Sen. Harkin Statement on HELP Committee Approval of PAHPA, the PREEMIE Act, and New Subcommittee Assignments

The following press release was published by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Feb. 13, 2013. It is reproduced in full below.

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on the Committee's approval of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers Who Deliver Infants Early (PREEMIE) Act, and new chairmen of the Children and Families and Primary Health and Aging Subcommittees.

“I am pleased by the success of our committee’s bipartisan effort to reauthorize PAHPA. Because of this bill, American families will be better protected from public health emergencies of all kinds. Increased coordination among federal, state, and local governments; consideration of the needs of at-risk individuals including children and people with disabilities; investments in medical countermeasure development and research; and stronger planning efforts will mean we are better prepared to face the public health hazards of the future. I hope that the full Senate will pass this critical legislation in short order.

“In addition to approving PAHPA and the PREEMIE Act, I am pleased that the Committee has voted to elect new chairmen of the Children and Families Subcommittee as well as the Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee. I join the other members of the Committee in thanking our prior chairmen, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Patty Murray, for their service. I welcome Senator Kay Hagan as the new chair of the Children and Families Subcommittee and Senator Bob Casey as our new Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee chair, and I am confident that these two senators will continue the excellent work of their predecessors in ensuring that America’s families and workers have their voices heard in the Senate."

A full list of updated Subcommittee assignments follows.

Children and Families

MRS. HAGAN, North Carolina, Chairman

MR. ENZI, Wyoming, Ranking Member

MS. MIKULSKI, Maryland

MRS. MURRAY, Washington

MR. SANDERS, Vermont

MR. CASEY, Pennsylvania

MR. FRANKEN, Minnesota

MR. BENNET, Colorado

MR. MURPHY, Connecticut

MS. WARREN, Massachusetts