The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, June 25, 2015, at 10:15 a.m. in room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “Examining Public Health Legislation: H.R. 2820, H.R. 1344, and H.R. 1462." Subcommittee members will discuss three bipartisan bills to improve health care for newborns, infants, and children.
“One of this subcommittee’s top priorities has been helping and protecting children and families," said Pitts. “These bipartisan bills represent our ongoing effort to work together, strengthen public health, and solve problems in our nation’s health care system."
Members will discuss the following bipartisan bills:
* H.R. 2820, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act, introduced by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), reauthorizes the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, which provides federal support for cord blood donation and research essential to increasing patient access to transplant.
* H.R. 1462, the Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, authored by Reps. Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Steve Stivers (R-OH), will combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome. In recent years, there has been a steady rise in the number of overdose deaths involving heroin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the death rate for heroin overdose doubled from 2010 to 2012. This bill will address the growing problem and help protect newborns and infants.
* H.R. 1344, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2015, authored by Health Subcommittee Vice Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), amends the public health service act to reauthorize a program for early detection, diagnosis and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, and young children.as they are posted.
