Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) Announces the Formation of the Bipartisan Congressional Study Group on Public Health
Washington,
Mar 1, 2007 -
U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA) and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) are pleased to announce the creation of the bipartisan Congressional Study Group on Public Health.
The new member organization will hold regular educational briefings on Capitol Hill to inform members of Congress and their staffs about the diverse and important work of public health experts and the health protection efforts they undertake. The study group will also invite key scientists and researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide Congress with an up-close understanding of the agency’s work. Public health experts from industry, local government and the non-profit sector will also be invited to participate in these briefings.
“We are excited to give the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a forum where the important work of health promotion and illness and injury prevention is highlighted. Through increased understanding of CDC’s many critical programs, we hope to gain the congressional support this important agency needs to continue to save lives and help make Americans healthier for generations to come,” said U.S. Rep. Roybal-Allard, who sits on the Health and Human Services Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. The congresswoman’s father, the late Congressman Edward R. Roybal, was an early and longtime congressional advocate of the agency. The CDC’s main campus in Atlanta bears his name.
The Campaign for Public Health, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing federal support for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, commended the co-chairs of this new organization for raising congressional awareness of the importance of public health.
“The co-chairs of this new study group should be applauded for their strong leadership and foresight,” said Evan Jones, chairman of the Campaign for Public Health, which was founded in 2004 and comprised of prominent leaders in the public health community. “The Campaign for Public Health looks forward to highlighting the work of these dedicated members of the House on their worthy effort to show how public health impacts our daily lives.”
The Campaign for Public Health and other organizations focused on public health will help support the study group with their ideas and connections to the public health community.
“As the recent multi-state outbreaks of E. coli have shown, protecting the public’s health is life and death work demanding coordination at every level of government” said Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “APHA looks forward to working with the Campaign for Public Health and with the co-chairs of the Congressional Study Group on Public Health in this important educational effort.”
The first Congressional Study Group on Public Health briefing, “An Introduction to Public Health – Methods and Benefits of Preventing Death, Disability and Disease,” will be presented in March.
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