Michael Burgess: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of this critical bill to reauthorize the…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of this critical bill to reauthorize the Animal Drug User Fee Act and the Animal Generic Drug User Fee Act for an additional 5 years. Among other things, these user fees provide critical resources to the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine to ensure efficient and timely review of animal drug applications, quality assurance measures for animal feed, and surveillance of the safety and efficacy of animal drugs on the market. In addition to reauthorizing these user fee programs, this legislation also includes new authority to facilitate greater innovation in the animal drug space. Mr. Speaker, these user fee programs must be reauthorized by September 30 to avoid a major disruption of the operations of the Center for Veterinary Medicine. The clock is ticking. The agency must start sending pink slips to employees 60 calendar days before the end of the fiscal year. That is the end of this month. We are talking about real consequences for animal health and for the American people. House passage of this bill today is an important step, and I urge the Senate to do its work and promptly take up and pass this bill so that President Trump can sign it into law. I thank the gentleman for the recognition.”