[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 166 (Wednesday, December 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8372-H8374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION ACT OF 2010

  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 3199) 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:

                                S. 3199

       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 2010''.

     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

[[Page H8373]]

     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) Other activities may include developing 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, and State agencies shall be 
     encouraged to adopt models that effectively increase the rate 
     of occurrence of such follow-up.'';
       (3) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ``hearing loss 
     screening, evaluation, and intervention programs'' and 
     inserting ``hearing loss screening, evaluation, diagnosis, 
     and intervention programs'';
       (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 2011 through 2015'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2011 through 2015''; and
       (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``fiscal year 2002'' and 
     inserting ``fiscal years 2011 through 2015''.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in strong support of S. 3199, the Early Hearing Detection and 
Intervention Act. Last year, the House passed the companion measure to 
this bill, and we are pleased to pass it again with minor 
modifications.
  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, and for that reason, 
early detection is critical to improving outcomes for these children.

                              {time}  1150

  The bill, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act, would 
improve services for screening, diagnosing, and treating hearing loss 
in children by reauthorizing the Early Hearing Detection and 
Intervention Program, which was first enacted in 2000. The program 
provides grants and cooperative agreements for statewide newborn and 
infant hearing services. These programs focus on screening evaluation, 
diagnosis, and early intervention.
  I want to particularly thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from 
California, Representative Capps, who is the vice chair of the Health 
Subcommittee, for her hard work on this issue and so many issues. She 
is a nurse by profession. I am sure you have noticed that many of the 
health care bills that have come out of the last 4 years during the 
Democratic majority have been from Mrs. Capps, and she is always, in 
particular, looking out for children and senior citizens. I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TERRY. I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, S. 3199, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention 
Act of 2010, has worthy elements. Certainly we support the efforts of 
early recognition of hearing loss. As Mr. Pallone said, and Mrs. Capps 
will reiterate, it is not standard practice, or was not standard 
practice, to perform early detection for hearing loss on newborns. 
Usually parents, after about a year, would recognize something isn't 
right, that maybe speech was delayed, and that's when testing would 
occur. We have found that early testing has benefits. However, our side 
of the aisle must recommend a ``no'' vote at this time due to the 
authorizing of appropriations with the language of ``such sums as 
necessary.'' This type of open-ended authorization abdicates our duty 
to budget for programs responsibly.
  The bill would reauthorize the newborns and infants hearing loss 
program. It would enable the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
assist in recruitment, retention, education, and training of qualified 
personnel and health care providers. Unfortunately, in reauthorizing 
this program, the bill contains no limits on authorization of spending 
for the program. As my colleagues know, authorizing ``such sums as 
necessary'' in legislation has contributed to the fiscal crisis our 
country now faces. Our country had a budget deficit of $1.3 trillion in 
fiscal year 2010, and some are projecting that our country's budget 
deficit will reach $1.5 trillion this fiscal year. We cannot continue 
this fiscal irresponsibility by voting for open-ended authorization 
amounts. We need to include specific authorization amounts in 
legislation so we can set priorities, if we are to ever get our fiscal 
House in order.
  Madam Speaker, I recommend a ``no'' vote on this legislation so we 
can work in a bipartisan manner to include specific reauthorization 
amounts.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I just wanted to address the gentleman's point with regard to the 
underlying bill containing the language ``such sums.'' I mean, the bill 
doesn't change anything from the current law. The 2002 Early Hearing 
Detection and Intervention Act, which we are reauthorizing, had that 
language in it, and we are simply updating the authorization here. It 
is not changing the language. And the same is true for the bill that 
passed the House last year. There was a House version, sponsored by 
Mrs. Capps, and that didn't make any change either. So I just want to 
remind my colleagues that, you know, again, we passed this bill in 
March 2009 and then again on the floor I guess later that month, and 
there wasn't any issue raised by the Republicans at that time. So I 
just think to raise it now really makes no sense, and we should simply 
move to pass this. It is very commonsense legislation. It simply 
reauthorizes the current law.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TERRY. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, the gentleman is correct in the sense that it is a 
reauthorization. It strikes the language of 2002 while leaving the 
language of ``such sums as may be necessary'' for the fiscal year going 
forward now, but we still have that open-ended language.
  And after hearing from the people for the last couple of years, we 
have an additional emphasis on making sure that we are tighter in the 
writing of these bills, unlike what was occurring in the year 2002 when 
this was passed or in 2009 when it passed from committee. That is our 
only objection here, the authorization of open-ended, ``such sums as 
may be necessary.''
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. I now yield 3 minutes to the sponsor of the legislation, 
the

[[Page H8374]]

gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).
  Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my colleague and our chairman for yielding time.
  Madam Speaker, I am rising today in strong support of Senate bill 
3199, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act. And I am very 
proud to have introduced the House version of this bill with our 
colleague Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri. The House did pass 
this legislation by voice vote in March of 2009, and the Senate 
version, introduced by Senators Snowe and Harkin, was modified by the 
Senate HELP Committee and passed by unanimous consent earlier this 
week. Senate bill 3199 is noncontroversial and would make needed 
improvements to the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program, 
as recommended by experts.
  Each year, more than 12,000 infants are born with a hearing loss. If 
left undetected, this condition impedes speech, language, and cognitive 
development. And I might add, with concerns for the cost, the cost to 
taxpayers of not recognizing these needs and intervening, the cost in 
special education, in modified vocational goals for individuals who 
will be a burden to taxpayers the rest of their lives is unbelievably 
high.
  Since the authorization of the Early Hearing Detection and 
Intervention Program in early 2000, we have seen a tremendous increase 
in the number of newborns who are being screened for hearing loss. Back 
in 2000, only 44 percent of newborns were being screened for hearing 
loss. Now we are screening newborns at a rate of over 93 percent. But 
you know, our work isn't done yet. According to CDC, almost half of 
newborns who fail initial hearing screenings do not receive appropriate 
followup care. And in my work as a school nurse for over 20 years, I 
had much interaction with students who were lagging behind their 
classmates due to undiagnosed and/or untreated hearing loss. We can 
prevent more children from suffering in the classroom and suffering 
throughout their lives through a better investment in followup and 
intervention as a part of the successful hearing screening program for 
newborns and infants.
  This legislation would accomplish these goals through reauthorizing 
the programs administered by HRSA, CDC, and the NIH, providing grants 
to conduct newborn hearing screening, provide followup intervention to 
promote surveillance and research. So I am strongly urging my 
colleagues to join me in voting in favor of Senate bill 3199, to 
continue building on the great success of these programs.
  Mr. TERRY. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes now to 
the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey).
  Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts. I thank the chair very much, and I thank 
him for his great work.
  The poet Robert Browning once wrote, ``Grow old with me. The best is 
yet to be.'' Unfortunately, the golden years can be the worst years for 
Americans afflicted with Alzheimer's and their families. We have worked 
with the Senate to put together a bipartisan bill that has just passed 
here in the United States House of Representatives that I have worked 
on over the last 2 years that will put together an Alzheimer's plan, a 
battle plan for our country. And why is it important? I will tell you 
very simply: 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's today. There are 
going to be 12 million to 15 million baby boomers with Alzheimer's. 
They will have a spouse who also has the disease or some other family 
member. Somebody in the family has to take care of that person. So by 
the time all the baby boomers have retired, there will be about 25 
million to 30 million Americans whose lives will revolve around 
Alzheimer's.

                              {time}  1200

  We have to find a cure for it. We have to find a way of giving more 
help to these heroes, these families.
  My father was a milkman. My mother was a valedictorian. My mother got 
Alzheimer's. My father kept her in the living room. For 13 years, we 
kept her in our living room. My father always said that it was an honor 
that my mother had married him, the milkman. He also said that if the 
strength of your brain determined who got Alzheimer's, he said that he 
would have it and my mother would be taking care of him.
  But this is an equal opportunity disease. It's an epidemic. If we do 
not find the cure, if we do not find the cure, the budget problems for 
our country will be so explosive that it will be impossible to ever 
balance the Federal budget.
  We are now spending a fortune on it, and unless we cure it, we will 
never be able to deal with the catastrophic consequences personally, 
for those families, and for our country, in general.
  I thank the gentleman for allowing me this personal privilege, 
because I was pulled away as the bill was being considered.
  Mr. TERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts 
for his efforts in fighting Alzheimer's and working for those families.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I just wanted to mention that the three bills today are just a small 
representation of many bipartisan public health bills that the majority 
and minority worked on together in the Health Subcommittee over the 
past 2 years. And I wanted to thank the ranking member of the Health 
Subcommittee, Mr. Shimkus, for his hard work and cooperation in these 
efforts. In the summer and fall alone, the House passed 25 bipartisan 
health bills that came from our Health Subcommittee.
  And I also want to thank the staff that worked on these public health 
bills this past Congress. From the majority is Ruth Katz, Steve Cha, 
Sarah Despres, Emily, who's here with me, Emily Gibbons, Tiffany 
Guarascio, Anne Morris, Camille Sealy, Naomi Seiler, Tim Westmoreland, 
and Karen Nelson, of course. And from the minority, Ryan Long, Clay 
Alspach, Peter Kielty, and Chris Sarley.
  Madam Speaker, I ask for passage of the legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  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, S. 3199.
  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.

                          ____________________