Sutton AED Bill Passes House

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the proud sponsor of H.R. 4926, the Josh Miller Helping Everyone Access Responsive Treatment in Schools Act, or the Josh Miller HEARTS Act.

This legislation establishes a grant program to ensure that every elementary and secondary school across the country can obtain automated external defibrillators, or AEDs.

I introduced the Josh Miller HEARTS Act last December in memory of a young man from my hometown of Barberton, Ohio.

Josh was the sort of kid who could light up a room, someone who you knew would go on to achieve great things. He was a sophomore at Barberton High School with a 4.0 grade point average, a linebacker who dreamed of playing football some day for Ohio State. But one day, without warning, those dreams were cut short.

During the final game of the 2000 football season, Josh collapsed after leaving the field. By the time his heart was shocked with the defibrillator, it was too late to save him. Josh suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, which according to the American Heart Association, claims the lives of about 330,000 Americans every year. The vast majority of these individuals, like Josh, will never have displayed any signs of heart trouble beforehand.

Yet there is an easy-to-use, relatively inexpensive piece of medical equipment that can more than double the odds of survival for someone experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest.

An automated external defibrillator, or AED, is the single most effective treatment for starting the heart after a sudden cardiac arrest. And because the chances of survival decrease up to 10 percent for every minute that passes, every second is critical.

Schools, as you've heard, are central gathering places in our communities that make them the ideal locations for AEDs. Placed in our schools, AEDs can save not only students but also staff and parents and many other visitors who come through our schools every day.

The Josh Miller HEARTS Act establishes a grant program to ensure that AEDs will be available to every elementary and secondary school, public and private across the country.

AED/CPR training is also an important part of raising awareness in using AEDs correctly. H.R. 4926 makes funds for training available to schools that already have AEDs, as well as to schools that will receive AEDs through this program.

Finally, this legislation also requires coordination with local emergency medical services and integration into the school's emergency response plan, to ensure their effective use within each community.

I would like to take a moment to thank Chairman Miller and Ranking Member McKeon for making this legislation a priority and for moving it forward. And I want to thank Representative Kuhl and representatives on both sides of the aisle for their support of this very important initiative. I thank Representative Yarmuth for his leadership, and I also would like to recognize Dr. Terry Gordon, a cardiologist who was instrumental in pushing a similar effort successfully in my home State of Ohio and who has put his whole heart into making this life-saving device available across this Nation his vocation.

Finally, I would like to close by thanking the Miller family, especially Josh's parents, Ken and Jerri Miller, for their courage and for transforming their life into this life-saving mission. Losing a young life like Josh's can make us feel helpless, but through these tragedies, many families like the Millers and the Acomporas have found the strength to act. They have found the courage to speak out so that their other children can have the chance that their children never did, and so that other families will not have to feel their pain.

Although H.R. 4926 bears Josh Miller's name, it is truly in memory of all those who might have been saved, and in celebration of those who because of this program will have the opportunity to live their lives to their fullest potential. Let's give these children that chance.