[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 53 (Monday, March 30, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H4078-H4079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION ACT OF 2009

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1246) to amend the Public Health Service Act regarding early 
detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1246

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Early Hearing Detection and 
     Intervention Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT OF HEARING 
                   LOSS.

       Section 399M of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
     280g-1) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``infants'' and 
     inserting ``newborns and infants'';
       (2) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
     ``screening, evaluation and intervention programs and 
     systems'' and inserting ``screening, evaluation, diagnosis, 
     and intervention programs and systems, and to assist in the 
     recruitment, retention, education, and training of qualified 
     personnel and health care providers,'';
       (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
       ``(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of statewide 
     programs and systems for hearing screening of newborns and 
     infants; prompt evaluation and diagnosis of children referred 
     from screening programs; and appropriate educational, 
     audiological, and medical interventions for children 
     identified with hearing loss. Early intervention includes 
     referral to and delivery of information and services by 
     schools and agencies, including community, consumer, and 
     parent-based agencies and organizations and other programs 
     mandated by part C of the Individuals with Disabilities 
     Education Act, which offer programs specifically designed to 
     meet the unique language and communication needs of deaf and 
     hard of hearing newborns, infants, toddlers, and children. 
     Programs and systems under this paragraph shall establish and 
     foster family-to-family support mechanisms that are critical 
     in the first months after a child is identified with hearing 
     loss.''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) To develop efficient models to ensure that newborns 
     and infants who are identified with a hearing loss through 
     screening receive follow-up by a qualified health care 
     provider. These models shall be evaluated for their 
     effectiveness, and State agencies shall be encouraged to 
     adopt models that effectively increase the rate of occurrence 
     of such follow-up.
       ``(4) To ensure an adequate supply of qualified personnel 
     to meet the screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and early 
     intervention needs of children.'';
       (3) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``hearing loss 
     screening, evaluation, and intervention programs'' and 
     inserting ``hearing loss screening, evaluation, diagnosis, 
     and intervention programs''; and
       (B) in paragraph (2)--
       (i) by striking ``for purposes of this section, continue'' 
     and insert the following: ``for purposes of this section--
       ``(A) continue'';
       (ii) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
     and''; and
       (iii) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B) establish a postdoctoral fellowship program to foster 
     research and development in the area of early hearing 
     detection and intervention.'';
       (4) in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c), by 
     striking the term ``hearing screening, evaluation and 
     intervention programs'' each place such term appears and 
     inserting ``hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and 
     intervention programs'';
       (5) in subsection (e)--
       (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``ensuring that families 
     of the child'' and all that follows and inserting ``ensuring 
     that families of the child are provided comprehensive, 
     consumer-oriented information about the full range of family 
     support, training, information services, and language and 
     communication options and are given the opportunity to 
     consider and obtain the full range of such appropriate 
     services, educational and program placements, and other 
     options for their child from highly qualified providers.''; 
     and
       (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ``, after rescreening,''; 
     and
       (6) in subsection (f)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2010 through 2015'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2010 through 2015''; and
       (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2010 through 2015''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PALLONE. 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 New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is Public Health Week. Tomorrow, my subcommittee, 
that is, the Health Subcommittee of Energy and Commerce, will be 
holding a hearing on the role of public health and health care reform. 
We'll be exploring the role of public health systems and policies and 
improving the health status of all Americans.
  We have before us today a bipartisan set of bills that exemplify 
this. The bills make a range of policy and program changes designed to 
keep Americans safer, help them access needed services, and support 
research into important health problems.
  These bills have been introduced and cosponsored by Members on both 
sides of the aisle. They all passed the House under suspension in the 
last Congress. They were passed unanimously from committee this year, 
and I urge you to join me and the broad set of cosponsors in supporting 
these bills.
  The first one, Mr. Speaker, is H.R. 1246, the Early Hearing Detection 
Intervention Act. I rise obviously in support of that.
  Every year, more than 12,000 babies are born with hearing loss. 
Often, their condition goes undetected for years, and many of these 
children end up experiencing delays in speech, language, and cognitive 
development. However, if the hearing loss is detected early, many of 
these delays can be mitigated or even prevented. For that reason,

[[Page H4079]]

early detection is critical to improving outcomes for these children.
  The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act would improve 
services for screening, diagnosing, and treating hearing loss in 
children by amending the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the 
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program which was first 
enacted in 2000.
  The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program provides grants 
and cooperative agreements for statewide newborn and infant hearing 
services. These programs focus on screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and 
early intervention.
  I do want to particularly thank my colleague, Representative Capps, 
for her hard work on this very important issue. I obviously urge us 
passing this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield my 
time to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Scalise) is recognized for 20 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SCALISE. I want to thank the Speaker and the gentleman from 
Nebraska.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1246, the Early Hearing Detection and 
Intervention Act of 2009. This legislation was introduced by 
Representative Lois Capps and was passed by the House last Congress. 
The bill reforms the Public Health Service Act and reauthorizes the 
newborns and infants hearing loss program.
  Not only does the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act reach 
out to cover more children, but it also provides the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services the ability to assist in recruitment, 
retention, education, and training of qualified personal and health 
care providers. These qualified health care providers will provide 
children, who have been identified with hearing loss through screening 
and detection, with adequate follow-up care.
  In an effort to foster research and development in the area of early 
hearing detection and intervention, H.R. 1246 requires the director of 
the National Institutes of Health to establish a post-doctoral 
fellowship program. This program is intended to provide more 
information on how to better the lives of children through early 
intervention.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1246.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Capps), the sponsor of this legislation, and I don't 
need to tell anyone how hard she works on this and so many health 
bills. She is the vice chair of our Health Subcommittee.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of our subcommittee, 
Mr. Pallone, for giving me time to speak. Of course, I'm speaking in 
strong support of H.R. 1246, the Early Hearing Detection and 
Intervention Act. I am very proud to have introduced this bill with my 
colleague, Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri.
  I want to commend the leadership of the Hearing Health Caucus, 
Congressman Vern Ehlers and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, our leaders 
of this caucus now, and I must also mention the work of former 
Congressman Jim Walsh of New York who had championed this issue for 
many years before his retirement.
  As our chairman mentioned, each year more than 12,000 infants are 
born with hearing loss. If left undetected, this condition impairs 
speech development, language development, and cognitive development. 
Back in 2000, we developed the early hearing detection program, thanks 
to the hard work of the Hearing Health Caucus, and since that time, 
we've seen a tremendous increase in the number of newborns who are now 
being screened for hearing loss.
  Back in 2000, only 44 percent of newborns were being screened for 
hearing loss. That's less than half of the babies born. Now, we're 
screening newborns at a rate of over 93 percent. So this legislation 
has had an impact. Again, I commend the work of those made it happen 
and all of the hard work of our colleagues here in Congress and the 
Senate and the signing into law.
  But we know now that our work is not done. According to the Centers 
for Disease Control, almost half of the newborns who fail initial 
screening of their hearing do not go on to receive appropriate follow-
up care, and we need to train more health professionals with the skills 
necessary to provide effective intervention.
  As a school nurse for over 20 years, I had a lot of interaction with 
students who were lagging behind their classmates, failing in class due 
to undiagnosed or untreated hearing loss. We can prevent more children 
from suffering in the classroom and really suffering throughout their 
lives through better investment in follow-up intervention as a part of 
the successful hearing screening program for newborns and infants.
  I urge our colleagues to join in voting in favor of H.R. 1246.
  Mr. SCALISE. I have no speakers for this legislation, so I would 
yield the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would also yield back the balance of my 
time and urge passage of the legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1246.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________