|
Congress Voices Support for Legislation to Save Children's Lives
 |
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (right), Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut (left) and Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota all are strong supporters of the Global Child Survival Act. |
Westport, Conn (March 14, 2008) — Congress is moving closer toward making the Global Child Survival Act a reality, a move that would help save the lives of millions of children who die each year from preventable or treatable causes.
Already approved last month by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and now headed for a vote on the Senate floor, the child survival legislation yesterday was the focus of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing and a U.S. Capitol press conference. The bill currently has more than 100 co-sponsors in the House and Senate.
Seven House members attended the hearing headed by Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. Payne began the hearing noting that nearly 10 million children under 5 die each year largely from causes such as diarrhea, pneumonia and complications around childbirth that can be easily treated if mothers and children are given access to basic health care. Rep. Payne expressed strong support for legislation approved recently by the Foreign Affairs Committee to increase funding to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB, but said Congress also needed to ramp up support for maternal and child health services.
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., who serves as chair of Save the Children's Survive to 5 campaign, urged the panel to move quickly on passing the legislation and making the basic tools of survival more readily available.
“When children die needlessly, we have a moral and humanitarian imperative to act,” Frist told lawmakers. “Our nation has always adopted the common cause of those in need. And at a time when we have the tools and the knowledge to save millions of young lives each year, we should do so with greater urgency and commitment. During the two hours it has taken us to have this hearing, some 2,000 children have died. The clock is ticking. The time to act is now.”
“Business as usual will not save these lives,” added David Oot, chair of the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival and head of Save the Children’s Office of Health, who also testified at the House hearing. “We can do much more. We can save millions of lives.”
Following the hearing, Senator Frist joined the original co-sponsors of the legislation — Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) — at a press conference to encourage both the Senate and House to adopt the legislation.
The congressional hearing and press conference marked Frist's first formal action on Capitol Hill since leaving office. The senator highlighted the growing public support throughout the United States for efforts to reduce mortality rates of children under 5.
In a recent national poll conducted by the US Coalition for Child Survival, almost all Americans, including both Democrats and Republicans, placed saving children's lives as a top priority for U.S. international assistance, and a large majority of Americans (84 percent) support increasing resources to reduce preventable deaths of young children.
“This is in America’s interest. And it is the right thing to do,” said Frist. “When you save a child’s life, despair disappears and hope appears.”
