very informative.
  Mr. Speaker, I have had no one in my family that suffered from 
multiple sclerosis. I have had some very close friends who suffer from 
it and are doing well. But as Representative Lee pointed out, it comes 
and goes. They have good days and bad days. One man, a great friend, is 
in a wheelchair and has been for many years, but he has had children 
and grandchildren. Another lady is a very good friend as well and she 
has had children.

[[Page H2940]]

  But, again, this is a disease that can end up ultimately as bad as 
something like Lou Gehrig's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It 
doesn't often progress to that extreme degree, but I indeed had a first 
cousin about my age who died from Lou Gehrig's disease, so I am very 
much aware of this condition and very supportive of this resolution 
regarding multiple sclerosis.
  MS and other chronic diseases like it, they change lives, and it 
presents significant challenges for those who suffer, for them and for 
their families, as Barbara Lee mentioned.
  Mr. Speaker, MS is a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous 
system. Essentially MS heavily impairs and prevents nerve cells in the 
brain and in the spinal cord from communicating with each other. They 
just can't make that connection. So those symptoms that she described, 
from numbness in the limbs, loss of vision, and, yes, even eventually 
paralysis in some cases, are very unpredictable, and, of course, it can 
vary from person to person.
  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately for the 400,000 Americans living with MS, 
the cause of the disease, as I mentioned at the beginning of my 
remarks, remains unknown. But I want to recognize and applaud the work 
currently underway at NIH, the National Institutes of Health, and other 
medical research institutions across the country to improve the lives 
of people with multiple sclerosis. There is little doubt that our 
collective resolve to find a cure remains undeterred, as demonstrated 
by this great resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, with that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the co-
Chair of the Multiple Sclerosis Caucus, our colleague, the gentleman 
from Missouri (Mr. Carnahan).
  Mr. CARNAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from 
California for her leadership and work on this. I am very proud and 
honored to be co-Chair of the Congressional MS Caucus with my colleague 
Dr. Michael Burgess. This is truly a bipartisan effort and one that 
just had tremendous resources and support from around the country to 
help raise this awareness. I encourage everyone to show their 
commitment and support of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week and the MS 
movement with really simple actions throughout this week, MS Awareness 
Week, March 2 through 8.
  MS Awareness Week was created by the MS Coalition to raise national 
awareness about the disease and to recognize those who have dedicated 
their time and talent to promoting MS research and programs.
  In order to raise awareness, I am very pleased that Representative 
Barbara Lee has taken the lead to introduce H. Con. Res. 14, 
recognizing and supporting the goals and ideals of MS Awareness Week, 
encouraging the President, State and local governments to issue 
proclamations designating MS Awareness Week, and encouraging the media 
to help educate the public about MS. Today, I ask for all of my 
colleagues' support.
  I want to give a special thanks to the MS Society back in St. Louis, 
Missouri, my home, that has been so active and been so helpful to me in 
this effort, and also want to remember my first cousin, Betty Carnahan, 
who we lost years ago and who first helped me learn about this disease.
  Because of small gestures by everyday people, my colleagues in this 
body, and cutting edge research by our Nation's finest, each day people 
living with MS have a better and a brighter future to look forward to.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve my time.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I wish to speak on H. Con. Res. 14 by rising in support of it, as I 
do, in recognition and support of the goals and ideals of Multiple 
Sclerosis Awareness Week, and I do so on behalf of the Multiple 
Sclerosis Society of the Central Coast of California, which does such 
great work in raising awareness of the issue and raising funds to 
support their work and the work of the Society across the country, and 
also in providing vital services to those afflicted with multiple 
sclerosis who are my constituents.
  This week of awareness and recognition takes place from March 2nd to 
March 8th, and it is an honor to speak on behalf of this awareness, 
commending as I do my colleague from California, Ms. Barbara Lee, whom 
we heard, who introduced this resolution along with the cochairs of the 
Multiple Sclerosis Caucus, Mr. Carnahan and Mr. Burgess.

                              {time}  1345

  Many of us have very special people in our lives who live every day 
with MS. I know I do, and I'm thinking right now particularly of one 
young friend.
  Multiple sclerosis, as we have been discussing, is a chronic and 
unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. Four hundred 
thousand people throughout the United States and 2\1/2\ million around 
the world are suffering today from multiple sclerosis. It's thought to 
be an autoimmune disorder where the immune system incorrectly attacks 
healthy nerve fibers of the central nervous system, interfering with 
transmission of nerve signals throughout the body.
  People with MS, as we know, experience a range of symptoms that can 
be either permanent or intermittent, depending on the type of disease 
that they have. These symptoms can include blurred vision, loss of 
balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme 
fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, paralysis, blindness 
and more. And as we have heard from Barbara Lee's sister's story, it's 
very hard to diagnose, and often takes years to do that. And it 
afflicts people, often women, between the ages of 20 to 50.
  There is no actual diagnostic laboratory test for multiple sclerosis, 
and so many questions about it. It's quite commonly misdiagnosed.
  Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week was created by the Multiple 
Sclerosis Coalition, a group of affiliated organizations, to help raise 
awareness and to leverage additional resources to fight this disease.
  The resolution we are considering today will support the work of this 
coalition by urging States, localities and the media to participate in 
MS Awareness Week, and by encouraging people, including Members of 
Congress, to educate themselves about the disease.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAPPS. I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 14.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that 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.

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