Official Congressional Record
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Guthrie for his personal and extraordinarily strong support of H.R. 4348, and his staff, director Megan Jackson, Health Subcommittee staff Jay Gulshen and Emma Schultheis. I also thank my good friend, Frank Pallone, our Health Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith, Ranking Member Diana DeGette, as well as the original sponsors, Lloyd Doggett, Paul Tonko, and Tom Kean. Mr. Speaker, at a May 29th press conference in New Hampshire, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has been a tremendous leader in the war on Lyme disease, announced a ``sweeping plan to combat Lyme disease and to advance treatment.’’ Secretary Kennedy said: ``Millions of Americans battling Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have spent years searching for answers, treatment, and support. Today, the Trump administration is launching one of the most ambitious Federal efforts ever to combat Lyme disease by accelerating research, expanding innovation, and improving care for patients and families. We are going after this disease at its source, driving faster diagnostics and new prevention strategies, and delivering the urgency and action Americans deserve.’’ He said: ``The initiative will develop and deploy practical strategies to target and eliminate ticks on wildlife before they can spread diseases to humans.’’ That has been lacking for decades. They are going after the ticks themselves. ``Lyme disease,’’ Mr. Speaker, he said: ``remains one of the Nation’s fastest growing vector-borne health threats. More than 476,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, and recent data show emergency room visits for tick bites reached their highest springtime level in nearly a decade.’’ Secretary Kennedy also announced new actions to combat Alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-associated condition that can trigger potentially serious allergic reactions to red meat and other products. The CDC estimates nearly 500,000 Americans are living with Alpha-gal syndrome, though emerging evidence suggests the true number may be significantly higher. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues know, ticks not only transmit Lyme disease but other deadly and debilitating illnesses, such as Alpha-gal, babesiosis, Powassan disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and anaplasmosis. Vector-borne diseases are now endemic in regions of the country where they have not historically been present. Disease-laden ticks are now found in all 48 contiguous States. The problem is exploding. It is not abating. It is, therefore, critical that Congress take immediate action to support and further sustain ongoing efforts to combat these insidious diseases that kill and disable. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4348, a 5-year reauthorization of the Kay Hagan Tick Act, a law that expires on September 30th. My colleagues will recall that our distinguished colleague, 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 is named in her honor. The original Kay Hagan Tick Act, which I led in 2019 here in the House and Susan Collins led it in the Senate, became part of the appropriations act in 2020. The act created, among other things, a whole-of-government national strategy to combat Lyme and other tick- borne diseases with special focus on surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, education, and prevention. I would note parenthetically that I have been working on Lyme disease since 1992, when Pat Smith--no relation--of Wall Township, who actually formed the Lyme Disease Association of America, came up to me in Wall Township and said: What are you doing about Lyme? I said: Nothing. We had lunch. I have been working on it ever since. I introduced my first comprehensive bill--one of many, at times we had over 100 cosponsors--called the Lyme Disease Initiative Act of 1998, almost 30 years ago. We could not move it. It was blocked over and over again. There were some people in HHS and at CDC and elsewhere who were saying, just take 2 weeks of doxycycline and you are cured. When you have chronic Lyme, it takes a very serious effort, very often with a Lyme literate doctor, in order to overcome and put that disease into remission. In February 2024, I remind my colleagues, HHS released the National Public Health Strategy to prevent and control vector-borne diseases. It is an excellent strategy. We are acting on that now as well. It also supports the whole-of-government assault on Lyme. It authorizes $50 million over 5 years for Regional Centers of Excellence. It also, as we did in the original law, authorizes $100 million over 5 years to tangibly assist States’ public health departments and other local entities to support the development and implementation of evidence-based research interventions and treatment with respect to the Lyme disease epidemic. I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, in February, 2024, HHS released the National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-borne Diseases in People with mutually reinforcing goals to: Better understand when, where, and how people are exposed to and get sick or die from VBDs. Develop, evaluate, and improve tools, methods, and guidance to diagnose VBDs and their pathogens. Develop, evaluate, and improve tools, methods, and guidance to prevent and control VBDs. Develop and assess drugs and treatment strategies for VBDs. Disseminate and implement public health tools, programs, and collaborations to prevent, detect, diagnose, and respond to VBD threats. H.R. 4348, supports this whole of government assault on Lyme and other vector borne diseases. H.R. 4348 again authorizes $50 million over five 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 professionals to identify and treat Lyme. Finally, H.R. 434--again as we did in the original law--authorizes cooperative agreement funding for states and localities--$100 million over five 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 with respect to-- educating and informing the public, based on evidence-based public health research and data, about Lyme Disease and other vector-borne diseases; supporting early detection and diagnosis; supporting prevention; improving treatment; and supporting care planning and management for individuals with Lyme disease and other tick- and vector-borne diseases. I thank the Chairman Brett Guthrie for his personal and extraordinarily strong support of H.R. 4348, as well as his Staff Director Megan Jackson and Health Subcommittee staff Jay Gulshen and Emma Schultheis. Special thanks to Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Health Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith and Ranking Member Diana DeGette as well as original cosponsors Lloyd Doggett, Paul Tonko, and Tom Kean.
