The house will resume proceedings on postponed questions at a later time. For what purpose does the gentleman from kansas seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h. R. 3759 as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk h. R. 3759, a bill to provide for the establishment and maintenance of a family caregiving strategy, and for ther purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from kansas, mr. Estes, and the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Courtney, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from kansas. Mr. Estes mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h. R. 3759. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Estes mr. Speaker, i rise day in support of h. R. 3759, the recognize, assist, include, support, and engage Family Caregivers act of 2017, otherwise known as the raise Family Caregivers act, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Estes thank you, mr. Speaker. Not all americans have the luxury of complete independence. They may struggle to address them 70s, manage their retirement to dress themselves, manage their retirement. We think mostly of seniors but thats not always the case. Veterans, americans with physical and mental disabilities, Wounded Warriors, and even children with medical conditions, rely on a Family Caregiver to help them live their daily lives. Though they may have physical or functional limitations or illness or Chronic Health conditions that impeds their ability to fully care for themselves, many remain safe and comfortable in their home due to the role of the Family Caregiver. There are 40 million Family Caregivers who provide physical and emotional care for parents, spouses, children and other loved ones in the need of assistance. These caregivers are Unsung Heroes who devote both their time and resources to the daytoday activities that are necessary to provide a disabled loved one with care. These activities may be to drive loved ones to doctors appointments, provide them with meals, administer athome nursing care so their loved ones may continue to live at home. Taking on the role is a deeply personal decision, characterized by selflessness and compassion for a relative in need. Its estimated that on average the nations caregivers dedicate about 18 hours each week to carrying out their caregiver tasks while almost a third provide over 60 hours a week of care. These activities provide an annual economic value of 470 billion each year. About 60 of caregivers have full or parttime jobs in addition to their caregiving roles, leaving them to juggle their caregiving obligations with their work hours and their personal and family time. The raise Family Caregivers act will direct the secretary of health and Human Services to develop a Caregiver Advisory Council on recommendations on best practices on recognizing and supporting Family Caregivers. The council will include members from the public and private sectors, Family Caregivers, elderly americans, and People Living with disabilities. State and local officials and health care providers. The secretary will then publish the councils finding so the Family Caregivers may be equipped request information they need to be successful in their roles. The council will provide information about streamlining federal and state activities to maximize efficiency and it will preserve the integrity of family rights and personcentered care. This is an opportunity to help improve the quality of life of millions of americans who both provide and receive familial care. One important provision of the raise Family Caregivers act is to ensure the secretary of the health and Human Services expanding the federal authority in any way. Additionally, the bill does not authorize any additional funds for the formation of the council, and after three years the Council Related activities will sunset. The raise Family Caregivers act is an important step to recognize the Important Role of Family Caregivers and share Important Information so they can provide better care for others. In legislation fulfills a bipartisan recommendation of the federal commission on longterm care. The Senate Passed this bill earlier this year by unanimous consent, and the house of representatives now has the opportunity to have this bill signed into law. I urge my colleagues to support this Bipartisan Legislation so that Family Caregivers are recognized for the Important Role they play in our communities. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The chair roll calls the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Courtney. The chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Courtney. Mr. Courtney thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Courtney thank you, mr. Speaker. I join my colleague from kansas today in rising in support of h. R. 3759, the recognize, assist, include, support, and engage Family Caregivers act, and i want to congratulate all the cosponsors of this bill for their good work in terms of bringing this forward and, again, it looks very promising it will be passed and signed into law shortly. Mr. Speaker, the number of americans over the age of 65 is expected to reach 70 million by 2030, roughly doubling the number that existed in 2005. As those americans age and require assistance with their daily routines, taking medication, getting dressed, cooking, attending medical apoirntments, Family Caregivers will step appointments, Family Caregivers will step in. For an adult child caring for an aging parent can quickly become a fulltime job. Between juggling appointments, understanding medications, helping making informed medical decisions, a caregivers own priorities will take a backseat. Many care simultaneously for an aging parent as well as their own children. Caregivers are not only providing care for Older Americans or even younger americans with developmental disabilities, they also serve those who have served our country. I recently met with a caregiver from my district, jessica, who cares for her husband, a veteran who suffered serious traumatic brain injury during the battle of fallujah. Her experience managing her husbands complex medical needs while also raising their children goes to show that ensuring caregivers are supported is a national priority. The bill under consideration today would recognize the contribution that Family Caregivers make towards the safety and health of Older Americans. It would require the secretary of health and Human Services to develop and maintain a strategy to support Family Caregivers by establishing an advisory body to bring together caregivers, older adults, persons with disabilities, veterans, employers, and state and local officials. This Advisory Council would make recommendations for how to support, assist and engage Family Caregivers. Caregivers are needed to help americans live independently in their homes and communities for as long as possible. In my home state of connecticut, there are 459,000 Family Caregivers who provide an estimated 5. 9 billion in unpaid care annually. Supporting older and disabled americans through caregiving, ensuring caregivers are equipped to take on this Important Role benefits all americans. Evidence has shown that when caregivers are supported, patients delay placement in nursing home, continuing with lower costs, longterm support in the home for much longer periods of time. Caregiving is a foundational to our longterm care system in the United States. This legislation is an important step to ensure this work is recognized and supported and, again, as the gentleman pointed out, the longterm care commission, which was actually created by this body in 2012 as part of the, again, one of the budget bills that passed that year, again, was a group of stakeholders from all across the country in various sectors that came together and issued, again, a report that unfortunately i dont think has gotten the focus and attention it needs with the demographics that our country is experiencing right now, the aging of our society. However, this is one of those recommendations which signs of intelligent life appeared in congress and we are taking up, again, their call for passing legislation like the raise act. Again, i want to congratulate all the sponsors for coming together, and im looking forward to sending this bill to the president for signature and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from connecticut reserves his time. The gentleman from kansas. Mr. Estes mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from mississippi, mr. Harper. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Harper mr. Speaker, i rise in support of h. R. 3759, the recognize, assist, include, support, and engage family or the s act of 2017, raise Family Caregivers act. This is a bipartisan and bicameral bill. I introduced the raise act in the house along with representative cathy castor, as well as representatives stefanik and english ham. There are now 107 cosponsors to the bill and almost identical bill, s. 1028, introduced by senator collins and senator baldwin, passed the house unanimously on september 26. The raise act is supported by a Broad Coalition of over 60 rganizations, from aarp to United States share balance palsy, ut i cerebral but, like many constituents, my wife and i are caregivers for our adult son, livingston, who has fragile x syndrome. About 12 Million People of all ages need the support of Family Caregivers today, and this number will more than double by the year 2050. By supporting Family Caregivers, we can help people live at home where they want to be, helping to delay or prevent costly or institutional care and unnecessary hospitalizations and save taxpayer dollars. The bill creates an Advisory Council within the department of health and Human Services to identify and recommend actions that federal, state, and local governments, communities, health care providers, Longterm Services and support providers, and others are taking or may take to recognize and support those Family Caregivers. The idea is to enhance coordination of and implementation under existing programs. I appreciate the support we have received from the education and Work Force Committee on this legislation, particularly the chair, virginia foxx. My office has worked closely with the committee, aarp, as well as with representative castor, senator collins and senator baldwin to develop a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation with Broad Coalition support that we could successfully bring to the floor. C. B. O. Has scored the bill at 1 million over five years, but it sunsets in three years, and no new funds are authorized to be appropriated. This bill gives hope and comfort to the large number of Family Caregivers across the country who are often struggling to look after their loved ones. Whether a special needs child, a loved one with traumatic brain injury, or an elled leer parent or a spouse elderly parent or a spouse, its important that the congress and the administration send this message of caring and support for Family Caregivers across our nation. I ask that you vote yes on this bill, and with that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from kansas reserves his time. The gentleman from connecticut. Mr. Courtney thank you, mr. Speaker. I now want to yield such time as she may consume, my colleague from florida, congresswoman kathy castor, cosponsors of the bill, former member of the education and Work Force Committee. Even though shes migrated to other committees, her heart is with the mission of the Education Committee which is obviously shown by her cosponsorship of this legislation. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Castor i thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleague, mr. Court fee knee, for yielding im mr. Courtney, for yielding and his advocacy. I rise in support of the raise Family Caregivers act, and i want to thank my good friend and colleague, congressman gregg harper, for being my partner in this endeavor to bring more attention to the struggles so many families across the country for more balance, more support when they must take care of a sick Family Member or a friend. Id also like to thank senators susan collins, senator Tammy Baldwin who have been tireless champions for caregivers and their families. You know, family caregiving is has become the new normal in health care here in pleark because it is oftentimes astronomically expensive to hire a caregiver or to get a little respite. Some do. But for many families, the better decision is a tough one. Oftentimes to make a very significant personal sacrifice, quit your job or go part time while they devote themselves to their loved one. And all too often caregivers are the only support system for their child with special needs or an aging Family Member and they have little to no support for themselves. And many of americas veterans stay integrated in communities because of the sacrifices of their Family Members to make sure that they get out and about and get to their appointments and get the care and interaction that they need. Family caregivers help with many basic activities like eating, dressing, transportation, bathing, and sometimes theyre called upon to do things that are a little more complicated such as even a little bit of medical care, nursing care. Here are some of the shocking statistics. About 40 million Family Caregivers provide about 470 billion annually in unpaid care to their loved ones. About 3. 7 million Family Caregivers provide care to a child under 18 due to medical or behavioral medical or behavioral condition or disability. And because of the massive commitment of time, many caregivers leave the work force. Caregivers age 50 and older who leave the work force to care for a parent lose on average nearly 304,000 in wages and benefits over their lifetime. Women are most often the main care givers, their average is higher, 324,000 in lost benefits and wages. In my home state of florida there are almost three million care givers at any one time prorkviding over six billion hours of care. Theres an increasing need to come together to better understand the unique needs of our care givers and what we can o to support them. Thats why we introduced this act, the raise family care givers act will create and maintain a Common National family care giving strategy led by the secretary of health and Human Services so that we can develop some Additional Support systems for the folks back home. Our bill will bring together a diverse spectrum of stake experts, folks that are working every day to take care of their loved ones, to be part of the Advisory Council that will help develop some additional recommendations, hopefully for this congress. We must ensure that family care givers have the resources and tool they need to face lost wages and the personal demands of taking care of their loved one while ensuring their loved one does receive the best care. I would like to thank the aarp, the alzheimers association, the Elizabeth Dole found they family care Givers Alliance and so many more who encouraged us on this important piece of legislation. As the intensitied on complexity of family care giving increases, i believe this will help boost families and allow us to be smart and efficient with our resources. I urge adoption of this important bipartisan bill and yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from connecticut reserves. The gentleman from kansas. I have no further speakers and am prepared to close