I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4212 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and extend the 
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome prevention and services program, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 2, 2005 
Mr. PALLONE (for himself and Mr. RAMSTAD) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and 
extend the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome prevention and serv-
ices program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advancing FASD Re-
search, Prevention, and Services Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders are the 
spectrum of serious, life-long disorders caused by 
prenatal exposure to alcohol, which include Fetal Al-
cohol 
Syndrome, 
Alcohol-Related 
Neurodevelopmental Disorder, and Alcohol-Related 
Birth Defects. 
(2) In the decades that have passed since Fetal 
Alcohol Syndrome was first recognized in the United 
States, this fully preventable condition has continued 
to affect American children and families. 
(3) Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause brain 
damage that produces cognitive and behavioral im-
pairments. Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause men-
tal retardation or low IQ and difficulties with learn-
ing, memory, attention, and problem-solving. It can 
also create problems with mental health and social 
interactions. 
(4) Prenatal alcohol exposure also can cause 
growth retardation, birth defects involving the heart, 
kidney, vision and hearing, and a characteristic pat-
tern of facial abnormalities. 
(5) About 13 percent of women report using al-
cohol during pregnancy even though there is no 
known safe level of alcohol consumption during preg-
nancy.
(6) Estimates of individuals with Fetal Alcohol 
Syndrome vary but are estimated to be between 0.5 
and 2.0 per 1,000 births. The prevalence rate is con-
siderably higher for all Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Dis-
orders: about 10 out of 1,000 births (1 percent of 
births). 
(7) Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Dis-
orders can be even higher in certain populations, 
such as Native Americans, and in certain areas, 
such as those characterized by low socioeconomic 
status. 
(8) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders pose ex-
traordinary financial costs to the Nation, including 
the cost of specialized health care, education, foster 
care, incarceration, job training, and general support 
services for individuals affected by Fetal Alcohol 
Spectrum Disorders. 
(9) Lifetime health costs for an individual with 
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome average $860,000, and can 
run as high as $4,200,000. The direct and indirect 
economic costs of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in the 
United States were $5,400,000,000 in 2003. Total 
economic costs would be even higher for all Fetal Al-
cohol Spectrum Disorders.
(10) There is a great need for research, surveil-
lance, prevention, treatment, and support services 
for individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Dis-
orders and their families. 
SEC. 3. PROGRAMS FOR FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DIS-
ORDERS. 
Section 399H of the Public Health Service Act (48 
U.S.C. 280f) is amended— 
(1) by striking the section heading and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘SEC. 399H. PROGRAMS FOR FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM 
DISORDERS.’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (a) through (d) 
as subsections (h) through (k), respectively; 
(3) by inserting after the section heading, the 
following: 
‘‘(a) RESEARCH
ON
FAS AND
RELATED
DIS-
ORDERS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the National Institutes of 
Health and in coordination with the Interagency Co-
ordinating Committee on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, 
shall— 
‘‘(A) establish a research agenda for Fetal 
Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; and
‘‘(B) award grants, contracts, or coopera-
tive agreements to public or private nonprofit 
entities to pay all or part of carrying out re-
search under such agenda. 
‘‘(2) TYPES
OF
RESEARCH.—In carrying out 
paragraph (1), the Secretary, acting through the Di-
rector of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and 
Alcoholism, shall conduct national and international 
research in coordination with other Federal agencies 
that includes— 
‘‘(A) the identification of the mechanisms 
that produce the cognitive and behavioral prob-
lems associated with fetal alcohol exposure; 
‘‘(B) the development of a neurocognitive 
phenotype for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Al-
cohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder; 
‘‘(C) the identification of biological mark-
ers that can be used to indicate fetal alcohol ex-
posure; 
‘‘(D) the identification of fetal and mater-
nal risk factors that increase susceptibility to 
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; 
‘‘(E) the investigation of behavioral and 
pharmacotherapies 
for 
alcohol-dependent
women to determine new approaches for sus-
taining recovery; 
‘‘(F) the development of scientific-based 
therapeutic interventions for individuals with 
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; 
‘‘(G) the development of screening instru-
ments to identify women who consume alcohol 
during pregnancy and the development of 
standards for measuring, reporting, and ana-
lyzing alcohol consumption patterns in pregnant 
women; and 
‘‘(H) other research that the Director de-
termines to be appropriate. 
‘‘(3) STUDY.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the National Institute of Mental 
Health, shall— 
‘‘(A) conduct a study on the behavioral 
disorders that may be associated with prenatal 
alcohol exposure; 
‘‘(B) not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of the Advancing FASD Research, 
Prevention, and Services Act, submit to Con-
gress a report on the appropriateness of charac-
terizing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and