shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. may i ask for how much time remains and how many speakers that my friend from new jersey has? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois has five minutes, and the gentleman from new jersey has 4 1/2 minutes. mr. pallone: at this point i'll close myself unless someone else down comes. so if you'd like to close on our energy and commerce time, then i'll follow you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. shimkus: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. a great friend from both sides of the aisle, our great friends from new york, it's been an interesting battle, one that is very tough to be engaged in. they're right. you know, the folks who responded need care. they need to be supported, and that's what we think we've been doing. you know, when we started marking up this bill, there's $130 million in the fund that was still there cash on hand.

shimkus to re-authorize this program. minor but important changes have been made to the program, including allowing the use of grants to help states maintain existing programs. this will allow cash-strapped states to continue operating their my -- their program under difficult economic times. it will also allow territories to be eligible for grants. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time to mr. pallone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. whitfield: i yield back the balance of my time and urge passage. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i also yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of the bill. i'm sorry, mr. speaker, can i take that back? the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pallone: i would like to yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. sheila jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gent

shimkus and everyone who has worked on this. this is a particularly important bill to me and an important bill in my district. this is infant mortality awareness month, september. and it's appropriate that this month this bill be brought up for consideration, the newborn act. newborn is an acronym. everything in washington seems to be an acronym and this acronym stands for nationally enhancing the well-being of babies through outreach and research now. enhancing the well-being of babies through outreach and research now. it is so important that we give children an opportunity to live and mothers and fathers an opportunity to see their children born and have a chance. my parents lost a child about 4 months of age in 1946. they never got over it. there are so many people who have lost children and it's something that stays with you forever. my particular city of memphis, we talked about the united states rate, we know it's too high no matter what it is and how you keepistics -- statistics, -- keep statistics, the city of memphis h

shimkus and mr. barton for their willingness to work on this bill with me and i thank the sponsor of the bill, mr. pascrell who worked so hard on this legislation. at this time, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: h.r. 1347 seek to reduce the number of concussions sustained by our young people. according to the centers for disease control and prevention, a concussion is a type of brain injury. 1.7 million people are estimated to sustain a traumatic brain injury each year, some of these sustained by children while playing sports. the bill would require the centers for disease control to develop model guidelines, address the identification and treatment of concussions in school age children, including the guidelines for children to return to play after a concussion. it would call for a group of experts to determine these guidelines. the centers for disease control uses its existing fwouget reward grant