PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Congressional Research Service
Version 35 · Passed Senate amended · Jan 29, 2014
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on December 19, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2013 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend through FY2018 a grant program for newborn and child screening programs for heritable disorders. Includes the improvement of the timely collection, delivery, and receipts, and screening of specimens, and the timely diagnosis of heritable disorders in newborns as a permissible use of grant funds.
(Sec. 3) Extends through FY2018 a demonstration program to evaluate the effectiveness of screening, follow-up, counseling or health care services in reducing the morbidity and mortality caused by heritable disorders in newborn and children. Permits the program to also evaluate and assess: (1) methods to improve quality in the diagnosis, treatment, and disease management of heritable disorders based on gaps in services or care; and (2) methods or best practices by which states or political subdivisions of a state, territories, Indian health care facilities or programs, or any entity with appropriate expertise in newborn screening can achieve the timely collection, delivery, receipt, and screening of newborn screening specimens, and the timely diagnosis of heritable disorders in newborns.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
(Sec. 4) Reauthorizes through FY2018 and extends for five years the operation of the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children. Expands the duties of the Advisory Committee to include providing technical assistance to individuals and organizations regarding the submission of nominations to the uniform screening panel. Requires the Advisory Committee to give recommendations, advice, or information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the timely collection, delivery, receipt, and screening of specimens to be tested for heritable disorders in newborns.
Revises the process for the Secretary to consider the Advisory Committee's recommendations.
Requires the Advisory Committee to meet at least four times per year.
(Sec. 5) Extends through FY2018 the Newborn Screening Clearinghouse of current education and family support and services information, materials, resources, research, and data on newborn screening.
(Sec. 6) Extends through FY2018 a quality assurance program requiring the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to provide for quality assurance of laboratories involved in screening for heritable disorders. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director, to also provide for the coordination of surveillance activities.
(Sec. 7) Makes the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Newborn and Child Screening permanent. Includes the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA) as a member of the Interagency Committee.
(Sec. 8) Requires the national contingency plan for newborn screening to be updated at least every five years.
(Sec. 9) Allows the expansion of the Hunter Kelly Newborn Screening Research Program to include: (1) providing research findings and data for newborn conditions under review by the Advisory Committee to be added to the recommended uniform screening panel, and (2) conducting pilot studies on conditions recommended by the Advisory Committee to ensure that the screenings are ready for nationwide implementation.
(Sec. 11) Requires the Comptroller General to report to the relevant congressional committees on the timeliness of screening for heritable disorders in newborns.
Requires the Secretary to report to the relevant congressional committees biennially on activities related to newborn screening and screening children who have or are at risk for heritable disorders.
People & committees
Sen. Hagan, Kay R. [D-NC] · D–NC
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Received in the House.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S605-607; text as passed Senate: CR S605-607)
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S605-607; text as passed Senate: CR S605-607)
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 282.
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Apr 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
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.
Analyze S.1417 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.
Examine S.1417 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.
Examine S.1417 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.
Examine S.1417 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.