I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2643

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a biennial report

on nutrition and health by the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 15, 1993

Mr. WYDEN 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 biennial report on nutrition and health by the Surgeon

General of the Public Health Service.

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 ‘‘Nutrition and Health

5 Information Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF REQUIREMENT OF BIENNIAL

7 REPORT ON NUTRITION AND HEALTH.

8 Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42

9 U.S.C. 300u et seq.), as amended by section 302 of Public
2

•HR 2643 IH

1 Law 102–531 (106 Stat. 3483), is amended by adding at

2 the end the following section:

3 ‘‘BIENNIAL REPORT REGARDING NUTRITION AND HEALTH

4 ‘‘SEC. 1709. (a) BIENNIAL REPORT.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require

6 the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to

7 prepare biennial reports on the relationship between

8 nutrition and health. Such reports may, with respect

9 to such relationship, include any recommendations of

10 the Secretary and the Surgeon General regarding

11 the public health and regarding legislative and ad12 ministrative initiatives.

13 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATIONS WITH DEPARTMENT OF

14 AGRICULTURE.—Recommendations under paragraph

15 (1) on matters within the jurisdiction of the Depart16 ment of Agriculture may be made only after con17 sultation with the Secretary of Agriculture or the

18 designee of such Secretary.

19 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN TOPICS.—Each report under sub20 section (a) shall address not less than 1 of the following

21 topics:

22 ‘‘(1) The role of diet, including nutritional sup23 plements, in the treatment and prevention of dis24 eases, disorders, and other health conditions (includ25 ing disabilities and chronic diseases) in the general

26 population and in special populations.
3

•HR 2643 IH

1 ‘‘(2) The adequacy of the education that health

2 care professionals and caregivers receive with respect

3 to nutrition, including physicians, naturopathic phy4 sicians, nurses, and other health and long-term care

5 providers (both in institutions and in the home).

6 ‘‘(3) The extent to which nutritional rec7 ommendations of governmental agencies are consist8 ent with each other.

9 ‘‘(4) The sufficiency of public and private re10 search on the relationship of nutrition and health.

11 ‘‘(5)(A) The extent to which the public’s under12 standing of the role of nutrition in health includes

13 understanding—

14 ‘‘(i) the information that appears on the

15 labels of food products; and

16 ‘‘(ii) scientific information regarding the

17 role of nutrition in the prevention and treat18 ment of diseases, disorders, and other health

19 conditions (including disabilities and chronic

20 diseases).

21 ‘‘(B) The extent to which the public’s under22 standing of the information described in subpara23 graph (A) influences dietary habits.

24 ‘‘(6) The effect that food-related promotion, ad25 vertising, and marketing have on the understanding
4

•HR 2643 IH

1 of the public with respect to the relationship of nu2 trition and health.

3 ‘‘(7) The extent to which hunger and malnutri4 tion exist in the United States, including the extent

5 to which special populations have unmet nutritional

6 needs.

7 ‘‘(8) The effect that different methods of food

8 production have on the nutritional value of food.

9 ‘‘(9) The nutritional value associated with foods

10 prepared or distributed by mechanical vendors, fast

11 food restaurants, and governmental nutrition pro12 grams.

13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

14 term ‘special populations’ means the populations of par15 ticular urban regions and of particular rural regions;

16 women; children; the elderly; individuals with disabilities,

17 including but not limited to individuals who require sig18 nificant personal assistance with 2 or more activities of

19 daily living and individuals with an equivalent level of cog20 nitive impairment; chronically ill individuals; institutional21 ized individuals; racial and ethnic minorities; and low-in22 come individuals.

23 ‘‘(d) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary

24 shall ensure that, not later than February 1 of 1995 and

25 of every second year thereafter, a report under subsection
5

•HR 2643 IH

1 (a) is submitted to the Committee on Energy and Com2 merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee

3 on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate.

4 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

5 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

6 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for

7 each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1998.’’.

Æ