Danny Davis: “I rise in support of H.R. 5574, the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2006. In FY2002, 59…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 5574, the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2006. In FY2002, 59 children's hospitals received payments totaling $276 million. These hospitals provide specialized health care for infants, children and adolescents. Most have a wide variety of pediatric specialists to care for all types of medical problems. The Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act is of importance to me as it affects many citizens of my congressional district. My district contains 26 hospitals and many are children's hospitals. In Chicago, Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital recently opened the world's first Ambient Experience pediatric radiology suite. The project seeks to make children more comfortable potentially reducing the need for sedation and repeat examinations. Federal funding has helped hospitals such as Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital the ability to take care of the sick children of Chicago. Our society must continue to recognize the needs of children. Urie Bronfenbrenner, the co-founder of the national Head Start program, once said, ``no society can long sustain itself unless its members have learned the sensitivities, motivations and skills involved in assisting and caring for other human beings.'' I am pleased that we are continuing to understand the needs of children in our society and that we are continuing to make progress with this issue.”