Christopher H. Smith

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Mr. Speaker, I thank our very distinguished chairman, Brett Guthrie, for his extraordinary leadership on this and other issues related to health especially. He is a champion, and he is doing a tremendous job for the entire country. I thank Brett for what he is doing. I thank his staff and my friends on the other side of the aisle for their work on this bill. This has been a bipartisan effort. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass S. 2398, a 5-year reauthorization of the Kay Hagan Tick Act, a law that expires on September 30. It was sponsored by Senator Collins of Maine. My colleagues will recall that our distinguished colleague from North Carolina, Senator Kay Hagan, suffered a tick bite and died in 2019 from encephalitis caused by the Powassan virus. The current law and reauthorization are named in her honor. I point out to my colleagues that, in 2019, the Kay Hagan Tick Act was passed as part of the 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The act created, among other things, a whole-of-government national strategy to combat Lyme and other tick-borne diseases with a special focus on surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, education, and prevention. The national strategy, which was later released in 2024, has identified key public health goals to contain, reduce, and eventually eliminate Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses. It is a strategy that I am heartened to say that Secretary Kennedy has not only adopted, but he has used it as a floor. He has done so much above and beyond the strategy to try to end this terrible, terrible scourge of tick-borne diseases. The bill before us tonight, like the original law, authorizes $50 million over 5 years for the regional centers of excellence, which coordinate with academia and local public health agencies to conduct research on Lyme in their areas and train public health officials to properly identify and treat Lyme. Continuing funding will ensure that these centers can continue to conduct groundbreaking research and ultimately generate new prevention strategies and insights on tick-borne diseases. The legislation also provides $100 million over 5 years to tangibly assist State public health departments and other local entities to support the development and implementation of evidence-based research, interventions, and treatment. Mr. Speaker, HHS Secretary Kennedy has been an amazing champion in combating Lyme disease, and he recently announced a whole new series of initiatives. I will point out one very briefly. It is called the Lyme Clinician Locator, made possible through their partnership with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, or ILADS, enabling patients to easily find a Lyme-literate clinician in their area. Users put in a ZIP Code and get a whole list of people who know what Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are all about, hopefully leading to an effective treatment. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend and colleague for yielding.