Cerebral Palsy Research Program Authorization Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2178 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2178

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services to carry out a program of research related to 
                cerebral palsy, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 18, 2025

 Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Cleaver, and Ms. Norton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services to carry out a program of research related to 
                cerebral palsy, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cerebral Palsy Research Program 
Authorization Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Cerebral palsy is the most common lifelong motor 
        impairment in children, affecting more than 1,000,000 
        Americans, 1 in 345 children, and over 17,000,000 people 
        worldwide.
            (2) In the United States, more than 10,000 babies are 
        diagnosed with cerebral palsy each year.
            (3) Cerebral palsy is a broad group of disorders disrupting 
        a person's ability to move, sit, stand, walk, talk, and use 
        their hands.
            (4) In more than 80 percent of cases, the cause of cerebral 
        palsy is unknown.
            (5) Seventy-five percent of individuals with cerebral palsy 
        also have 1 or more additional developmental disabilities 
        including epilepsy, intellectual disabilities, communication 
        problems, learning and attention disorders, chronic pain, 
        autism, hearing disorders, and visual impairments or blindness.
            (6) Children with cerebral palsy are more likely to die 
        from the flu and related viruses, including COVID-19, than 
        children without neurologic disorders.
            (7) There is no consensus of best practices for a person 
        with cerebral palsy at the time of diagnosis or through the 
        lifespan.
            (8) It is estimated that the lifetime care and medical 
        costs for all people with cerebral palsy who were born in 2000 
        alone will total more than $13,500,000,000. The loss of 
        productivity and lost wages of the individual with cerebral 
        palsy and their family members is more than $35,000,000,000.
            (9) Although there is not yet a known cure for many types 
        of cerebral palsy, we know that treatment breakthroughs and the 
        prevention of many types of cerebral palsy is possible.

SEC. 3. CEREBRAL PALSY RESEARCH.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting 
after section 317C of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-4) the following new 
section:

``SEC. 317C-1. CEREBRAL PALSY RESEARCH.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in consultation 
with other Federal agencies and partners, shall carry out (directly or 
through grants or contracts) a program of research related to cerebral 
palsy, including--
            ``(1) research on--
                    ``(A) the most promising avenues of cerebral palsy 
                diagnosis and treatment;
                    ``(B) factors that may mitigate the prevalence of 
                cerebral palsy; and
                    ``(C) the health care and societal costs of 
                cerebral palsy;
            ``(2) public health surveillance; and
            ``(3) other research that the Director of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention determines to be appropriate to 
        provide education and training for health professionals and the 
        general public for purposes of diagnosing, treating, and 
        explaining the causes, prevalence, and lifelong effects of 
        cerebral palsy.
    ``(b) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may (directly or through 
grants or contracts) provide technical assistance to public and 
nonprofit private entities in furtherance of research under this 
section.
    ``(c) Evaluations.--The Secretary shall (directly or through grants 
or contracts) provide for the evaluation of activities under subsection 
(a) in order to determine the extent to which such activities have been 
effective, including evaluation of the effects of such activities on 
various demographic populations.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2026 through 2031.''.
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