[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 188 (Tuesday, October 26, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5877-H5878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF GABRIELLA MILLER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Virginia (Ms. Wexton) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WEXTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the remarkable life 
and legacy of a young constituent, Gabriella Miller, who passed away on 
this day 8 years ago due to an inoperable brain tumor.
  Gabriella was a fierce fighter not just in her own battle with 
cancer, but as an advocate on behalf of the millions of other children 
who have suffered from this disease. In the months following her 
terminal diagnosis at age 9, Gabriella became a national force for 
change, urging Congress to grant increased funding and to develop 
better treatments and cures for childhood cancer.

[[Page H5878]]

  Her passionate plea for lawmakers to ``stop talking, start doing'' 
helped deliver a successful push to pass the Gabriella Miller Kids 
First Research Act, bipartisan legislation named in her honor. 
Gabriella's family joined sponsor Representative Eric Cantor from 
Virginia and President Barack Obama in the Oval Office in 2014 for the 
bill signing.
  The Kids First program established a 10-year Pediatric Research 
Initiative Fund and led to the creation of the National Institutes of 
Health Kids First Pediatric and Data Resource Center. It has allocated 
millions of dollars to research grants looking into pediatric cancer 
and rare diseases, supporting over 60 research projects.
  I am honored to carry on Gabriella's mission by sponsoring the 
Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0, which would deliver a new 
sustained and expanded funding source for this lifesaving program.
  It has been 8 years since we lost Gabriella, and there is still a 
long fight ahead to better understand, treat, and ultimately cure 
childhood cancer. The 2.0 bill would give a dramatic boost to that 
fight and help demonstrate that Congress is serious about ensuring that 
no other family has to go through what the Miller family has.
  Madam Speaker, I share Gabriella's story today so that her legacy 
continues to live on. May Congress have the courage to answer 
Gabriella's call to ``stop talking, start doing'' and deliver the 
resources needed to treat and cure childhood cancer.

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