[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 183 (Tuesday, December 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6934-S6935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CARDIOMYOPATHY HEALTH EDUCATION, AWARENESS, AND RESEARCH, AND AED 
                  TRAINING IN THE SCHOOLS ACT OF 2024

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from 
further consideration of H.R. 6829 and the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the bill by 
title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6829) to amend the Public Health Service Act 
     to authorize and support the creation and dissemination of 
     cardiomyopathy education, awareness, and risk assessment 
     materials and resources to identify

[[Page S6935]]

     more at-risk families, to authorize research and surveillance 
     activities relating to cardiomyopathy, and for other 
     purposes.

  There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the 
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read 
a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 6829) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Mr. President, I have great, great, and wonderful 
news. Just now, after so much work, we have finally reached the end 
zone and are sending the HEARTS Act to the President's desk. We scored 
a touchdown for America's children. Today, the Senate unanimously 
passed the HEARTS Act, and with it, we are giving schools across 
America the tools they need to save lives.
  Just yesterday, I was in Buffalo, NY, at Cheektowaga High School with 
Damar Hamlin and members of the community for this very cause: making 
sure that every school has AEDs and the ability to teach CPR.
  Damar Hamlin's story is a powerful reminder that in a cardiac 
emergency, every minute counts. He learned that when he had his cardiac 
arrest on the football field, and all Americans learn that all the 
time. It is especially true when it comes to our children.
  Over the past few months, Damar and I have worked tirelessly on the 
HEARTS Act so we can increase funding for schools to purchase more AEDs 
and ensure students and staff know how to use them. Many Members in 
both Chambers have likewise worked relentlessly on this bill. It is a 
bipartisan bill, it is a commonsense bill, and most importantly, it is 
a lifesaving bill.
  Mr. President, this bill will save lives. When our young athletes 
have a cardiac arrest or need some other form of CPR, there will be the 
AED equipment at the school, and there will be trained personnel who 
know how to apply the AEDs and CPR. It is going to save lives. It is a 
beautiful thing.
  I have to salute Damar Hamlin. After his bout with cardiac arrest, he 
went forward and said: I have to change this and get the AEDs available 
to everybody. He came and visited me in Washington. I said: I want to 
help. And together, we have been a great team.
  I told Damar that passing this legislation, which has just happened, 
is his first Super Bowl ring; winning the Super Bowl, which I believe 
the Bills will do, will be his second Super Bowl ring.
  With the passage of the HEARTS Act, we are putting AEDs within the 
reach of more schools and children. Studies show that schools with AEDs 
and CPR-trained staff are seven times--seven times--more likely to save 
a life during a cardiac emergency. That statistic is now a promise we 
are making to every parent, every teacher, every student in America, 
that they will have the resources they need.
  I want to thank Damar Hamlin for his courage, his partnership, his 
dedication. He is both a strong man and a humble and modest man, a 
beautiful person. I count him as a friend. He turned a personal tragedy 
into a mission to save others. Again and again, Damar would tell me 
``Let's make history'' on this bill, and today, history is being made.
  I would like to thank the NFL for their support. I would like to 
thank the Buffalo Bills for their support. I would like to thank all of 
those who worked to make this possible. To every colleague here in this 
Chamber who helped get this bill across the finish line and to the 
staff who worked so hard on this bill, especially Gunnar Haberl, a 
proud member of the Bills Mafia--and we went to Cheektowaga High 
School. His father is a PE teacher there, and I met him yesterday as 
well. I can tell you, Mr. Haberl is so proud of what Gunnar has done. 
He is right here. Not Mr. Haberl--Gunnar. Gunnar, as I said, is a proud 
member of the Bills Mafia, who doggedly worked on this piece of 
legislation.
  So today is a good day. Because of the HEARTS Act, more lives will be 
saved, more families will be whole, and more communities will be 
prepared.
  And, of course, go Bills--on to the second Super Bowl ring for Damar.

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