The House of Representatives recently passed several public health bills, including H.R. 1222, the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act of 2017, championed by Congressmen Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), which passed by a vote of 394-7. The bill would enhance Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) research and surveillance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), award grants to further study CHD, and direct the National Institutes of Health to report on their ongoing research efforts. Your ACC signed onto a coalition letter in support of this bill and has actively worked with the sponsors to move the legislation forward. The bipartisan bill now moves to the Senate, where a companion bill, S. 477, has already been introduced by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Robert Casey Jr. (D-PA). The next steps remain fluid and your advocacy staff will be working closely with the bill sponsors to move this legislation forward.

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S., National Institutes of Health (U.S.), Research, Awards and Prizes, Heart Diseases

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