BIRTH DEFECT PREVENTION, RISK REDUCTION, AND AWARENESS ACT

Floor Speech

* Ms. DELAURO. Madam Speaker, one out of every 33 babies born in our country suffers from a birth defect, and one out of every five infant deaths in America is the result of a defect. Even those children who survive a defect grow up with a greater chance of illness and long-term disability. Perhaps most tragic of all, there are many times when these defects could be readily prevented.

* That is why I rise in support today of H.R. 5462, the Birth Defect Prevention, Risk Reduction, and Awareness Act of 2010. This legislation establishes a grant program to revitalize the Nation's network of pregnancy risk information services.

* These services offer pregnant women and their health care providers information and consultation regarding exposures to medications, chemicals, infections, and illnesses that may pose a risk of birth defects, a risk to the pregnancy, or a risk to the mother while pregnant. They also provide similar information on exposures during breastfeeding.

* Fifteen years ago, there were over 30 such services across the country. Today, there are fewer than 15. State and private funding has provided inadequate support, and even those that remain open have sustained budget cuts of as much as 60 percent. And there are currently no Federal programs to provide support for these counseling services.

* This bill remedies that oversight. It gives mothers the information they need to protect their children. And it will help reduce the frequency of birth defects in our Nation. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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