Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, as leaves begin to turn and temperatures begin to drop, millions of Americans will head outdoors this fall to hike. In Connecticut, hikers will flock to trails in the State's 107 parks and 32 State forests, which together account for more than 200,000 acres.

While ticks are often thought of as spring and summer pests, ticks that carry the disease are still active in the fall. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness in the country, with more than 300,000 people becoming infected each year. The CDC also reports that the species of ticks that spread Lyme disease now live in 46 percent of the Nation's counties. The spread of Lyme disease, paired with a lack of action at the Federal level, has led tens of thousands of Americans to become infected, disrupting patients' lives and placing major emotional and financial burden on families.

With this in mind, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the bipartisan Lyme and Tick Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act, S. 1503. The legislation is designed to better coordinate the Federal Government's response to tick-borne diseases by creating an advisory committee within the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, that would be tasked with identifying best practices to combat tick-borne diseases. The group would be comprised of patients, advocates, researchers, medical professionals, and government officials. The bill would also require the HHS Secretary to coordinate efforts to strengthen disease surveillance and reporting, develop better diagnostic tools and tests, create a physician-education program, establish epidemiological research objectives for Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses, and prepare regular reports to Congress on the progress of efforts to combat these devastating diseases.

The rapid rise in active Lyme and other tick-borne disease cases over the past decade demands a strong and coordinated effort at the Federal level to address the public health threat to our Nation. This critical legislation has been endorsed by hundreds of Lyme and tick-borne disease patient groups, along with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, ATC. According to a 2014 Appalachian Trail hiker survey, 9 percent of respondents reported that they had been diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Our colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives have already passed this critical legislation, and now it is our turn. I urge our Senate colleagues to join as cosponsors, and help pass this critical measure expeditiously. Thank you.

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