Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020
Floor Speech
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Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chair, our economy and our Nation's workforce are at a critical juncture. The introduction of new technology and easier flow of people and information from one location to another have transformed our economy and our workforce in ways that were unpredictable and have created both benefits and risks. We need to be careful, however, that we are not leaving Americans behind.
Several years ago, I worked with a number of colleagues to go across the country to ask researchers and have townhalls in communities, from California to New Jersey, what the effect on technology, in particular, and what the future of work wages in the labor movement would be as our work transforms.
One common theme that we heard over and over again across the country--whether it was California, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Jersey, or Massachusetts--was the impact that technology is having on jobs, both good and bad, and potentially having both enormous benefit and risk.
Technology can be a huge benefit to workers and communities alike, but it also has the potential to displace or eliminate jobs. California labor unions have an impressive past of partnering with industry to ensure that any disruption to the workforce, like technology, is done in coordination with and in consultation with workers.
One major problem we face when trying to assess whether automation will be good or bad for our workforce is a lack of data. This amendment simply encourages the Bureau of Labor Statistics to start collecting this important data on the impact that technology is having on our workforce. We can use this data to inform policymaking to fight for workers and the U.S. economy and create programs and policies that will support job creation, retention, and the continued growth to our economy, but for everyone to benefit.
Similarly, this amendment would allow for data collection on mass layoffs. We often hear arguments that blame major job losses on regulations, trade decisions, and other unsubstantiated claims.
With this data that we are asking for, we will be able to collect and be able to clearly and honestly evaluate the effects of mass layoffs and how we can avoid them, or at least how we can help the workers who are affected.
The common theme for this amendment is workforce protection. It is something we agree about on both sides, I believe. We want to create and promote good-paying jobs for Americans and protect those jobs that can be and should be protected.
U.S. workers deserve our best efforts to create policy that is in their best interest. This amendment would help give us the data to do just that, and at no extra cost.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), my friend and colleague.
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Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chairman, I ask for the House's support. I think it has been said over and over again that information is power. In this instance, this gives us the power to protect and anticipate challenges to the American workforce.
Mr. Chairman, I respectfully ask for support for this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chairman, the bill before us today goes a long way to improving the health of our country. I thank the chairwoman for her leadership and dedication to the health and well-being of all Americans.
I am particularly pleased to see over $6 billion in funding for the National Cancer Institute. As we all know, probably too well, cancer affects all of us in some way. All of us have a family member, a friend, or a neighbor who has had to go through the challenge of being told they have cancer.
Nearly 1.8 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2019. With recent advancements, however, there has never been a better time in history to go through treatment if one has to be diagnosed with cancer.
New treatments with ever-greater outcomes are being developed constantly, many of them at NCI. The research done at NCI contributes to saving countless lives each year and helps keep millions more healthy, including myself as a cancer survivor of a form of leukemia that, while not curable, is manageable.
Because of the groundbreaking research done at and funded by NCI, by 2016 there were over 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States alone. By 2026, this number will go over 20 million survivors. However, despite the high quality of care, many patients lack the information they need to understand their treatment and be full participants in their care.
As a cancer survivor, I am all too familiar with the uncertainty that follows the words, ``you have cancer.'' Doctors and health professionals start talking at you, using terms you have never heard, all of which matter, but little of which you understand. Research tells us that when someone is told, and family members are told that a family member has cancer, they only retain one in four words.
While more than two-thirds of patients surveyed are satisfied with the care they receive, the vast majority lack knowledge about treatment, options, and details. In fact, a recent study by NIH states that only 45 percent of patients reported being adequately informed about their diagnoses when told they have cancer by their physicians.
In a study in 2016, the Journal of Clinical Oncology stated that 38 percent of patients could never even remember talking with their doctor about life expectancy.
Cancer treatment is complicated, and I can tell you it is emotional for the people who are being treated, for their family, and for their loved ones. Yet 73 percent of patients do not search for additional information about their diagnoses. That is why it is so important that cancer care providers communicate clearly and often with patients and survivors.
This amendment will set aside $1 million for NCI to perform a study on how to use best practices to improve communications between cancer care providers and patients and survivors. When people have the information they need, they can more successfully navigate treatment and life as a survivor.
A cancer diagnosis will always come with uncertainty, but providers can and must do more to communicate clearly to help patients, their families and friends, and survivors to fully understand their diagnosis, their treatment, and their lifelong care expectations. It will allow patients to do what patients should do: fight cancer.
I thank the cosponsors of my amendment, Congressman Buddy Carter from Georgia, who is also the co-chair of the Cancer Survivors Caucus with myself, and Congressman Jamie Raskin, who is a member, for coauthoring this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), my friend and my neighbor.
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Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chairman, I am grateful for the support in this bill for the Statewide Family Engagement Center Program, and I also thank the chair of this subcommittee for supporting the program.
This is an extremely valuable program that facilitates meaningful family engagement for States, school districts, schools, and parents to foster positive school environments and improved academic achievement.
Specifically, grantees are nonprofits that carry out parent education and provide comprehensive training and technical assistance to schools to support family-school partnerships.
Research is clear that the more involved families are in a student's education, the better the student performs. If a parent understands the value of the curriculum, develops relationships with teachers and administrators at their child's school, and feels involved in the local community as a result, the student reaps the benefits.
I was proud that a bipartisan provision I authored with Congressman G.T. Thompson led to the creation of Statewide Family Engagement Centers.
Unfortunately, due to an administrative oversight at the Department of Education, a $1 million shortfall for financial year 2019 has been created in this program. If it is not fixed, current grantees will have to cut their budgets by 9 percent.
This shortfall will mean the 11 centers will have to cut staff or reduce services. This will reduce the number of families, States, schools, and school districts that these centers can serve in the 12 States across the country that have grantees.
My amendment would make these deserving grantees whole and ensure that students and their families continue to receive the services they deserve to help students thrive in and out of school.
This amendment truly is an easy fix to an unintended problem created by a simple oversight. It is a commonsense amendment.
I thank my friend, Mr. Thompson, for working with us on this, and for his support for this amendment and the program.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chair, I just want to thank my colleague from northern California, and I want to thank my colleague from Pennsylvania. It has been a pleasure working with them when I was in the minority, and it is a pleasure working with them in the majority.
This really should be nonpartisan, bipartisan. It creates a real vehicle to improve the quality of life for children and families and schools, and I would urge support for the amendment.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Chair, the bill before us today goes a long way toward improving the health of our country. I commend the distinguished chairwoman, once again, for her tireless leadership for the health and well-being of all Americans.
One particular area where increased investments have been made in this bill is mental health. I could not agree more on the importance of addressing this vital component to a person's well-being.
Mr. Chairman, at a time in our history where we are having transformative interventions and innovation in discoveries when it comes to mental health, we have a challenge to provide more infrastructure and more resources. I have been told that we have 75 percent more requests for services in behavioral health since the ACA was passed with parity in it, but a 25 percent decrease in the number of young people going into professions.
So we clearly need to do more when it comes to mental health, and there is no place better to do more than with young people, to get them involved in understanding that there isn't a stigma, that, like cancer, behavioral health and mental health should be addressed with evidence- based research, and if people seek that kind of treatment, they will be able to live full and successful lives and will get away from generations of stigma against people who have legitimate behavioral health issues that can be treated just as medical treatments can.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately one in five adults in the United States--almost 50 million Americans-- experience mental illness in a given year. Millions of children also suffer every year from traumatic experience and mental illness.
Mr. Chair, approximately one in five young people age 13 to 18--more than 21 percent--experience a severe mental disorder; 13 percent of children age 8 to 15 experience a severe mental disorder at some point in that timeframe; yet only about 50 percent of children with mental health conditions receive the services they need.
Children who get the treatment and support they need can learn to successfully control their symptoms, perform better in school, and have better social and emotional outcomes throughout their lives.
When children go without treatment and support, their symptoms can become harder to control as they grow older. In fact, adults who do not get proper treatment as children face an increased risk of having other chronic conditions and die, on average, 25 years earlier than others from preventable causes--25 years because they are not getting the treatment they need.
That is why it is so important that we address mental illness at a young age. Children and their families must know that it is okay to ask for help and should be taught where to look.
My amendment would improve access to mental health support for children in a school-based environment to meet students' needs onsite. This funding will help children who might not otherwise get mental healthcare get the support they need in a setting they know and trust.
NIH research shows that children promoted to the next grade increases by almost 13 percent and the average number of days children are suspended decreases significantly as children participate in mental health services offered at their schools.
Our teachers are already underpaid and overworked, and many teachers report that they are the first and only support children receive for their mental and behavioral health problems. By increasing services to students directly in schools, we can help reduce the mental healthcare crisis and decrease the stigma at the same time.
I urge passage of this amendment.
Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), my friend and colleague.
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