[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 9, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H7343-H7344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WAKEFIELD ACT OF 2014
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4290) to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize
the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4290
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 ``Wakefield Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR
CHILDREN PROGRAM.
Section 1910(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300w-9(d)) is amended by striking ``fiscal year 2014'' and
inserting ``each of fiscal years 2015 through 2019''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Burgess) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to insert extraneous materials into the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4290, the Wakefield Act
of 2014, introduced by Mr. Matheson of Utah and Mr. King of New York.
Children have special health needs, especially in the field of
emergency medical services. The emergency and trauma care system has
been slow to develop an adequate response to these unique needs.
Some problems are endemic in emergency services, such as
fragmentation and poor coordination among pre-hospital services,
hospitals, and public health. The problem is worse for children when
hospitals lack the appropriate medical personnel, pediatric supplies,
or transfer agreements that lead to better care within the golden hour,
when chances of survival of an accident are higher.
In 1984, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Services for Children
as part of the Preventive Health Amendments of 1984. Last reauthorized
in 2010, the program aims to reduce child and youth mortality and
morbidity caused by severe illness and trauma.
H.R. 4290 reauthorizes the Emergency Medical Services for Children
program through 2019. The program supports education and training of
EMS providers and identifies models that can increase pediatric care in
rural and tribal communities.
The bill also supports the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research
Network that facilitates collaborative research on pediatric emergency
services.
I ask my colleagues to support emergency medical services for
children by voting for this important piece of legislation, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 4290, the Wakefield Act of 2014, a bill to
reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children program.
The Emergency Medical Services for Children program was established
30 years ago. The program includes a number of grant programs to help
States to assess and improve pediatric emergency care; improve
emergency services for children in rural, tribal, and other
communities; and support research in pediatric emergency medicine.
The legislation before us today will reauthorize the Emergency
Medical Services for Children program for another 5 years, so that this
critical program can continue its lifesaving work.
I want to offer my thanks to Congressman Matheson and Congressman
King for sponsoring the bill and to Chairman Upton, Chairman Pitts,
Ranking Member Waxman, and our staffs for working on this bill in the
Energy and Commerce Committee.
I urge Members to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to
[[Page H7344]]
the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson), the sponsor of the bill.
Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Pallone, for
yielding me the time.
H.R. 4290, the Wakefield Act, will reauthorize the Emergency Medical
Services for Children program. For the past 30 years, the Emergency
Medical Services for Children program has been the only Federal program
focused solely on improving emergency medical care for children and
adolescents.
In that time, emergency care has gone from treating critically
injured children simply as ``little adults,'' to providing more
appropriate and specialized care as children.
The program is focused on ensuring that proper emergency medical care
is given to sick or injured children no matter where they live, attend
school, or travel.
All States and the territories receive grant funding to educate and
train medical professionals in trauma care for children. This funding
and training has dramatically increased the quality of care at our
Nation's emergency rooms and the quality that first providers provide,
and in doing so, it has saved lives.
Allied to this, the program supports the coordination, collaboration,
and data analysis of pediatric researchers across the country for the
continued advancement of emergency pediatric care, a critical component
of the program.
The Emergency Medical Services for Children program has long held
bipartisan support in Congress throughout its 30-year history and is
certainly worthy of being reauthorized because this is a Federal
program that truly works, and it has data to back that up. It has
dramatically helped improve the quality of emergency medical care for
our children, and this bill will ensure that it continues to do so.
In closing, I want to thank both the minority and majority staffs on
the Energy and Commerce Committee for working with my office on this
legislation. I particularly want to thank my friend and colleague,
Congressman Peter King, for introducing the bill with me.
I urge my colleagues to support this critical program by voting
``yes'' on H.R. 4290.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers at this time.
I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4290, the
Wakefield Act of 2014.
The Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program aims to
reduce the number of deaths of children and adolescents due to severe
illness or trauma. This program has funded grants to all fifty states,
as well as to institutions of higher learning, to advance pediatric
emergency care. It is the only federal program that specifically
focuses on improving emergency care for children and adolescents.
The EMSC program was first established in 1984 and last reauthorized
in 2010. Today's legislation will once again reauthorize the EMSC
program through 2019.
I want to commend the sponsors of this legislation, Congressman
Matheson and Congressman King, for their leadership on this issue. I
would also like to thank Chairman Upton, Chairman Pitts, Ranking Member
Pallone, and all of our staff for their work in advancing this bill
through the Energy and Commerce Committee and bringing it to the floor
today.
I support H.R. 4290 and urge my colleagues to do the same.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 4290, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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