Hearing of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee - Examining Public Health Legislation: H.R. 2820, H.R. 1344, and H.R. 1462

Hearing

Thank you Chairman Pitts and Ranking Member Green for holding this hearing on
important pieces of legislation that will surely improve the health of our nation. I am pleased that
all three bills have robust bipartisan support and continue this committee's tradition of a
thoughtful, collaborative approach to public health legislation.

H.R. 2820, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act continues our
highly successful Be the Match Registry for bone marrow and umbilical cord blood
transplantation. I'd especially like to thank Representative Matsui for her continued leadership
on this issue. For nearly 20,000 patients each year, such transplants are life-saving. Of those
patients, 70 percent will not find a match within their family member and will require a nonrelative
donor. That is why the Be the Match Registry and its nearly 12.5 million registered bone
marrow donors and the collection of more than 209,000 cord blood units is so important. This
bill ensures that this critically important program continues to operate.

We will also hear about H.R. 1344, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of
2015 which was introduced by Representatives Capps and Guthrie. Prior to the authorization of
the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program, less than half of all newborns were
regularly screened for hearing loss. We're proud to say that now approximately 97 percent of
newborns receive hearing screening. This gives hearing impaired children early access to the
interventions and treatments they desperately need. The evidence tells us that these early
treatments are critical in minimizing a hearing-impaired child's risk of developmental delays,
especially communication, social skills and cognition. This bill would ensure that we continue to
support a public health program that has a proven track record of success as well as continue our
obligation to protect the health of our children.

Finally, H.R. 1462, the Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015is a greatly needed piece of
legislation to address a sad reality of our country's opioid epidemic: prenatal opioid abuse and
the steep increase in the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome or NAS. According to a
recent study the incidence of NAS quadrupled between 2004 and 2013. NAS occurs in newborns
who were exposed to opiates while in their mother's womb and is associated with negative
health outcomes including preterm births, low birthweight, and complications such as respiratory
distress.

This bill rightly recognizes our imminent need for a comprehensive national strategy to
address prenatal opioid abuse and NAS. H.R. 1462 would require HHS to develop
recommendations for the treatment and prevention of prenatal opiate abuse and neonatal
abstinence syndrome, it would require the CDC to assist states in collecting data to monitor the
problem and would direct HHS to develop a coordinated research and programming strategy to
address the public health challenge of NAS. I want to also thank Rep. Katherine Clark for her
leadership on this critical and timely issue.

Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with you and our colleagues on these important
public health bills.

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