[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 12, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E963-E964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING JULY AS DRY EYE AWARENESS MONTH DURING THE DECADE OF VISION 
                           2010 THROUGH 2020

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETE SESSIONS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 12, 2017

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, in 2009, I was proud to co-sponsor with my 
then-House colleague the Honorable Tammy Baldwin the successfully 
passed H. Res. 366, which designated 2010 through 2020 as ``The Decade 
of Vision.'' Accompanied by the Senate's successfully passed companion 
legislation S. Res. 209, these resolutions recognized the challenges to 
the vision health of our nation's citizens as the population ages and 
the incidence of chronic diseases--such as diabetes--grows, causing eye 
disease and visual impairment.
  In the spirit of those resolutions, I am pleased to recognize July as 
Dry Eye Awareness Month. Dry eye, a growing global problem that affects 
more than 30 million people in the United States alone, occurs when the 
eye does not produce tears properly or they are not of the correct 
consistency and evaporate too quickly. It can range from discomfort to 
a painful chronic and progressive condition that leads to blurred 
vision or even vision loss. Dry eye impacts our nation's healthcare 
policy, as it is one of the most frequent causes of patient visits to 
eye care providers.
  Although past research supported by the National Institutes of Health 
(NIH) and its National Eye Institute (NEI) on the causes of and 
treatments for the condition has identified age, sex, and gender as 
factors, it has now discovered ethnic and racial differences, and that 
dry eye impacts younger patients. This ``equal opportunity'' disease 
can have many causes, including environmental exposure; side-effects 
from medications; eye surgery; eye lid disorders; immune system 
diseases such as Sjogren's syndrome, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis; 
contact lens wear; cosmetic use; aesthetic procedures; and an 
increasingly common cause--staring at computer or video screens for too 
long without blinking. Many are calling dry eye the ``Disease of the 
Millennials'' due to its increased incidence in that population.
  Dry eye has also been a major issue for our brave soldiers who were 
engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 
Veterans Administration reports that upwards of 70 percent of Traumatic 
Brain Injury-exposed veterans have dry eye symptoms.
  During the 2017 Dry Eye Awareness Month, the Tear Film & Ocular 
Surface Society's Dry Eye Workshop II (TFOS DEWS II) Report will be 
published in The Ocular Surface Journal, updating the definition of dry 
eye and addressing its greater impact on vision health--the first such 
re-examination since 2007. Report highlights will be presented at a 
July 12 Congressional Briefing, accompanied by a ``Test

[[Page E964]]

Your Tears'' Screening and presentation of research posters.
  The vision community and its coalition partners are uniting to 
recognize this growing threat to vision health, and I stand in support 
of these awareness and educational efforts.

                          ____________________