I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1252 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of 

screenings and education regarding children with sudden cardiac arrhythmia syndromes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2005 

Mrs. MCCARTHY (for herself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. OWENS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

KILDEE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. STARK, 

Mr. PAYNE, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 

California, and Mr. BISHOP of New York) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

a program of screenings and education regarding children with sudden cardiac arrhythmia syndromes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teague Ryan Sudden 

5 Child Cardiac Arrhythmia Syndromes Screening and Edu6 cation Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) Each month between 250 and 600 young 

4 people in the United States die suddenly and unex5 pectedly from cardiac arrhythmia syndromes. 

6 (2) These syndromes include long Q–T syn7 drome, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhymogenic 

8 right ventricular dysplasia, and others. 

9 (3) Long Q–T syndrome is more common in the 

10 United States than childhood leukemia. 

11 (4) Most cardiac arrhythmia syndromes that 

12 cause sudden death in the young are identifiable 

13 through screenings. 

14 (5) Once diagnosed, these syndromes are treat15 able, and individuals with these conditions can have 

16 normal life spans and life-styles. 

17 SEC. 2. SCREENINGS AND EDUCATION REGARDING CHIL18 DREN WITH SUDDEN CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA 

19 SYNDROMES. 

20 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

21 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec22 tion 317S the following section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 317T. SCREENINGS AND EDUCATION REGARDING 

2 CHILDREN WITH SUDDEN CARDIAC AR3 RHYTHMIA SYNDROMES. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

5 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre6 vention, may make awards of grants or contracts to 

7 States, political subdivisions of States, and other public 

8 or nonprofit private entities, such as the Cardiac Arrhyth9 mias Research and Education Foundation, the Sudden Ar10 rhythmia Death Syndromes Foundation, and the Hyper11 trophic Cardiomyopathy Association, for the purpose of 

12 carrying out programs— 

13 ‘‘(1) to screen children for sudden cardiac ar14 rhythmia syndromes; 

15 ‘‘(2) to provide referrals for medical services re16 garding such syndromes; and 

17 ‘‘(3) to provide education on such syndromes to 

18 health professionals and the general public, including 

19 education on screening methods. 

20 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY IN MAKING AWARDS.—In making 

21 awards under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give pri22 ority— 

23 ‘‘(1) to screenings and referrals under such 

24 subsection for children who participate in, or intend 

25 to participate in, organized sports; and 
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1 ‘‘(2) to educational activities under such sub2 section that are directed toward parents of children 

3 described in paragraph (1) and health professionals 

4 who commonly provide medical care for such chil5 dren. 

6 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

7 provide technical assistance to grantees under subsection 

8 (a) with respect to the planning, development, and oper9 ation of programs under such subsection. The Secretary 

10 may provide such technical assistance directly or through 

11 grants or contracts. 

12 ‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary, directly or 

13 through grants or contracts, shall provide for evaluations 

14 of programs under subsection (a) in order to determine 

15 the quality and effectiveness of the programs. 

16 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

17 term ‘children’ means individuals under the age of 19. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

19 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

20 to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and 

21 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

22 2007 through 2010.’’. 

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