Rep. Don Bacon

Maddy summaryHRES 1100 is a non-binding resolution supporting National Nurses Week (May 6-12, 2022). It symbolically recognizes nurses' contributions to healthcare without creating new laws or affecting anyone legally. The resolution encourages the public to observe the week through recognition and activities, highlighting nurses' roles in patient care and health system leadership. It does not change policy, funding, or regulations.

Aviator Cancer Examination Study Act or the ACES Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to seek to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study the incidence and mortality of cancer among individuals who served in the regular or reserve components of the Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps as air crew members of a fixed-wing aircraft or personnel supporting generation of such an aircraft.

Maddy summaryHRES 1093 is a symbolic House resolution designating May 2022 as "Mental Health Awareness Month." It expresses support for raising public awareness about mental health, emphasizes that mental well-being is as important as physical health, and encourages efforts to reduce stigma and improve access to services. The resolution does not create new laws or allocate funding but calls for recognizing mental health as a national priority and applauds existing efforts by organizations. It was introduced by multiple representatives and passed in the House on May 6, 2022, as a non-binding gesture.

Drug Shortages Shelf Life Extension Act This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue or revise guidance to address issues relating to extending drug expiration dates. Specifically, the guidance must address recommendations to drug companies relating to (1) submitting stability testing data in applications for market approval for drugs or biological products; (2) establishing on drug labels the longest feasible expiration date scientifically supported by such data, taking into consideration how extended expiration dates may help prevent or mitigate drug shortages and affect product quality; and (3) using innovative approaches to stability modeling to support initial product expiration dates and expiration date extensions. The FDA must also periodically report to Congress certain information about requests to change the expiration date on a drug label, including the number of such requests from the FDA to the manufacturer and the rationale for each request.

Preventing Overdoses and Saving Lives Act 2.0 This bill reauthorizes through FY2027, modifies eligibility for, and otherwise makes changes to grants for increasing access to emergency treatments to reverse opioid overdoses (e.g., naloxone).

This resolution supports the designation of Brain Donation Awareness Day to raise awareness of postmortem brain donation and its importance in scientific research on neurological conditions.

Maddy summaryThis resolution (HRES 1072) designates April 30, 2022, as "National Adult Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day" to raise public attention. It does not create new laws or policies but symbolically supports efforts to address hepatitis B, which affects millions in the U.S. and has serious health risks like liver cancer. The resolution encourages increased adult vaccination (currently at 30% coverage), testing, and linkage to care, particularly for high-risk groups including people with opioid use disorder and communities disproportionately impacted by the disease. It highlights that hepatitis B is highly infectious and often undiagnosed, with rising cases linked to the opioid epidemic in several states.

Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research Reauthorization Act of 2022 or the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 and modifies pediatric cancer research and related programs, including to expand collection of and access to relevant biospecimens and to support the transition of pediatric cancer survivors to primary care.

National Discovery Trails Act This bill amends the National Trails System Act to include national discovery trails as part of the national trails system. Such trails (1) shall be extended, continuous, interstate trails located to provide for outstanding outdoor recreation and travel and to connect representative examples of America's trails and communities; (2) shall provide for the conservation and enjoyment of significant natural, cultural, and historic resources and be so located as to represent metropolitan, urban, rural, and back country regions of the Nation; and (3) may be designated on federal lands and, with the owner's consent, on nonfederal lands. The 6,000-mile American Discovery Trail extending from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware, to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, splitting into northern and southern routes near Cincinnati, Ohio, and rejoining at Denver, Colorado, is designated as a national discovery trail. The bill sets forth requirements for designation of a trail as a national discovery trail. The appropriate federal department for each national discovery trail shall (1) administer the trail in cooperation with at least one competent trailwide volunteer-based organization; and (2) submit a comprehensive plan for the trail's protection, management, development, and use.

Defense Budget Transparency Act of 2022 This bill requires research and specified action related to pass-through budgeting for military departments. Pass-through budgeting refers to the practice by which certain funds allocated for a military department are subject to the authority of other departments and agencies of the federal government but are included in the overall budget of the military department despite the department's lack of authority over the funds. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to seek to enter a contract with an independent research organization to conduct a study on the effects of pass-through budgeting on the Department of the Air Force and other DOD organizations and elements. For each fiscal year beginning with FY2024, the budget justification materials submitted in support of the DOD budget must include separate line items for each military department to clearly identify any amounts requested that are subject to pass-through budgeting.