Washington, D.C. –U.S. Representative, John D. Dingell (D-MI15) issued the following statement at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health entitled, “Legislative Hearing on Miscellaneous Public Health Legislation”:
“Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding today’s hearing.
“Since I was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, I have always strived to ensure that our nation’s children – the future of our country – have access to high-quality, effective medical care. The two pieces of legislation before us today have made enormous strides towards meeting this goal, which is why I am pleased to voice my support for H.R. 1852 and H.R. 2005.
“I supported the creation of the Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education (GME) program in 1999 not only because of the significant contribution it made to our national health care workforce, but more importantly it represented a historic investment in the health of our nation’s children. This program has enjoyed broad bipartisan support over the years, and I am proud to join with my colleagues Health Subcommittee Chairman Pitts and Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Pallone as a cosponsor of H.R. 1852, the Children’s Hospital GME Reauthorization Act of 2011.
“The Children’s Hospital GME program has proven to be extremely successful given that its recipient hospitals make up only one percent of all hospitals, but train 40 percent of all pediatricians and 43 percent of all pediatric specialists. In addition, its funding has enabled children’s teaching hospitals to reverse a 13 percent decline in pediatric residencies that occurred prior to the program’s enactment and enabled these teaching hospitals to expand their programs by 35 percent in response to local, state and national needs.
“Earlier this year, the Administration proposed eliminating the program. I strongly oppose this proposal. Eliminating this program would have a drastic negative impact on access to primary care, and would yield a devastating blow for our children and their vital access to specialty care. While I appreciate the difficult decisions the Administration has to make, I do not believe cutting funding for a successful program that has largely met the goals laid out for it makes fiscal sense. I hope my colleagues will agree with me and join me in supporting the reauthorization of this critical program.
“I also want to voice my strong support for the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act or H.R. 2005. Autism affects 1 in 110 children and 1 in every 70 boys nationwide. Through the Combating Autism Act, Congress and the federal government have focused our efforts to provide increased research and services to address this disorder. The costs of Autism Spectrum Disorder to affected families, people, and society are enormous. The cost to society is currently estimated to be $35 - $90 billion annually. Although research and services for Autism Spectrum Disorder have expanded in recent years, more must be done to help families facing this challenge.
“I am honored to host two world class autism centers in my district: the Autism and Communications Disorder Center at the University of Michigan and the Autism Collaborative Center at Eastern Michigan University. While the University of Michigan Center is scheduled to close this fall, the Autism Collaborative at EMU will continue and will luckily fill that void. The EMU Autism Collaborative offers diagnostic assessments, services, and training at a greatly reduced price to families. These services are essential for these individuals and families who cannot afford them on their own.
“Reauthorization of the Combating Autism Act will further encourage the federal government to work with educational institutions and private organizations to identify and develop early diagnostic tests, as well as encourage development of new effective treatments for people with autism and their families. If we are to continue the momentum of the research being done at NIH, CDC and HRSA, as well as to continue to improve the quality of life for individuals with autism and their families, then we must reauthorize this critical program. I urge my colleagues support for H.R. 2005.
“As I have said before, children are 25 percent of the population in our country, but they are 100 percent of the future. I will continue to lend my support to programs that are dedicated to providing and improving the quality of health care our nation’s children need and deserve, and I hope that this Committee will join me. Together we can continue to advance such measures together on a bipartisan basis.”
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