[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8893-H8894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE SCARLETT'S SUNSHINE ON SUDDEN UNEXPECTED DEATH ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to 
join me on a bipartisan basis as cosponsors of the Scarlett's Sunshine 
on Sudden Unexpected Death Act. This bill is intended to help us to 
better understand why infants die between birth and age 4 so that we 
can take preventive action that is effective.
  Mr. Speaker, I have had the unfortunate experience of walking into 
the home of parents who are grieving, and that grief doesn't just begin 
when their infant dies but goes on for a lifetime, wondering: Was it my 
fault? Could I have done something? Am I a bad parent?
  They never get the answers.
  Do you realize, Mr. Speaker, that currently we have absolutely no 
national guidelines for death scene investigations to follow when 
responding to an infant death? This means that different States and 
different municipalities all over the country collect inconsistent and, 
often, incomplete data on these unexplained sudden deaths.
  If we can't even collect good and consistent data, how can we expect 
to reverse this trend or even to prevent it?
  I am ashamed to say, Mr. Speaker, that the infant mortality rate in 
the United States is 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is really 
unacceptable. When you disaggregate these numbers for Native American 
babies and Black and White babies, we find that Black babies die at a 
rate three times the national average.
  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that 
really means that over 23,000 infants have died of sudden infant death 
syndrome. In 2015, about 3,700 infants died suddenly and unexpectedly.
  Think about that: 23,000 deaths and parents who spend a lifetime in 
grief wondering why.
  This is a public health crisis when you consider that, in developed 
countries, we are number 19 for preventing these kinds of deaths.
  My bill not only provides resources to invest in the CDC and the 
Health Resources and Services Administration to train first responders 
to improve death scene investigations, to do child death reviews, and 
to promote safe sleep practices, but it also provides educational 
opportunities for parents as well.
  Mr. Speaker, these deaths are preventable, and we need to do 
everything in our power to give parents the knowledge and tools they 
need to achieve healthy outcomes and educate them on safe methods for 
handling their children.

[[Page H8894]]

  I encourage my colleagues to imagine how many babies' lives we can 
save by simply investing in the right programs to prevent their deaths. 
Please join me in cosponsoring this bill and supporting its swift 
enactment into law.

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