[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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