Health Subcommittee Approves Bipartisan Legislation on Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education, Bioterrorism and Controlled Substances

Press Release

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), today approved three bipartisian pieces of health legislation: H.R. 2405, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act; H.R. 1254, the Synthetic Drug Control Act; and, H.R. 1852, the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act.

The Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education Support Reauthorization Act of 2011 extends the program for five years at the current level. CHGME provides support to Children's Hospitals for pediatric medical residency programs. Today, over 40 percent of pediatrians and pediatric specialists are trained through the CHGME program. H.R. 1852, introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Pitts and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), passed by voice vote.

"The CHGME program has been tremendously successful since first being authorized in 1999," said Pitts. "This bill is about the health and lives of this nation's children, and it is a fiscally responsible bill. I want to thank Rep. Frank Pallone for the work he has done on this important bill, and the other members of the subcommittee for their support."

The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2011 reauthorizes provisions of the Project Bioshield Act of 2004 and Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006. H.R. 2405, introduced by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), continues to build the nation's preparedness infrastructure and foster the development of medical countermeasures to better respond to terrorist attacks. H.R. 2405 passed by voice vote.

Rogers said, "There has not been a successful attack on U.S. soil in the last 10 years, but our enemies are still working hard each and every day to kill innocent U.S. citizens. H.R. 2405 would help to protect the United States against attacks from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. Many countermeasures do not yet exist, and their development is a long and expensive process. I hope that we never need them, but I would like to rest assured that they are available should our enemies successfully carry out an attack."

The Synthetic Drug Control Act would make synthetic drugs that imitate the effect of drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamines illegal. H.R. 1254, introduced by Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA), passed by voice vote.

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