Lois Capps: “I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak on behalf of H.R. 6, the 21st Century Cures Act…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak on behalf of H.R. 6, the 21st Century Cures Act, and I salute the bipartisan authors of this bill. I am a cosponsor of this legislation. I am proud of the many hours of work that members of the Energy and Commerce Committee have put in to find common ground. This is a real achievement. 21st Century Cures is a good bill. It has come a long way, but I lend my support with some reservations. Despite bipartisan agreement in committee to provide robust funding for the research initiatives and policies in this bill, the bill before us shorts the NIH by over $1 billion, and these funds are the very ones that are critical for cures. It is important that we provide the necessary support that the NIH requires to continue to be the gold standard in research and development. While we all agree that it is important to speed up research and clinical trials to get treatments to those in need, I want to reiterate my concerns that this focus on speed should not undercut the work that so many have done for years, including many of us here in Congress, to improve diversity in research and clinical trials. While this bill does include my provision to encourage the inclusion of children and the elderly in clinical trials, more needs to be done to ensure that women and minorities are included as well. This is an effort I led during the FDA reauthorization, and it is one that must not be undercut by the Cures effort.…”