I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2029 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 

the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to 

establish and implement a birth defects prevention, risk reduction, and 

public awareness program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2011 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. BARROW, Mr. BILBRAY, Mrs. BLACKBURN, 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GONZALEZ, 

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HALL, Mr. HINCHEY, 

Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. LANCE, Ms. LEE

of California, Mr. MATHESON, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCCAUL, 

Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. MILLER of North 

Carolina, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Ms. ROYBALALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SESSIONS, 

Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. WEINER, and Mr. 

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

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, to establish and implement a 

birth defects prevention, risk reduction, and public 

awareness program. 

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 ‘‘Birth Defects Preven3 tion, Risk Reduction, and Awareness Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. BIRTH DEFECTS PREVENTION, RISK REDUCTION, 

5 AND AWARENESS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

7 implement a birth defects prevention and public awareness 

8 program, consisting of the activities described in sub9 sections (c) and (d). 

10 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

11 (1) The term ‘‘pregnancy and breastfeeding in12 formation services’’ includes only— 

13 (A) information services to provide accu14 rate, evidence-based, clinical information re15 garding maternal exposures during pregnancy 

16 that may be associated with birth defects or 

17 other health risks, such as exposures to medica18 tions, chemicals, infections, foodborne patho19 gens, illnesses, nutrition, or lifestyle factors; 

20 (B) information services to provide accu21 rate, evidence-based, clinical information re22 garding maternal exposures during 

23 breastfeeding that may be associated with 

24 health risks to a breast-fed infant, such as ex25 posures to medications, chemicals, infections, 


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1 foodborne pathogens, illnesses, nutrition, or life2 style factors; 

3 (C) the provision of accurate, evidence4 based information weighing risks of exposures 

5 during breastfeeding against the benefits of 

6 breastfeeding; and 

7 (D) the provision of information described 

8 in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) through coun9 selors, Web sites, fact sheets, telephonic or elec10 tronic communication, community outreach ef11 forts, or other appropriate means. 

12 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

13 of Health and Human Services, acting through the 

14 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre15 vention. 

16 (c) NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN.—In carrying out 

17 subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct or support a 

18 nationwide media campaign to increase awareness among 

19 health care providers and at-risk populations about preg20 nancy and breastfeeding information services. 

21 (d) GRANTS FOR PREGNANCY AND BREASTFEEDING

22 INFORMATION SERVICES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 

24 (a), the Secretary shall award grants to State or reVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:38 Jun 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2029.IH H2029

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1 gional agencies or organizations for any of the fol2 lowing: 

3 (A) INFORMATION SERVICES.—The provi4 sion of, or campaigns to increase awareness 

5 about, pregnancy and breastfeeding information 

6 services. 

7 (B) SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH.—The 

8 conduct or support of— 

9 (i) surveillance of or research on— 

10 (I) maternal exposures and ma11 ternal health conditions that may in12 fluence the risk of birth defects, pre13 maturity, or other adverse pregnancy 

14 outcomes; and 

15 (II) maternal exposures that may 

16 influence health risks to a breastfed 

17 infant; or 

18 (ii) networking to facilitate surveil19 lance or research described in this sub20 paragraph. 

21 (2) PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN STATES.—The 

22 Secretary, in making any grant under this sub23 section, shall give preference to States, otherwise 

24 equally qualified, that have or had a pregnancy and 


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1 breastfeeding information service in place on or after 

2 January 1, 2006. 

3 (3) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Secretary may 

4 only award a grant under this subsection to a State 

5 or regional agency or organization that agrees, with 

6 respect to the costs to be incurred in carrying out 

7 the grant activities, to make available (directly or 

8 through donations from public or private entities) 

9 non-Federal funds toward such costs in an amount 

10 equal to not less than 25 percent of the amount of 

11 the grant. 

12 (4) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall en13 sure that activities funded through a grant under 

14 this subsection are coordinated, to the maximum ex15 tent practicable, with other birth defects prevention 

16 and environmental health activities of the Federal 

17 Government, including with respect to pediatric envi18 ronmental health specialty units and children’s envi19 ronmental health centers. 

20 (e) EVALUATION.—In furtherance of the program 

21 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide for an 

22 evaluation of pregnancy and breastfeeding information 

23 services to identify efficient and effective models of— 

24 (1) providing information; 


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1 (2) raising awareness and increasing knowledge 

2 about birth defects prevention measures; 

3 (3) modifying risk behaviors; or 

4 (4) other outcome measures as determined ap5 propriate by the Secretary. 

6 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

7 out this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated 

8 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, $6,000,000 for fiscal year 

9 2013, $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2014, $8,000,000 for fis10 cal year 2015, and $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

Æ 


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