On the recordDecember 7, 2016
Madam President, I am pleased to rise to talk about the 21st Century Cures bill we have before us today. At the beginning of this Congress, my good friend Senator Alexander and I issued a report entitled Innovation for Healthier Americans in which we asked a simple, but critical, question: how can we do it better? Chairman Alexander and I asked this question because we must do it better for our constituents and their loved ones who are battling devastating diseases--diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer, and rare pediatric conditions--for which we have no treatments today, but hope that we will in time to help the courageous individuals with these diseases to win their fight. I commend Chairman Alexander for his resolute focus on this critical work and for his leadership in bringing forward the bill we have before us today. For decades, our Nation has led the world in medical innovation, but the challenges to maintaining this global edge have never been greater. We recognized that our Nation's biomedical discovery and development must work as well as possible to ensure that Americans are able to benefit from the most cutting-edge medical innovations in as timely a manner as possible. We are at a tremendously exciting era in medicine that will be defined by innovation. Innovation holds great potential.…





