Now, last week I introduced the BENEFIT Act. It is legislation to ensure that patient experience and patient-focused drug development data can be considered as part of FDA's benefit/risk framework for drug approval.

The seriousness of the issue is hard to overstate.

I think during the orientation, there should be many more--I don't--I don't know if some of--maybe some of the newer Members could say, but when I went through orientation in 1997, many of the orientation events were bipartisan events.

I think it is important that we are here, but we ought to also take advantage of the technology stuff.

This attack alone caused massive gas lines, hoarding, and many stations ran out of fuel.

if it only does this and this, then we are going consider this to be a failure.

Simply put, the time to address this issue is now.

I really try to do all of my legislation on a bipartisan basis, if I can.

there is nothing more satisfying than, believe you me, than standing next to the President while he signs your bill that is going to help fix biomedical research that will help millions of patients.

We had an agreement that we wouldn't move a bill forward that had provisions that we couldn't agree on.

Today's hearing tackles a growing threat to our national security, economic security, and public safety, and that is ransomware.

That might have been the hardest part of it.

Here is what we did. We asked everybody that we met with to submit their ideas.

I am working very closely with my ranking member, Morgan Griffith, and we have decided that we are going to try to work together as much as we can for bipartisanship.

You really do have to incentivize bipartisanship.

We want to try to pass this bill this year----

I agree with Fred. It is important to be here and that is how you get a lot done, but I think you have to balance that against people's need to be with their families in their districts.

It does diminish the time you can actually work on substantive legislation.

We have to find new ways for us to all get to know each other on a personal basis.

We simply cannot leave victim organizations on their own when figuring out how to defend against and respond to these cyber criminals.

Last year, more than 560 healthcare organizations...found themselves victims of ransomware.

But Mr. Reiner has a good suggestion, though, which is to tie it to government grants.

We really actually wanted to restructure the way we do biomedical research at the NIH, drug and device approval at the FDA.

I feel really strongly about this.

Maybe we should do more all-Member events.