[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 42 (Thursday, March 13, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S1646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUPPORTING JOSH HARDY

  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I would like to take a moment to express 
sincere gratitude to the students, faculty and staff of Hugh Mercer 
Elementary School and the entire Fredericksburg, VA region--for the way 
the community has rallied together to support one of their own: seven-
year-old Josh Hardy.
  Josh is at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis 
recovering from a life-threatening virus following a bone marrow 
transplant in January. This week, I am pleased our office had an 
opportunity to work with Josh's family and Josh's friends and fans in 
Fredericksburg to get this young fighter access to an experimental 
medication that could save his life.
  Since Josh was an infant, he has battled cancer--successfully. While 
he was undergoing chemotherapy--in kindergarten, mind you--Josh and his 
two brothers worked to raise almost $5,000 to help other sick children 
who were being treated at St. Jude Children's Hospital.
  Doctors at St. Jude Children's Hospital believe the only drug that 
can help Josh is still in the testing phase by its manufacturer, 
Chimerix. And unfortunately, it appeared that policies of the FDA and 
Chimerix would prevent Josh from receiving the drug.
  Upon hearing that news, family, friends, Mercer teachers and 
classmates, local businesses, and nonprofit groups across the 
Fredericksburg region rallied together to make sure that Josh's voice 
was heard, here on Capitol Hill and across the country.
  They used social media to enlist the support of tens of thousands of 
people from across the country and around the world. Josh's family and 
friends contacted our office to see if we might be able to help.
  That is when we reached out both to the FDA and the drug manufacturer 
to try to expedite the process to allow Josh to get access to this 
potentially life-saving medication. We got the good news Tuesday night, 
directly from the CEO of Chimerix. By the following morning, Josh was 
undergoing treatment with this new drug. It is still too soon to know 
if this experimental medication will help, but we are all pulling for 
this remarkable boy.
  Today I want to salute Josh's teachers and classmates at High Mercer 
Elementary School for all that they have done to rally around this 
family. The commitment of Josh's teachers to advocate on behalf of the 
Hardy family is a testament to their dedication to public service and 
to creating stronger communities and a better Virginia.
  And I am grateful and proud of the Fredericksburg community, where 
folks truly came together in a good cause on behalf of Josh and his 
family. Their persistence and dedication exemplifies what we call ``the 
Virginia spirit.''
  I also want to publicly thank the executives and employees of 
Chimerix, and officials at the Food and Drug Administration, for moving 
so quickly to look for a way to be helpful to the Hardy family. My 
staff is already in conversation with the FDA about ways we might 
streamline the process to allow families in the Hardy's situation to 
have easier access to potentially life-saving drugs even as these drugs 
are being evaluated by the FDA.
  We are all pulling for Josh Hardy. We are praying for his family and 
his medical team, and we are so grateful for the tremendous support 
Josh Hardy is receiving from his Hugh Mercer teachers and classmates 
and the entire Fredericksburg community.

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