Gus Bilirakis: “I thank the chairman for yielding me time. I appreciate all his help on this particular bill, and the committee's help…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding me time. I appreciate all his help on this particular bill, and the committee's help as well. It has been a priority of ours. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1222, the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act as amended by the Senate, which will ensure continued investment in surveillance research to evaluate the lifelong needs of individuals with congenital heart defects, or CHD. These surveillance efforts will help improve our understanding of CHD across the lifespan, from birth to adulthood. This research will help us learn more about demographic factors such as age, race, gender, and/ or ethnicity. In addition, the legislation emphasizes a need for continued biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of CHD. NIH will further research into the causes of congenital heart defects, including genetic causes, and study long-term outcomes in individuals with CHD of all ages. NIH may study data to identify effective treatments and outcomes, and identify barriers to lifelong care for individuals with congenital heart defects. CHD is the most common birth defect and the leading cause of birth defect-related infant mortality. For the Down syndrome community, about half of the children born with Down syndrome have CHD. The road ahead may be scary and uncertain for any parent with a newborn who has CHD, but this bill gives hope to those coping with the diagnosis.…”