I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 398

To revise and extend the Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1998. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2003

Mr. FERGUSON (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, and Mr. 

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

A BILL

To revise and extend the Birth Defects Prevention Act of 

1998.

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 ‘‘Birth Defects and De5 velopmental Disabilities Prevention Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CENTER ON BIRTH DEFECTS AND DE7 VELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES. 

8 Section 317C of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 247b–4) is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (a)(2)—
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1 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

2 (i) by striking ‘‘and developmental 

3 disabilities’’ and inserting ‘‘, developmental 

4 disabilities, and disabilities and health’’; 

5 and 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (d)(2)’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(2)’’; 

8 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

10 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

11 period and inserting a semicolon; and 

12 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(D) to conduct research on and to pro14 mote the prevention of such defects and disabil15 ities, and secondary health conditions among in16 dividuals with disabilities; and 

17 ‘‘(E) to support a National Spina Bifida 

18 Program to prevent and reduce suffering from 

19 the Nation’s most common permanently dis20 abling birth defect.’’; 

21 (2) by striking subsection (b); 

22 (3) in subsection (d)—

23 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert24 ing the following: 
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1 ‘‘(1) contains information regarding the inci2 dence and prevalence of birth defects, developmental 

3 disabilities, and the health status of individuals with 

4 disabilities and the extent to which these conditions 

5 have contributed to the incidence and prevalence of 

6 infant mortality and affected quality of life;’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, devel8 opmental disabilities, and secondary health con9 ditions among individuals with disabilities’’ 

10 after ‘‘defects’’; 

11 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (D) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

14 paragraph (7); and 

15 (E) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(5) contains information on the incidence and 

18 prevalence of individuals living with birth defects 

19 and disabilities or developmental disabilities, infor20 mation on the health status of individuals with dis21 abilities, information on any health disparities expe22 rienced by such individuals, and recommendations 

23 for improving the health and wellness and quality of 

24 life of such individuals; 
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1 ‘‘(6) contains a summary of recommendations 

2 from all birth defects research conferences sponsored 

3 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

4 including conferences related to spina bifida; and’’; 

5 (4) in subsection (e)—

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including section 444 of 

7 the General Education Provisions Act,’’ after 

8 ‘‘privacy of information’’; and 

9 (B) by inserting before the period the fol10 lowing: ‘‘, except that the Centers for Disease 

11 Control and Prevention shall have access to in12 formation under section 444(b)(1)(F) of such 

13 Act solely for purposes of carrying out sub14 section (a)(2) of this section and shall otherwise 

15 comply with all other requirements of such sec16 tion 444’’; 

17 (5) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 

18 (e) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), respectively; 

19 (6) by inserting after subsection (d) (as so re20 designated), the following: 

21 ‘‘(e) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Notwithstanding any 

22 other provision of law, the members of the advisory com23 mittee appointed by the Director of the National Center 

24 for Environmental Health that have expertise in birth de25 fects, developmental disabilities, and disabilities and 
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1 health shall be transferred to and shall advise the National 

2 Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities 

3 effective on the date of enactment of the Birth Defects 

4 and Developmental Disabilities Prevention Act of 2003.’’; 

5 and 

6 (7) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘$30,000,000’’ 

7 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘such sums as 

8 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2003 

9 through 2007.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS FOR STATE COUNCILS 

11 ON DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES. 

12 Section 122(a) of the Developmental Disabilities As13 sistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

14 15022(a)) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by inserting before 

16 the period the following: ‘‘, the amount received by 

17 the State for the previous year, or the amount of 

18 Federal appropriations received in fiscal year 2000, 

19 2001, or 2002, whichever is greater’’; and 

20 (2) in paragraph (4)(A)(ii), by inserting before 

21 the period the following: ‘‘, the amount received by 

22 the State for the previous year, or the amount of 

23 Federal appropriations received in fiscal year 2000, 

24 2001, or 2002, whichever is greater’’.

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