On the recordJuly 9, 2015
I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule to consider the 21st Century Cures Act on the floor. On the Energy and Commerce Committee, we worked tirelessly with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to get this bill to a place that we could all agree upon, a place where we provide new mandatory funding for NIH to do the critical research that is a foundation for cures, a place where we tweak FDA processes and provide FDA with additional resources to do the new things that will help get treatments and cures to patients faster. As we worked together to find ways to accelerate innovation, patients with rare diseases have been at the forefront of our conversations. It is often more difficult to research and develop cures for rare disease patients due to their small populations. However, finding cures for rare diseases is not just of the utmost importance to the patients with those rare diseases and their families, it is important to all of us. You never know where a cure might come from, and often research and drug development on one disease may turn out to be fruitful for another. Mr. Speaker, we all need to work together to advance cures and treatments.…
