[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16786]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                INTRODUCTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH RESOLUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, the future health of America is at a 
crossroad, requiring us to make a critical decision. Will we choose the 
road that promises a healthier future for all Americans or will we 
choose to continue down the path that has led the United States to lag 
behind 28 United Nations countries in life expectancy?
  Incredibly, the United States annually spends $2.2 trillion on health 
care, more than any other nation. Seventy-five percent of that health 
care budget is spent largely on preventable chronic disease conditions. 
Yet the United States has the highest rate of preventable deaths among 
the majority of industrialized nations. Even more troubling is the fact 
that the number of people in the United States with preventable chronic 
diseases continues to rise steadily.
  If unchecked, public health experts agree that nearly half of our 
population will suffer from at least one chronic disease by the year 
2025.
  Mr. Speaker, we can no longer ignore the science that links nearly 60 
percent of premature deaths in our country to preventable environmental 
conditions, to social circumstances or to negative behavioral choices. 
We have known for almost a decade, for example, that being overweight 
and physically inactive accounts for more than 300,000 premature deaths 
each year in the United States, second only to tobacco-related deaths.
  While we continue to ignore this preventable reality, our Nation's 
obesity epidemic shows no sign of abating. It may very well be that 
today's children will be the first in a generation to have shorter, 
less healthy lives than their parents.
  However, there is good news. The road to a healthy future often 
requires only simple, small choices that have proven to be effective in 
reducing the incidence and severity of many chronic diseases. They 
include better eating habits, exercising more and taking an aspirin 
every day.
  Unfortunately, these proven preventative strategies fail to reach 
large numbers of people at risk for chronic diseases. One reason for 
failure is our health system continues to prioritize medical care based 
on disease treatment rather than health care focused on prevention and 
on the control of diseases before they become more costly and difficult 
to treat.
  Next year, as a new Congress and as a new administration work to fix 
our broken health care system, it is imperative we prioritize disease 
prevention and public health in the formulation of any health policy.
  For that reason, I am introducing a resolution today calling for an 
increased Federal commitment to prevention and public health. I am 
pleased to be joined in this effort by my cochairs from the Study Group 
on Public Health: Representatives Jim McGovern and Kay Granger; 
Representative Jim Moran from the Prevention Caucus; and Representative 
Diana DeGette of the Diabetes Caucus.
  Mr. Speaker, the future health of our country is at a critical point 
in our history. New research has shown that investing in clinical- and 
community-level prevention saves lives and significantly reduces health 
care costs.
  It is, therefore, essential that the road we choose to a timely, 
accessible, effective, and affordable health care system includes a 
focus on public health and prevention. Both are key elements to 
reaching our goal of a strong and healthy nation.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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