[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 176 (Wednesday, December 7, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         21ST CENTURY CURES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 7, 2016

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the 21st Century 
Cures Act. The bill is not perfect, but it makes important progress on 
key health and addiction treatments that will help people in Maryland 
and across the country.
  Maryland's drug poisoning death rate is higher than the national 
average, with both urban and rural areas facing the scourge of opioid 
addiction and death. This bill will provide $1 billion in funding to 
states for new programs to combat the opioid and heroin epidemic. It 
also takes critical steps to improve our nation's mental health system 
by reauthorizing several grant programs aimed at crisis response, 
behavioral health integration in pediatric primary care, and diversion 
from the criminal justice system to community-based services.
  Additionally, the 21st Century Cures Act aims to improve the 
discovery, development, and delivery of medical treatments. It creates 
incentives for new scientists to begin their career in research, 
requires more input from patients, and modernizes clinical trials--all 
of which will help advance treatments for rare diseases such as 
childhood cancer.
  The bill allocates over $6 billion in new investments to implement 
vital health priorities such as the President's Brain Research through 
Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative that will 
help us to better understand the human brain and could lead to cures to 
diseases such as Alzheimer's. Additionally, the funding will go towards 
the President's Precision Medicine and the Vice President's Cancer 
Moonshot Initiatives by dedicating $4.8 billion to the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH). The inclusion of $500 million for the Food 
and Drug Administration (FDA) will help make its approval process more 
efficient and accelerate treatments to patients. Maryland is proud to 
be home to so many federal agencies that are leading the fight to 
improve the health of all Americans, and I will keep fighting to 
provide the resources they need in this effort.
  Furthermore, the package includes legislation I authored--Advancing 
Research for Neurological Diseases Act. It will create a neurological 
disease surveillance program at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 
which would provide a foundation for evaluating and understanding 
factors of neurological diseases like Multiple Sclerosis and 
Parkinson's.
  While the bill includes important bipartisan provisions, I am 
concerned that this bill includes far less funding than what was 
included in the Cures package considered by the House last year. 
Additionally, Congressional Republicans refused to allow for the 
funding in this bill to be mandatory. Instead, Congress will have to 
vote annually to make the funding available as part of the 
appropriations process--the American people must hold us accountable to 
deliver on this promise. Finally, I still have concerns with some 
provisions that might impact patient safety, but I understand that FDA 
worked with Congress on the provisions that relate to their agency to 
provide feedback--much of which was incorporated. I look forward to 
continuing to work with the FDA through implementation to safeguard 
patients.
  As a country, we must work together to combat drug addiction and 
prioritize medical research. The Cures Act moves this effort forward, 
but we are far from finished.

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