Drudge is highlighting a section in the Democratic stimulus bill allocating $335 million for the prevention of sexually-transmitted and other communicable diseases. But just looking at the part of the bill concerning some of the “stimulus” money that would go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pretty amazing. From the bill:
Provided further, That of the amount appropriated under this heading [“Prevention and Wellness Fund”] not less than $2,350,000,000 shall be transferred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as follows:
(1) not less than $954,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount to carry out the immunization program authorized by section 317(a), (j), and (k)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (‘‘section 317 immunization program’’), of which $649,900,000 shall be available on October 1, 2009;
(2) not less than $296,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount to carry out Part A of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act, of which $148,000,000 shall be available on October 1, 2009;
(3) not less than $545,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount to carry out chronic disease, health promotion, and genomics programs, as jointly determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“Secretary”) and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“Director”);
(4) not less than $335,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount to carry out domestic HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually-transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis prevention programs, as jointly determined by the Secretary and the Director;
(5) not less than $60,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount to carry out environmental health programs, as jointly determined by the Secretary and the Director;
(6) not less than $50,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount to carry out injury prevention and control programs, as jointly determined by the Secretary and the Director;
(7) not less than $30,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount for public health workforce development activities, as jointly determined by the Secretary and the Director;
(8) not less than $40,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to carry out research activities within the National Occupational Research Agenda; and
(9) not less than $40,000,000 shall be used as an additional amount for the National Center for Health Statistics:
Provided further, That of the amount appropriated under this heading not less than $150,000,000 shall be available for an additional amount to carry out activities to implement a national action plan to prevent healthcare-associated infections, as determined by the Secretary, of which not less $50,000,000 shall be provided to States to implement healthcare-associated infection reduction strategies:
Provided further, That of the amount appropriated under this heading $500,000,000 shall be used to carry out evidence-based clinical and community-based prevention and wellness strategies and public health workforce development activities authorized by the Public Health Service Act, as determined by the Secretary, that deliver specific, measurable health outcomes that address chronic and infectious disease rates and health disparities, which shall include evidence-based interventions in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, tobacco cessation and smoking prevention, and oral health, and which may be used for the Healthy Communities program administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other existing community-based programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Of course, there is similiar stuff throughout the 647-page bill. Remember when Newt Gingrich and others were fighting Hillary Clinton’s health care reform proposal? Gingrich’s cry at that time was “Read the bill.” He didn’t have to spin it for people if he could just get them to read what was actually in Mrs. Clinton’s proposal. Now Republicans are asking the same thing again: Read the bill.