[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 12, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5420-H5422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRATULATING AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION ON ITS 150TH ANNIVERSARY
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 204) congratulating the American
Dental Association for its 150th year of working to improve the
public's oral health
[[Page H5421]]
and promoting dentistry, supporting initiatives to improve access to
oral health care services for all Americans, and emphasizing the
benefits of prevention of disease through support of community
prevention initiatives and promotion of good oral hygiene.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 204
Whereas access to good oral health care is a vital element
of overall health;
Whereas the American Dental Association works to improve
access to oral health care services that are essential to
help ensure the health of the American public;
Whereas the American Dental Association supports community
prevention initiatives and promotion of good oral hygiene;
Whereas the American Dental Association continually works
to improve dental technologies and therapies through research
and adherence to sound scientific principles;
Whereas ``The Journal of the American Dental Association''
is recognized internationally as a leader in peer-reviewed
dental science;
Whereas the American Dental Association encourages its
membership of more than 157,000 dentists to donate their
time, resources, and services to providing charitable and
uncompensated care;
Whereas dental practices provide over $2,000,000,000 in
charitable and uncompensated care to specific underserved
populations annually; and
Whereas the American Dental Association advocates
sufficient funding for Federal dental research and military
readiness programs: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) congratulates the American Dental Association for its
150th anniversary;
(2) commends the American Dental Association's work to
improve the public's oral health as well as access to oral
health care for all Americans, especially low-income
children;
(3) recognizes the tens of thousands of dentists who
volunteer their time and resources to provide charitable and
uncompensated oral health care to millions of Americans; and
(4) commends the American Dental Association's efforts to
keep American dentistry the best in the world.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) and the gentleman from Idaho (Mr.
Simpson) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands.
General Leave
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to extend and revise their
remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands?
There was no objection.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 204, a
resolution that congratulates the American Dental Association on its
150th anniversary.
The American Dental Association is the largest and oldest
professional association for dental providers. Its more than 157,000
members play a vital role in improving access to oral health services.
Former Surgeon General David Satcher has noted that oral health is
integral to general health. The American Dental Association has been a
lead advocate in ensuring that these important health services are not
forgotten.
I would like to thank and applaud my colleague, Representative
Simpson, for his leadership on this issue. I urge my colleagues to join
me in supporting this resolution that commends the American Dental
Association for its important work to promote good oral hygiene and
community prevention strategies.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise today to offer this resolution congratulating the American
Dental Association on its 150th year of advancing the art and science
of dentistry and advocating on behalf of the oral health of the
American people. I know many of you join me in offering those
congratulations, as the resolution before the House today has 104
cosponsors.
The ADA is the professional association of dentists committed to the
public's oral health, ethics, science, and the advancement of the
dental profession.
The ADA traces its origins to the mid-19th century, when
representatives of eight regional dental societies and two dental
colleges came together in Niagara Falls, New York, to establish a
representative body of stability and character. They called their
fledgling organization the American Dental Association. Today, seven
out of 10 U.S. dentists belong to the ADA, with membership of more than
157,000 dentists. The ADA has 53 State and territorial and 545 local
dental societies. It is the largest and oldest national dental
association in the world.
The association has long been a leader, advocating for improved
health care and access for underprivileged Americans. Even today, as
Congress wrestles with the issue of health care reform, the ADA is
continually reminding us that oral health is an integral part of
overall health. The ADA's health care reform principles focus on three
things; prevention and wellness, fixing Medicaid, and improving the
public oral health infrastructure.
The Association is active in cutting-edge dental research. At the
Paffenbarger Research Center, housed on the National Institute of
Standards and Technology campus just outside of Washington, D.C., ADA
scientists are working on improving dental materials, tissue
engineering, and cavity-repairing therapies. Some of Paffenbarger's
research accomplishments include the development of modern high-speed
dental drills, panoramic x-ray machines, protective tooth sealants,
tooth-colored composite filling material, calcium phosphate, bone
cements, and more.
The ADA's Give Kids A Smile is an annual centerpiece to the National
Children's Dental Health Month. It is observed every year on the first
Friday in February. At more than 1,600 sites nationwide this year, some
45,000 dental professionals provided free services to more than 450,000
children. I can tell you, the spirit behind that one-day event carries
over throughout the year. The ADA encourages its members to donate time
and services to the underserved. In fact, dentists provide more than $2
billion in charitable and uncompensated care to specific underserved
populations each year. That's $2 billion worth of free dental work.
I congratulate them on this 150th year of their founding of the
American Dental Association. I hope that Members will join me in
congratulating the ADA by voting in favor of this resolution.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my
good friend from Indiana, who has been a supporter of the dental
profession for many years, Representative Buyer.
Mr. BUYER. I thank my dentist friend for yielding, and I thank him
for bringing this resolution to the floor.
I come from a family of dentists. My grandfather is a dentist, my
father is a dentist, my brother is a dentist, my sister is a dentist,
my uncle is a dentist. I chose not to follow halitosis, so I became a
lawyer, which means that I sit in the kitchen with the children at
Christmas and Thanksgiving.
I come to the floor to honor my grandfather, Dr. Clarence Cornelius
Buyer, my father, Dr. John Buyer, Sr., who on February 24 turned 80 and
4 days later retired from his dental practice. That's a lot of years,
isn't it, practicing dentistry?
My deceased uncle, Dr. Earl Moore, was an orthodontist in
Indianapolis. My sister, Dr. Diane Buyer, practices dentistry on the
north side in Indianapolis. And my brother, Dr. John Buyer, Jr., is a
periodontist and recently retired in January from the United States
Army.
One thing I note about growing up in a family of dentists that has
helped me is when you mention the words ``prevention'' and
``wellness,'' when I think of the professions in health that are out
there, dentists take the lead. It is almost to the point where I
believe that anthropologists, a thousand years from now, are going to
dig us up, and they are going to look at our bones and say, look at the
stress on those bones, but look at those teeth. They've got to
[[Page H5422]]
be Americans. Because, see, Americans, what has happened to us? I will
eat what I want, I will drink whatever I want; by golly, the health
system better be there to take care of my body, but I'm going to take
care of my teeth because my smile means everything to me. I just wish
the people would put the same focus they have in their teeth that they
also place in their bodies. If we were to do that, how much better in
wellness as a society would we be?
The contribution that dentistry has had to me, as a leader in health
policy for the country, even goes back to the 1990s, when we began to
examine Medicare, for example, and we noted that one-third of our
Medicare expenditures was diabetes-related. Well, I spoke up and said,
I come from a family of dentists, and we focus on preventive medicine.
If we spent billions of dollars on the front end, we wouldn't be
spending the multibillion dollars on the back end. So it's about
wellness of the whole body. So I want to compliment the dentists.
Now I want to pause and talk about military dentistry, too, for a
second. If we are going to compliment the ADA, it is not only in their
contributions to our society, but also to military dentists. Military
dentists are combat multipliers because there are so many non-
battlefield casualties, individuals who are taken off the battlefield
because of what happens with regard to the deterioration of their
dental hygiene. It is those dentists that put them back in, and I want
to truly applaud them.
Let me close with the infinite wisdom of the United States Army. I
came out of The Citadel. I received my commission as a second
lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps. My first assignment in the
United States Army was with a dental clinic. I did everything I could,
dad, to get away from dentistry, but for whatever reason, it totally
consumes me, even in my life today.
Let me say congratulations to the ADA and to all the dentists and the
dental assistants and the dental hygienists and the specialties for
which the ADA represents. Thank you, and good job.
Mr. SIMPSON. I appreciate the gentleman's comment. I should note that
I also come from a family of dentists; I just couldn't escape. I ended
up going into the dental profession where he went into the law
profession. We will argue for some time who made the better choice. But
I appreciate everyone's support and would encourage their positive vote
on this resolution.
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 204, which
honors one our nation's oldest African-American medical professional
organizations, the National Dental Association. For nearly 150 years,
the NDA has committed itself to opening the doors to the dental
profession--a profession that has traditionally been dominated by the
privileged few who could afford dental training--to men and women of
color.
Even more importantly, the NDA has been a voice for the under-served
in our society, often speaking out about disparities in access to
dental care when others in the provider community would not. The
dentists who make up the NDA, like I, believe that the right to dental
care must be a fundamental human and civil right--not a privilege. In
the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, there is no reason
that some Americans lack access to a dentist or oral surgeon.
We all mourn the loss of Demonte Driver, a young African-American boy
who died in 2007 as the result of not getting timely and medically
necessary dental care because his family was uninsured. I am committed
to working with the NDA and all other provider groups to ensure that
our country reaches a point where stories like Demonte's will become
increasingly rare and, eventually, cease to exist. We must work to
ensure that young dental students who wish to practice in communities
served by Medicaid have the fiscal flexibility to do so. This
necessarily means addressing the $145,000 debt the average dental
student incurs during the course of his or her education.
To this end, I will soon introduce legislation that expands funding
for the National Health Service Corps. The program provides for medical
and dental students' reasonable educational expenses and a monthly
stipend for room and board. After school, the student must apply for
pre-approved positions in underserved areas. By increasing the funding
levels between 2009 and 2019 by $100 million each year, my bill will
ensure that every citizen in every community has access to the doctor
and dentist of their choice.
I applaud the NDA for their 150 years of excellence and compassionate
advocacy and I wish them 150 more. Together, we will end dental access
disparity once and for all. I encourage my colleagues to support the
resolution.
Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 204.
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. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the grounds
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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