[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MEMBER DAY HEARING
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
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OCTOBER 31, 2019
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Serial No. 116-48
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
40-464 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
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COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, Chairman
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Mike Rogers, Alabama
James R. Langevin, Rhode Island Peter T. King, New York
Cedric L. Richmond, Louisiana Michael T. McCaul, Texas
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey John Katko, New York
Kathleen M. Rice, New York Mark Walker, North Carolina
J. Luis Correa, California Clay Higgins, Louisiana
Xochitl Torres Small, New Mexico Debbie Lesko, Arizona
Max Rose, New York Mark Green, Tennessee
Lauren Underwood, Illinois Van Taylor, Texas
Elissa Slotkin, Michigan John Joyce, Pennsylvania
Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Dan Crenshaw, Texas
Al Green, Texas Michael Guest, Mississippi
Yvette D. Clarke, New York Dan Bishop, North Carolina
Dina Titus, Nevada
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey
Nanette Diaz Barragan, California
Val Butler Demings, Florida
Hope Goins, Staff Director
Chris Vieson, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Statements
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on
Homeland Security.............................................. 1
The Honorable Michael Guest, a Representative in Congress From
the State of Mississippi....................................... 1
For the Record
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Statement of Hon. Alcee Hastings, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Florida.................................... 1
MEMBER DAY HEARING
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Thursday, October 31, 2019
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 8:32 a.m., in
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Bennie G. Thompson
[Chairman of the committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Thompson and Guest.
Chairman Thompson. The Committee on Homeland Security will
come to order. Pursuant to section 103(j) of House Resolution
6, the committee is meeting today to conduct a Member Day.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare the
committee in recess at any point.
I want to thank Members both on and off the committee for
their hard work and contributions to the committee's work for
this Congress to date. As always, I welcome input from all
Members of the House, as the committee works to help ensure the
security of the homeland.
The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi,
Mr. Guest, for any statement he might have.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
holding this Member Day hearing. I appreciate the committee
providing all our colleagues the opportunity to testify here
today in accordance with House rules.
This forum provides an important opportunity to hear from
Members outside the Homeland Security Committee on the critical
issues they are working in within our committee's jurisdiction.
I hope the testimony we hear today helps inform our
committee's work, moving forward. I look forward to hearing
from my colleagues on their legislative priorities.
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The committee has received testimony in
writing, which will be part--made part of the record.
[The statement of Hon. Hastings follows:]
Statement of Hon. Alcee Hastings, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Florida
October 31, 2019
in support of h.r. 2550, the prevent bleeding act of 2019
Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Rogers, and Members of the House
Committee on Homeland Security: I am deeply appreciative to have the
opportunity to submit this testimony to the House Committee on Homeland
Security in support of H.R. 2550, the Prevent Bloodloss with Emergency
Equipment Devices Act of 2019, or the Prevent BLEEDing Act. I
introduced this bipartisan legislation earlier this year with my
colleague, Dr. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-2), and a bipartisan companion bill
will soon be introduced in the Senate. I respectfully request this
committee's assistance in scheduling this bill for a markup so that it
may be brought to the House floor for consideration.
This legislation amends the Homeland Securily Act of 2002 to expand
access to Bleeding Control Kits (BCKs) in public gathering places
across the country. H.R. 2550 authorizes the use of Homeland Security
Grant Program funding for States to purchase and distribute anti-blood
loss supplies to schools, places of worship, shopping malls, and other
public gathering places, and to support training on the proper use of
such supplies. Our legislation makes a one-time authorization of $10
million to carry out these provisions.
Approximately 214,000 people die every year from traumatic
incidents. Motor vehicle crashes, shootings, natural disasters, and
workplace accidents, to name just a few, oftentimes result in
situations where people suffer traumatic blood loss. Such an injury can
lead to death within 5 minutes, where many of these deaths can be
prevented.
As Members of this committee are aware, the first National
awareness campaign related to emergency blood loss began in the months
following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December
2012. The Joint Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance
Survivability from Intentional Mass Casualty and Active Shooter Events
brought together representatives of the Federal Government, members of
the medical community, and others to publish a set of recommendations,
known as the Hartford Consensus, for increasing National resilience in
the face of mass casualty events. As a result of the Consensus, a
Federal interagency workgroup initiated the ``Stop the Bleed'' campaign
to train and equip the public with the necessary skills to help in
bleeding emergencies before professional help arrives. Stop the Bleed
is now being taught Nation-wide as the rate of mass casualty events
continues to grow, with the goal of making this type of training as
widely known as CPR, the Heimlich Maneuver, and ``Stop, Drop, and
Roll,'' so that any bystander may assist during times of crisis.
BCK's include easy-to-use, life-saving equipment such as
tourniquets and wound dressings that promote blood clotting. These
tools can make all the difference during emergencies with traumatic
bleeding injuries, which is why several States have already started to
take action to place them in schools. At the end of last year, Georgia
became the first State to offer these kits and trainings to every
public school. A new law in Texas requires school districts in the
State to have a bleeding control program in place by January 2020 and
will provide training to students in grade 7 and higher. And, in my own
district, the Broward County Sherriff's office has purchased more than
8,000 kits, with plans to purchase thousands more, to place them in
every public and charter school in the county.
H.R. 2550 will continue these efforts and help expand access to
trainings in our community on the use of emergency blood loss supplies.
The legislation is supported by The American College of Surgeons, the
Society of Trauma Nurses, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the
Trauma Center Association of America, and the American Association for
the Surgery of Trauma, and has more than 2 dozen bipartisan cosponsors.
I thank the committee for this opportunity and again urge
consideration of this legislation.
Chairman Thompson. This concludes testimony before the
committee today.
Without objection, the record shall be kept open for 10
days.
We would like to welcome our Member to a standing-room-only
session.
[Laughter.]
Chairman Thompson. Hearing no further business, the
committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 8:34 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]
[all]