Chris Smith: “I thank my good friend from Texas, the distinguished subcommittee leader, chair, and doctor. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very…”

“I thank my good friend from Texas, the distinguished subcommittee leader, chair, and doctor. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support today of the Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014, an historic bill offered by my good friend and distinguished colleague, Chris Gibson. From all those who suffer from this hideous disease, thank you, Chris. I would also like to extend my very special thanks to Chairmen Fred Upton and Joe Pitts, as well as their staff, for their tireless efforts to ensure the final bill brought before the floor today establishes a means to address huge gaps that exist and the great unmet need in the Lyme community. Mr. Speaker, in 1992 I met with the two top medical officials at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control working on Lyme and an extraordinary woman named Pat Smith. We laid out a case. She did most of the talking. They listened. They were responsive. However, 22 years later, far too little has been accomplished. I raised, as did she, the apparent ineffectiveness of a month-long antibiotic treatment for a sizable percentage of people. The CDC says between 15 to 20 percent of the people suffering from this disease don't seem to get better. We call it chronic Lyme. Dr. Richard Horowitz notes in his bestselling book, ``Why Can't I Get Better?'': A patient's journey typically begins with a primary care physician or a family doctor.…”