I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1252 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of 
screenings and education regarding children with sudden cardiac arrhyth-
mia syndromes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2005 
Mrs. MCCARTHY (for herself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. OWENS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
KILDEE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. STARK, 
Mr. PAYNE, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. AN-
DREWS, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 
California, and Mr. BISHOP of New York) 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 program of screenings and education regarding chil-
dren with sudden cardiac arrhythmia syndromes. 
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 ‘‘Teague Ryan Sudden 
Child Cardiac Arrhythmia Syndromes Screening and Edu-
cation Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Each month between 250 and 600 young 
people in the United States die suddenly and unex-
pectedly from cardiac arrhythmia syndromes. 
(2) These syndromes include long Q–T syn-
drome, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhymogenic 
right ventricular dysplasia, and others. 
(3) Long Q–T syndrome is more common in the 
United States than childhood leukemia. 
(4) Most cardiac arrhythmia syndromes that 
cause sudden death in the young are identifiable 
through screenings. 
(5) Once diagnosed, these syndromes are treat-
able, and individuals with these conditions can have 
normal life spans and life-styles. 
SEC. 2. SCREENINGS AND EDUCATION REGARDING CHIL-
DREN WITH SUDDEN CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA 
SYNDROMES. 
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 317S the following section:
‘‘SEC. 317T. SCREENINGS AND EDUCATION REGARDING 
CHILDREN 
WITH 
SUDDEN 
CARDIAC 
AR-
RHYTHMIA SYNDROMES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, may make awards of grants or contracts to 
States, political subdivisions of States, and other public 
or nonprofit private entities, such as the Cardiac Arrhyth-
mias Research and Education Foundation, the Sudden Ar-
rhythmia Death Syndromes Foundation, and the Hyper-
trophic Cardiomyopathy Association, for the purpose of 
carrying out programs— 
‘‘(1) to screen children for sudden cardiac ar-
rhythmia syndromes; 
‘‘(2) to provide referrals for medical services re-
garding such syndromes; and 
‘‘(3) to provide education on such syndromes to 
health professionals and the general public, including 
education on screening methods. 
‘‘(b) PRIORITY
IN MAKING AWARDS.—In making 
awards under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give pri-
ority— 
‘‘(1) to screenings and referrals under such 
subsection for children who participate in, or intend 
to participate in, organized sports; and
‘‘(2) to educational activities under such sub-
section that are directed toward parents of children 
described in paragraph (1) and health professionals 
who commonly provide medical care for such chil-
dren. 
‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 
provide technical assistance to grantees under subsection 
(a) with respect to the planning, development, and oper-
ation of programs under such subsection. The Secretary 
may provide such technical assistance directly or through 
grants or contracts. 
‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary, directly or 
through grants or contracts, shall provide for evaluations 
of programs under subsection (a) in order to determine 
the quality and effectiveness of the programs. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘children’ means individuals under the age of 19. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 
purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 
to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and 
such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 
2007 through 2010.’’. 
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