I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 117 

To authorize funding for the creation and implementation of infant mortality 

pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas with high rates 

of infant mortality, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILMER, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 

MCEACHIN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RYAN, 

Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 

KAPTUR, and Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize funding for the creation and implementation 

of infant mortality pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas with high rates of infant mortality, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nationally Enhancing 

3 the Wellbeing of Babies through Outreach and Research 

4 Now Act’’ or the ‘‘NEWBORN Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS. 

6 Section 330H of the Public Health Service Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 254c–8) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub9 section (f); 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(e) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

14 through the Administrator, shall award grants to eli15 gible entities to create, implement, and oversee in16 fant mortality pilot programs. 

17 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a 

18 grant under this subsection shall be up to 5 years. 

19 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 

20 this subsection, the Secretary shall give preference 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(A) eligible entities proposing to serve 

23 any of the 15 counties or groups of counties 

24 with the highest rates of infant mortality in the 

25 United States in the past 3 years; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) eligible entities whose proposed infant 

2 mortality pilot program would address— 

3 ‘‘(i) birth defects; 

4 ‘‘(ii) preterm birth and low birth 

5 weight; 

6 ‘‘(iii) sudden infant death syndrome; 

7 ‘‘(iv) maternal pregnancy complica8 tions; or 

9 ‘‘(v) injuries to infants. 

10 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Any infant mortality 

11 pilot program funded under this subsection may— 

12 ‘‘(A) include the development of a plan 

13 that identifies the individual needs of each com14 munity to be served and strategies to address 

15 those needs; 

16 ‘‘(B) provide outreach to at-risk mothers 

17 through programs deemed appropriate by the 

18 Administrator; 

19 ‘‘(C) develop and implement standardized 

20 systems for improved access, utilization, and 

21 quality of social, educational, and clinical serv22 ices to promote healthy pregnancies, full-term 

23 births, and healthy infancies delivered to women 

24 and their infants, such as— 


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1 ‘‘(i) counseling on infant care, feed2 ing, and parenting; 

3 ‘‘(ii) postpartum care; 

4 ‘‘(iii) prevention of premature deliv5 ery; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) additional counseling for at-risk 

7 mothers, including smoking cessation pro8 grams, drug treatment programs, alcohol 

9 treatment programs, nutrition and physical 

10 activity programs, postpartum depression 

11 and domestic violence programs, social and 

12 psychological services, dental care, and 

13 parenting programs; 

14 ‘‘(D) establish a rural outreach program to 

15 provide care to at-risk mothers in rural areas; 

16 ‘‘(E) establish a regional public education 

17 campaign, including a campaign to— 

18 ‘‘(i) prevent preterm births; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) educate the public about infant 

20 mortality; 

21 ‘‘(F) provide for any other activities, pro22 grams, or strategies as identified by the com23 munity plan; and 

24 ‘‘(G) coordinate efforts between— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the health department of each 

2 county or other eligible entity to be served 

3 through the infant mortality pilot program; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) existing entities that work to re6 duce the rate of infant mortality within the 

7 area of any such county or other eligible 

8 entity. 

9 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Of the funds received 

10 through a grant under this subsection for a fiscal 

11 year, an eligible entity shall not use more than 10 

12 percent for program evaluation. 

13 ‘‘(6) REPORTS ON PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after receiving a grant, and annually thereafter 

16 for the duration of the grant period, each entity 

17 that receives a grant under paragraph (1) shall 

18 submit a report to the Secretary detailing its 

19 infant mortality pilot program. 

20 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The reports 

21 required under subparagraph (A) shall include 

22 information such as the methodology of, and 

23 outcomes and statistics from, the grantee’s in24 fant mortality pilot program. 


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1 ‘‘(C) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

2 use the reports required under subparagraph 

3 (A) to evaluate, and conduct statistical research 

4 on, infant mortality pilot programs funded 

5 through this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 

7 subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Admin9 istrator’ means the Administrator of the Health 

10 Resources and Services Administration. 

11 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi12 ble entity’ means a county, city, territorial, or 

13 tribal health department that has submitted a 

14 proposal to the Secretary that the Secretary 

15 deems likely to reduce infant mortality rates 

16 within the standard metropolitan statistical 

17 area involved. 

18 ‘‘(C) TRIBAL.—The term ‘tribal’ refers to 

19 an Indian tribe, a Tribal organization, or an 

20 Urban Indian organization, as such terms are 

21 defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 

22 Improvement Act.’’; and 

23 (3) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig24 nated— 

25 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) by amending the paragraph head2 ing to read: ‘‘HEALTHY START INITIA3 TIVE’’; and 

4 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘carrying out 

5 this section’’ the following: ‘‘(other than 

6 subsection (e))’’; 

7 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

8 paragraph (3); 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(2) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 

13 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 to carry 

14 out subsection (e). Amounts authorized by this para15 graph to be appropriated to carry out subsection (e) 

16 are in addition to amounts authorized by paragraph 

17 (1) to be appropriated to carry out the Healthy 

18 Start Initiative under subsection (a).’’; and 

19 (D) in paragraph (3)(A), as so redesig20 nated, by striking ‘‘the program under this sec21 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘the program under sub22 section (a)’’. 

Æ 


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