Frank Pallone: “I thank the chairwoman of the Committee on Appropriations for all she has done to get us to the point where we are able…”

“I thank the chairwoman of the Committee on Appropriations for all she has done to get us to the point where we are able to pass this continuing resolution today. In June, House Democrats and Republicans came together to pass, by an overwhelming supermajority, a sweeping package of reforms at the Food and Drug Administration. That bipartisan legislation would strengthen the integrity of the accelerated approval program, foster innovation, improve clinical trial diversity, and reauthorize the agency's medical product user fee programs. Those user fee programs help fund FDA reviews for safety and efficacy of drugs and medical devices. While the House concluded its work in June, the Senate failed to act. As soon as we passed our legislation through the House, I reached out to Ranking Member Rodgers and the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate HELP Committee to begin bipartisan, bicameral conversations to come to an agreement on a package of mutually agreeable FDA reforms. After weeks of negotiations, our talks hit a temporary roadblock with Senator Burr, the Republican ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee, but we stayed at the table, and eventually, the negotiations were fruitful. We were able to come together to find common ground across several meaningful policy areas. Unfortunately, despite this progress, Senate Minority Leader McConnell decided to stand in the way of enacting bipartisan policies to improve public health.…”