IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 961 
Encouraging the establishment of programs to increase public awareness 
of vision disorders in children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2006 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. 
MACK, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, 
Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. 
FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania, Mr. BONNER, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. 
MCCOTTER, Mr. SHAW, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. RAMSTAD, and Mr. LINCOLN 
DIAZ-BALART of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Encouraging the establishment of programs to increase 
public awareness of vision disorders in children. 
Whereas there is a need to enhance national awareness and 
to educate the public and health care providers about vi-
sion disorders in children; 
Whereas millions of children in the United States suffer from 
vision problems, and many cases go undetected; 
Whereas there is no recent nationwide study to accurately de-
termine the percentage of United States children who 
have particular vision problems; 
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Whereas there is a need for the establishment of national 
standards or guidelines to further encourage early identi-
fication and treatment of vision problems in children, 
from birth to age 18; 
Whereas 80 percent of individual learning is through the vis-
ual processing of information; 
Whereas vision impairment affects how a child experiences 
and functions in the world; 
Whereas children with vision problems struggle throughout 
their developmental and school years with resulting phys-
ical, emotional, and social consequences; 
Whereas some health care and educational systems are not 
effectively detecting children’s vision problems due to a 
lack of, or inadequate, vision screenings and comprehen-
sive eye examinations in those systems; 
Whereas common vision problems in children include refrac-
tive errors, amblyopia, strabismus, ocular trauma, and in-
fections; 
Whereas rare but sight-threatening and life-threatening vision 
problems include retinoblastoma (a malignant tumor that 
usually appears in the first 3 years of age), infantile 
cataracts, congenital glaucoma, and genetic or metabolic 
diseases of the eye; and 
Whereas the costs to society and government is enormous 
from not detecting, evaluating, and treating early on the 
vision problems in children: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that programs should be established— 
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(1) to increase public awareness about the prev-
alence and devastating consequences of vision dis-
orders in children; and 
(2) to educate the public and health care pro-
viders about— 
(A) the warning signs and symptoms of oc-
ular and vision disorders and the benefits of 
early detection, evaluation, and treatment; and 
(B) the importance of early and regular vi-
sion screening and comprehensive eye exams to 
detect vision disorders that may not be readily 
apparent. 
Æ 
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