Renee L. Ellmers: “Thank you to my colleague from Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this is such an important issue on which to be speaking here at the…”

“Thank you to my colleague from Georgia. Mr. Speaker, this is such an important issue on which to be speaking here at the House. I rise in support of the Research for Lifesaving Cures Act and in support of the funding of the NIH in order to help bring lifesaving cures to sick Americans. The situation in Washington today should not be standing in the way of this important lifesaving work. There is no defensible argument against this legislation. NIH has been in the forefront of biomedical discoveries that have revolutionized the field of medicine. These discoveries have laid the foundation for treatments and cures for many diseases, including cancer and including improving the lives of countless Americans. The government shutdown is preventing new patients from entering clinical trials. For those patients, it is a matter of life and death; it is not a matter of politics. About 200 people register at the NIH every week. About 30 of those are children, 10 of whom have cancer. We must ensure that medical care is not suspended for these patients, especially for those children who are faced with difficulty.”