III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 30 

Supporting the goals and ideals of Spina Bifida Awareness Month. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 13, 2011 

Mr. WICKER submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Supporting the goals and ideals of Spina Bifida Awareness 

Month. 

Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, there are approximately 166,000 individuals 

living in the United States with a form of spina bifida, 

the United States most common permanent birth defect; 

Whereas the risk of spina bifida can be reduced by up to 70 

percent if women consume 400 micrograms of folic acid 

daily, before and during pregnancy; 

Whereas there are 65,000,000 women of childbearing age in 

the United States, all of whom are potentially at risk of 

having a child with spina bifida; 

Whereas 1,500 children are born each year with spina bifida; 

Whereas, according to the Spina Bifida Association, spina 

bifida is a complicated condition, adversely impacting virmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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tually every organ system and requiring multiple clinical 

specialists to provide lifelong comprehensive, quality medical and psychosocial care; 

Whereas the National Spina Bifida Program, administered by 

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exists to 

improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for the 

individuals and families affected by spina bifida through 

numerous programmatic components, including the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry and critical quality 

of life research in spina bifida. 

Whereas the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry helps to 

improve the quality of care, reduce morbidity and mortality from spina bifida, and increase the efficiency and 

decrease the cost of care by supporting the collection of 

longitudinal-treatment data, developing quality measures 

and treatment standards of care and best practices, identifying ‘‘centers of excellence’’ in spina bifida, evaluating 

both the clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatment of 

spina bifida, and exchanging evidence-based information 

among health-care providers across the United States; 

Whereas the Spina Bifida Association is the only national voluntary health agency working for people with spina bifida 

and their families through education, advocacy, research, 

and service; and 

Whereas October is designated as National Spina Bifida 

Awareness Month to help increase awareness and the 

prevention of spina bifida, as well as enhancing the quality of life of persons living with spina bifida: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

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1 (1) supports the goals and ideals of National 

2 Spina Bifida Awareness Month; 

3 (2) recognizes the importance of highlighting 

4 the occurrence of spina bifida, bringing to light the 

5 struggles and successes of those who live with spina 

6 bifida, and advancing efforts to decrease the inci7 dence of spina bifida; 

8 (3) supports the ongoing development of the 

9 National Spina Bifida Patient Registry to improve 

10 lives through research and to improve treatments for 

11 both children and adults; 

12 (4) recognizes that there is a continued need for 

13 a commitment of resources for efforts to reduce and 

14 prevent disabling birth defects like spina bifida; and 

15 (5) commends the excellent work of the Spina 

16 Bifida Association to educate, support, and provide 

17 hope for people with spina bifida and their families. 

Æ 

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