House Proceeding 03-30-09 on Mar 30th, 2009 :: 2:16:35 to 2:20:05
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2:16:31 to 2:16:51( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: towards a system by which roadblocks to a formative education for our children are eliminated. i stand in support of this legislation and hope my colleagues will join in. mr. speaker, i resve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield five minutes to the sponsor, mr. green of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. green,

2:16:35 to 2:20:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mark Green

2:16:52 to 2:17:12( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: is recognized for five minutes. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague and chair of our health subcommittee for yielding to mee. i rise in support of h.r. 577, the vision care forids act. the vision care for kids act creates a much needed grant program to provide follow-up vision care for children with vision disorders who do not have

2:17:13 to 2:17:33( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: access to these services. states have taken steps to identify children for potential vision disorders to mandatory screening screenings. most states do not mandate follow-up eye examines or treatment for children who fail the screenings. 26 states do not require children who failed a screen to receive a follow-up exam.

2:17:34 to 2:17:54( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: this lack of vision care jeopardizes a child's development, can unfortunately lead to lifelong vision impairment. the vision care for kids act seeks to remedy this problem by authorizing a new grant program to complement state efforts to provide comprehensive eye exams for children who have been identified through vision screenings or other eye exammings as having a potential vision to show order. the grant funding authorized

2:17:55 to 2:18:18( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: under this bill can be used for specific treatments and services to correct the vision disorders identified through the eye exams. let's call it early and a treated, it can lead to irreversible damage that can hinder a cld's normal growth, development, and opportunity to succeed. these children deserve a healthy start to their education and social development. yet the reality is that nearly

2:18:19 to 2:18:39( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: two out of three children entering elementary school have never received preventive ce. unfortunately health insurance -- lack of health insurance prevents the care and for many children who are lucky to have health insurance, their policy doesn't cover vision coverage. this is precisely why this bill is necessary. by targeting a program toward children who are school aged who

2:18:40 to 2:19:00( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: do not have vision coverage for the services they require and at risk for vision disorders, the bill's designed to spend scarce health care dollars in the wisest manner. a portion of the grant funds may also be used to increase education awareness of vision disorder so that warning signs can be recognized and any problems can be detected in a timely fashion. this bill has been crafted in a

2:19:01 to 2:19:23( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: bipartisan manner with my colleague from oklahoma, mr. sullivan, our leader on the republican side, and also like to thank representative elliott ink enkle, representative bill pascrell, i'd also like to thank the congressional vision caucus for their suppo. in 2003 i was joined by our colleagues, congressman price,

2:19:24 to 2:19:44( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: congressman ros-lehtinen, congressman tea barry in establishing the -- tiberi in establishing the congressional vision caucus. i'm particularly pleased to see this bill on the floor today and consider it a milestone for our young caucus. today the vision caucus comprises of more than 100 members of congress, both republicans and democrats, house members, and senators. while our initial goal was to raise the awareness of vision

2:19:45 to 2:20:05( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Green: discords in congress, it has developed and endorsed key pieces of vision legislation, including this bill, before us today. i'd also like to thank chairman waxman, ranking member barton of the energy and commerce committee, as well as the chair and ranking member of the health subcommittee for their support. with that i encourage my colleagues to join me in passing this important bill to improve