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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak

Senate Passes Comprehensive TB Elimination Act
Sen. Hutchison Secures $200 Million for TB Research in 2009, Increases Through 2013


WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior senator, today announced that on Saturday the Senate passed H.R. 1532, the Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2007. The House bill mirrors S. 1551, the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act, which Sen. Hutchison introduced. The legislation, which has now passed in both chambers, expands tuberculosis (TB) research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Specifically, the bill authorizes $200 million for Fiscal Year 2009 and includes a 5% increase for each of the next four years. Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) authored the House version of the bill.

“In 2006, there were over 9 million new cases of TB globally and 1.7 million people died from the disease,” said Sen. Hutchison. “Out of the TB cases reported nationally in 2006, Texas had the second highest number. Furthermore, the rate of TB in our state’s border communities is almost double compared to the state and national averages. The funding in this bill will help expand and intensify efforts at the CDC and NIH to prevent, detect, and treat TB, with an emphasis on groups with disproportionately high infection rates.”

Additionally, the bill enhances the CDC’s authority to respond to international outbreaks of multidrug-resistant TB and will increase funding for the Center’s National Program for the Elimination of Tuberculosis.

The legislation also requires the inclusion of a representative from the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission in the newly created Advisory Council for Elimination of Tuberculosis. Sen. Hutchison assisted in the creation of the Commission in El Paso.

The bill now proceeds to the White House for signature or veto.



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