Gus Bilirakis: “S. 419, introduced by Senator Bond of Missouri, calls for a national strategy to prevent birth defects. This legislation…”

“S. 419, introduced by Senator Bond of Missouri, calls for a national strategy to prevent birth defects. This legislation has a history of bipartisan support with key provisions having passed both the House and Senate previously. It passed the Senate by voice vote on June 12, 1997. The bill was cosponsored by 34 Senators, including both the majority leader, Senator Lott, and the minority leader, Senator Daschle. The companion House bill, H.R. 1114, was introduced by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bonilla) and has 162 cosponsors. The Birth Defects Prevention Act was first introduced by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz) in 1992 in response to a tragedy that occurred in south Texas where a cluster of devastating birth defects escaped detection for several years. I want to particularly, Mr. Speaker, commend the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ortiz) for his commitment to preventing birth defects and for his leadership on this legislation; and to best exemplify that commitment, I would share with my colleagues the fact that when I called him as a matter of courtesy with a plan to offer Senator Bond's bill, rather than his, because the Bond bill was already passed by the Senate unanimously, he without hesitating said, "Mike, I don't care about credit. The important thing is to get the bill passed."”