PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.
H.R.398 / 108th Congress

Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Prevention Act of 2003

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 8.

Official summary

Version 17 · Reported to House with amendment(s) · Feb 13, 2003

Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Prevention Act of 2003 - Amends Public Health Service Act provisions concerning the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities to add disabilities and health to categories of data with regard to which the Secretary of Health and Human Services is directed to collect, analyze, and make available. Requires the Secretary to conduct research on and promote the prevention of birth defects and disabilities and to support a National Spina Bifida Program to prevent and reduce suffering from the nation's most common permanently disabling birth defect.

Removes certain provisions regarding data collection, including one requiring the Secretary to collect and analyze data by gender and ethnic and racial group. Modifies reporting requirements. Declares that certain data and information collected under the Act shall be subject to a specified provision of the General Education Provisions Act pertaining to privacy.Requires that the members of the advisory committee appointed by the Director of the National Center for Environmental Health that have expertise in birth defects, developmental disabilities, and disabilities and health shall be transferred to the National Center on Birth Defects on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Rep. Ferguson, Mike [R-NJ-7] · R–NJ

Committees

  • Energy and Commerce Committee
3 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 8.

  2. Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 108-14.

  3. Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 108-14.

  4. Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.

  5. Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

  6. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

  7. Introduced in House

  8. Introduced in House

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Apr 7, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze H.R.398 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine H.R.398 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine H.R.398 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine H.R.398 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

View full prompt & sources