H.R. 5462 (111th): Birth Defects Prevention, Risk Reduction, and Awareness Act of 2010

Introduced:
May 28, 2010 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Rep. Rosa DeLauro [D-CT3]
Status:
Died (Passed House)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 2029 (112th) on May 26, 2011.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

(About Ads | Advertise Here)
Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on September 30, 2010 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced May 28, 2010
Referred to Committee May 28, 2010
Reported by Committee Sep 23, 2010
Passed House Sep 30, 2010
Cosponsors
49 cosponsors (39D, 10R) (show)
Committees

House Energy and Commerce

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and implement a birth defects prevention, risk reduction, and public awareness program.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Nov 15, 2010.
5 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here.

Citation

Click a format for a citation suggestion:

GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

9/30/2010.
Section 2 -
Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish and implement a birth defects prevention and public awareness program to award matching grants to states or organizations for the provision of pregnancy and breastfeeding information services.
Directs the Secretary to give preference in awarding grants, in the case of states or or organizations that are otherwise equally qualified, to:
(1) states that made pregnancy and breastfeeding information services available on January 1, 2006; and
(2) organizations that will provide pregnancy and breastfeeding information services in such states.
Directs the Secretary to ensure that activities carried out using a grant under this Act are coordinated with other federal birth defects prevention and environmental health activities, including activities carried out by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with respect to pediatric environmental health specialty units and children's environmental health centers.
Directs the Secretary to evaluate pregnancy and breastfeeding information services to identify efficient and effective models of:
(1) providing information;
(2) raising awareness and increasing knowledge about birth defects prevention measures;
(3) modifying risk behaviors; or
(4) other outcome measures as determined appropriate by the Secretary. Defines the term "pregnancy and breastfeeding information services" to include only:
(1) information services to provide accurate, evidence-based, clinical information regarding maternal exposures during pregnancy or breastfeeding that may be associated with birth defects or other health risks to an infant that is breastfed, such as exposures to medications, chemicals, infections, foodborne pathogens, illnesses, nutrition, or lifestyle factors;
(2) the provision of accurate, evidence-based information weighing the risks of exposures during breastfeeding against the benefits of breastfeeding; and
(3) the provision of such information through counselors, websites, fact sheets, telephonic or electronic communication, community outreach efforts, or other appropriate means.
Authorizes appropriations for FY2012-FY2016.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/2/hr5462.

Background

Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding often have difficult questions, such as if they should continue taking medications for chronic diseases, or whether they should get vaccinated against H1N1 or the seasonal flu. The bill would establish a grant program to revitalize the national network of pregnancy risk information services (PRISs), more than half of which have closed over the last decade due to lack of funding. Over 70,000 women seek information from these essential services each year.

Summary

H.R. 5462 would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and implement a birth defects prevention and public awareness program to award grants to States or organizations for the provision of pregnancy and breastfeeding information services.  Preference will be given to states or organizations that made pregnancy and breastfeeding information services available on January 1, 2006, and organizations that will provide pregnancy and breastfeeding information services in such states.  States or organization must contribute 25 percent in matching funds.  Furthermore, the Secretary must coordinate with other birth defects prevention and environmental health activities of the Federal government.  Lastly, the Secretary must evaluate the effectiveness of these grants in providing information and raising awareness.

 

H.R. 5462 authorizes $32.5 million to be appropriated through fiscal year 2016.

 

Some members may be concerned that the bill would authorize the spending of $4.5 million for fiscal year 2012, $5.5 million for fiscal year 2013, $6.5 million for fiscal year 2014, $7.5 million for fiscal year 2015, and $8.5 million for fiscal year 2016.

 

Cost

There are no CBO cost estimates available at this time.  However, the bill would authorize appropriations of $32.5 million through FY2016.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)