Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise to discuss the FDA Safety and Innovation Act, the bill now under consideration here in the Senate. I applaud Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Enzi for their leadership in moving this critical legislation through the HELP committee, and now to the Senate floor. As an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA has as part of its broad mission to protect Americans' health by assuring the safety of drugs, biologics, medical devices, our Nation's food supply, vaccines, tobacco, cosmetics, and animal food and drugs. Every single day, every single American depends on the vital work of FDA's employees. There is a second key element to the FDA's work--helping to speed innovations to the marketplace through the drug, biologic, and medical device approval process. It's that component of the FDA's mission that we are addressing this week--reauthorizing the user fees that help fund the approval process. I'm proud of the FDA's workers--the majority of the agency's more than 11,000 employees are based at its headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. It's there that the process of medical innovation, which begins at NIH with basic research, is completed as lifesaving drugs and medical devices are approved for use.…”