[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 25677-25678]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE 2009 H1N1 
INFLUENZA PANDEMIC--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. 
                            DOC. NO. 111-73)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  Pursuant to section 201 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 
1621), I hereby report that I have exercised my authority to declare a 
national emergency in order to be prepared in the event of a rapid 
increase in illness across the Nation that may overburden health care 
resources. This declaration will allow the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, if necessary, to temporarily waive certain standard 
Federal requirements in order to enable U.S. health care facilities to 
implement emergency operations plans to deal with the 2009 H1N1 
influenza pandemic in the United States. A copy of my proclamation is 
attached.
  Further, I have authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to exercise the authority under section 1135 of the Social Security Act 
to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements of the Medicare, 
Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance programs and of the 
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule as 
necessary to respond

[[Page 25678]]

to the pandemic throughout the duration of the public health emergency 
declared in response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, October 23, 2009.

                          ____________________