{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgE2021-3", "2012-12-31", 112, 2, null, null, "HEALTH RELATED MATTERS FOR MY COLLEAGUES IN CONGRESS TO CONSIDER IN 2013", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2021", "E2023", "[{\"name\": \"Dan Burton\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "158 Cong. Rec. E2021", "Congressional Record, Volume 158 Issue 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E2021-E2023]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n  HEALTH RELATED MATTERS FOR MY COLLEAGUES IN CONGRESS TO CONSIDER IN\n                                  2013\n\n                                 ______\n\n                            HON. DAN BURTON\n\n                               of indiana\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Monday, December 31, 2012\n\n  Mr. BURTON. Mr. Speaker, as we close the 112th Congress and I prepare\nto retire from Congress, I would like to leave a few comments regarding\nhealth related matters for my colleagues who will return to the 113th\nCongress. Throughout my decades in public service, I have strived to\ngive consideration to those whose issues fall through the cracks of our\ngovernment, and to those who become targets of government authorities\nfor daring to deliver or seek alternative therapies.\n  Complementary and Alternative Therapies: While Chairman of the\nCommittee on Oversight and Government Reform, I initiated a\ncomprehensive evaluation of the role of complementary and alternative\ntherapies in our health care system. During this time we heard from\nresearchers, practitioners, and patients about the value that\ncomplementary and alternative therapies can play in our health system.\nThese therapies include acupuncture, massage therapy, traditional\nhealing systems from various cultures around the world such as\nTraditional East Asian Medicine, Kampo, Native American Medicine,\nHomeopathy and energy therapies such as QiGong and Reiki as well as the\nuse stress management tools and nutrition and dietary supplements.\nThese also include conventional therapies used for purposes not yet\nrecognized as mainstream such as Chelation Therapy for cardiovascular\nbenefit.\n  I hope my colleagues in 2013 will continue to protect access\ntherapies and products so that Americans can continue to make their own\nchoices in health care and retain their health freedom. I also believe\na hard look at the management of resources provided to these issues is\noverdue. For instance, the first ever head to head research study\nlooking at an alternative cancer treatment for pancreatic cancer as\ncompared to the mainstream therapy was an absolute management disaster.\nTen years, millions of dollars, and several federal investigations\nvalidating violations of patient protections by the academic\nconventional cancer therapy principal investigator has been swept under\nthe rug by the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer\nInstitute and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative\nMedicine. Too often, I hear that the studies that are funded,\nespecially those on herbs are ``designed to fail''. After 20 years and\nmore than a billion dollars, too little quality research on the\ntherapies Americans are most interested has in has been conducted. When\nmy colleague Senator Tom Harkin gave the initial instruction to the\nNational Institutes of Health to ``investigate and validate'' therapies\nbeing used around the world, we all envisioned an aggressive campaign\nto go into the field and look at what is working an report this to the\nAmerican people. Former Congressman Berkley Bedell championed this\nissue after being successfully treated with alternative therapies for\nLyme disease and Prostate Cancer. Much good has been accomplished, but\nbetter work can and should be done.\n  In early 2013, the results of a national multi-site Chelation Therapy\nstudy will be published. I hope my colleagues will review this study\nand look to the history of how doctors who have provided this therapy\nhave been attacked for daring to use a therapy approved decades ago by\nthe Food and Drug Administration to treat heavy metal exposure in\nchildren ``off label'' for cardiovascular benefit. Medicine is\nincreasingly recognizing that exposure to lead, mercury and other heavy\nmetals have on the body including the cardiovascular system. Chelation\nTherapy may be improving\n\n[[Page E2022]]\n\ncardiovascular health by removing heavy metals. This study was attacked\nby closed-minded individuals who oppose chelation therapy and all\nalternative therapies. Sadly, we have lost a decade in looking at the\nbenefits of chelation therapy in children as the National Institutes of\nHealth reneged on its promise to conduct a study at the Clinical Center\non chelation therapy in the pediatric population. The American people\ndeserve honest inquiry into chelation therapy for all its possible\nbenefits.\n  Keep in mind, 1 in 6 women of childbearing age are carrying a higher\nthan normal body burden of mercury, and mercury is the second most\ntoxic substance on the planet. Mercury in all its forms can be harmful\nespecially to babies in the wound and in the first years of life.\n  We first became aware of mercury in vaccines after the FDA was\nrequired by our body to conduct an inquiry on the amount of mercury in\nthe products they regulated. A new inquiry is due in 2013 to determine\nthe amount of mercury still in all FDA regulated products. Congress\nwill once again need to require this of the FDA. I am disturbed that in\n2013 we continue to have mercury in any form in medicines and in other\nproducts Americans routinely use without the knowledge they are\nexposing their families to mercury. It is a travesty that public health\nauthorities have discounted the risk of mercury in vaccines and other\nproducts because it is a ``trace amount''. The whole body of evidence\non mercury shows it can be harmful and is best avoided. Sadly the\nAmerican Academy of Pediatrics and the public health officials at FDA\nand the rest of the Department of Health and Human Services should be\nleading the charge to get mercury out of all medicines, and they have\ninstead continued to protect the industry and not our children. It has\nbeen left to families who have formed organizations such as the\nCoalition for SafeMinds to fight for children to be protected from\nexposure to mercury through medicine.\n  Autism and Vaccine Injury: The Committee did not set out to\ninvestigate the epidemic rise in autism rates; however, in late 1999 as\nwe were looking at reports of injury within the military form the\nadulterated anthrax vaccine, we began hearing about children being\ninjured from vaccines and developing autism. It was a crisis we could\nnot ignore.\n  Just as Bob Wright, the founder of Autism Speaks, recently testified\nbefore the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that his\ndaughter Katie reports that her son suffered a vaccine injury and\ndeveloped autism, my both of my own grandchildren suffered vaccine\ninjuries and my grandson developed autism shortly after he was\nvaccinated with multiple vaccines, exposed to high levels of mercury\nand suffered adverse reactions. We heard from thousands of families\nwhose experienced similar injuries. Almost 5,000 of these families\nsought relief through the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) as\nis required by law. Congress and the American people are repeatedly\ntold that vaccine injury does not cause autism. Of the 5,000 families\nonly 1, a little girl named Hannah Poling, has received justice in this\nprogram because her parents, both health professionals were able to\ndocument a mitochondrial dysfunction that was exacerbated by exposure\nto mercury and vaccine injury. The government conceded her case, but it\nstill took years of negotiations and legal battles for little Hannah to\nbe compensated. This program is not working at Congress intended and I\nhope my colleagues in the 113th Congress will conduct a thorough review\nof the management of the VICP and direct through legislation\nimprovements to the law so that all that are seriously injured may be\ncompensated swiftly, fairly and without long litigious battles. Sadly\nthe autism omnibus proceeding was fraught with injustices. There was\nonly limited discovery, many actions by government lawyers that in any\nother court would lead to disbarment, and an appearance of bias by the\nSpecial Masters who seemed to work as partners to Justice to defend\nagainst vaccine injury rather than to sit as unbiased administrators\nand many other matters deserve a thorough oversight review by Congress\nto insure the program operates as it was designed.\n\n  While government officials who settled the Hannah Poling case\nreported her mitochondrial dysfunction is rare, others reported that it\nis very prevalent in the autism population. Maybe as many as 1 in 5\nwith autism may have this same mitochondrial dysfunction. These same\ngovernment officials have failed to share what their database of\nvaccine cases show--that almost since the inception of the VICP, the\ngovernment has quietly been settling cases of vaccine induced brain\ninjury that resulted in autism. The Elizabeth Birt Law Advocacy Center\n(EBCALA) conducted a review of settled cases within the program for\nvaccine induced brain injury such as encephalitis and seizures,\nconfirmed dozens of cases in which the government compensated the\nvaccine injured. The way that the government has shielded this is that\nit is not listed as the primary injury. However, the EBCALA\ninvestigators validated through families and records that autism\nresulted from vaccine injury. There needs to improved transparency\nwithin this program. Every case that is settled should be published\nonline in such a way that the public is informed what injuries have\nbeen acknowledged and the management of the program improved so that\nall cases for like injuries are compensated quickly. At present each\nreport of injury is handled in isolation, with no discovery, no ability\nto refer to other cases and evidence previously accepted in cases, the\nprogram is wasteful in the use of its resources and certainly not fair\nto the injured. If we want to preserve vaccine policies in this\ncountry, it is essential to insure that the VICP works as Congress\nintended. I urge my colleagues to engage and stay engaged in\ninvestigating this program, talking to the lawyers and petitioners in\nthe program, and improving it through legislation.\n  Autism: Autism in and of itself is a national emergency. We have gone\nin the time that I served in Congress from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 88\nchildren age 8 on the autism spectrum. This cannot simply be genetics--\nthere is no such thing as a genetic epidemic. There are many issues\nthat I urge my colleagues to address in 2013. The ERISA fix for\ninsurance coverage of autism therapies such as Applied Behavioral\nAnalysis is ``low hanging fruit'' for Congress. There is an urgent need\nto address adult and transition services for individuals with autism\nincluding those with higher functioning autism who, while often able to\nlive independently as adults, are often under employed. We have a\nsevere shortage of adequate housing for adults with autism who are no\nlonger able to live with their parents. We have invested a billion\ndollars in autism research over the last decade, mostly on epidemiology\nand genetics. The autism community is frustrated that environmental\nfactors are not given a greater share of the research dollars and that\npractically no funding has been provided to evaluate the dozens of\ntherapies families who are able to pay out of pocket are using very\nsuccessfully. Many of these are dietary related and alternative\ntherapies and if there is ever to be insurance reimbursement, Medicaid\ncoverage, or access through other government programs such as for\nmilitary families, research to investigate for safety and benefit is\nneeded. I hope my colleagues in 2013 will direct federal research\nresources to these much needed efforts in collaboration with the\nfamilies and practitioners who have experience using them. The\ngovernment cannot continue to sink significant resources simply into\ncounting the children, without addressing the causes of the epidemic\nincrease and focuses on prevention and treatments.\n  I am pleased that Chairman Darrell Issa committed during the November\n29 autism hearing to stay engaged in looking at the federal response to\nautism. He is learning as I did while Chairman that the families and\nprofessionals involved in this community are desperate for Congress to\ndo something to improve the Federal response, to hold accountable those\nwho are subverting the truth about the causes of autism, and who have\npoorly managed the resources provided by taxpayers to get to the truth\non autism and vaccine injury. I urge a review on how the Centers for\nDisease Control and Prevention (CDC) has managed the Vaccine Safety\nDatabase, how Poul Thorsen was able to steal more than $1 million from\nthe autism grant in the CDC-Denmark project, and why Diana Schendel of\nthe CDC has continued publish studies as a co-author to Thorsen. Why\ndoes the CDC continue to promote his research after his federal\nindictment for 22 counts of wire fraud and money laundering? I am\nconcerned that individuals at the CDC have participated in malicious\nacts of covering up the data showing a direct connection between\nexposure to mercury in vaccines in the first six months of life and an\neleven-fold increase risk of autism. I urge the 113th Congress to shine\nthe light of day on their actions and seek justice.\n  Military and Veterans: I cannot leave Congress without giving mention\nto the men and women of our armed services, active duty, National\nGuard, Reserves and Veterans. We recently lost one our own in the\nCongress, Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran. All across the\ngreat nation, in veterans' hospitals, hospices and retirement homes, we\nare losing tens of thousands of World War II, the Korean Conflict, and\nVietnam War veterans each month. Too many have no remaining family\nmembers to be with them and it is VA staff and volunteers who spend the\nlast hours and days with them.\n  The signature injuries of the Global War on Terror of the last 12\nyears is Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.\n(TBI/PTSD) I like many Members of Congress have been informed of the\nbenefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy at 1.5 ATA for members of the\nmilitary who have had concussive injury and developed TBI/PTSD.\nProfessional athletes such as Washington Redskins quarterback Robert\nGriffin III who suffer a concussive injury are immediately provided\naccess to all therapies that show benefit including hyperbaric oxygen\ntherapy (HBOT).\n\n[[Page E2023]]\n\nSadly our troops not provided the same access. For a decade members of\nthe military and veterans have been working to gain access to HBOT and\nother therapies and to have these therapies paid for through Tricare.\nEvidence show HBOT is both safe and effective, and unlike the anti-\ndepressant, anti-psychotic and other drugs being handed out like candy\nby military doctors, do not have black box warnings for increased risk\nof suicide and suicidal thoughts. I urge my colleagues returning in\n2013 as well as President Obama, the Secretaries of Defense and\nVeterans Affairs to work together to make HBOT at 1.5 ATA (the\nvalidated dose) and other therapies as outlined in the TBI Treatment\nAct we passed twice in the House available to those with TBI/PTSD.\nThose who stepped up and volunteered to serve our nation deserve\nnothing less.\n  Health Freedom and the Constitution: At the foundation of all of my\ntime in public service is the Constitution. The prevailing theme of the\nright to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans\nare as important today as it was when I was first sworn in. As I leave\nCongress, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of\nIndiana and the nation. I am grateful for all those who have worked\nwith me over the years in my Congressional office and on Committee\nStaff. I am thankful to a God who has provided me strength and health\nto serve and pray that as we enter 2013 and I enter a new phase of my\nlife, with a beautiful and intelligent wife and family whom I love,\nthat new champions for health freedom will emerge.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2012-12-31-pt1-PgE2021-3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 15.138220973312855, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}