Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, today hundreds of thousands of children and adults all across America, including over 177,000 just from my State of Florida, live with digestive gastrointestinal liver or pancreatic disease or inherited metabolic disorders, commonly referred to as ``IMD,'' that actually inhibits their bodies from being able to process typical foods. When left untreated, Madam Speaker, inherited metabolic disease or gastrointestinal conditions actually cause the body to fail to absorb nutrients, and the food can actually become toxic. Without necessary nutrition, patients can face severe health risks, including unnecessary surgeries, hospitalizations, intellectual disabilities, or death. Our health system must be structured to support proven treatments so that these patients can continue to live with these diseases. I recently introduced legislation with Representative McGovern that would make medically necessary nutrition more easily accessible to patients across the Nation. H.R. 6892, the Medical Nutrition Equity Act, builds on coverage Congress passed for TRICARE and would actually cover medically necessary food, vitamins, and individual amino acids for these Americans with digestive and inherited metabolic disorders and allow them to lead normal, healthy lives. As co-chair of the Crohn's and Colitis Caucus where I advocate for these digestive disorders, I urge my colleagues to consider supporting this legislation as we work to pass it into law.…”