[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 147 (Friday, September 20, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DEONDRA DIXON INCLUDE PROJECT ACT OF 2024

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                               speech of

                           HON. DIANA DeGETTE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 17, 2024

  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the DeOndra 
Dixon INCLUDE Project Act.
  In 2018, NIH launched the INCLUDE Project to investigate conditions 
that affect individuals with Down syndrome and the general population, 
such as Alzheimer's disease, congenital heart disease, and diabetes. 
Many diseases affect individuals with Down syndrome differently than 
typical people. This means including individuals with Down syndrome in 
biomedical research is crucial to understand how to treat them. It also 
means investigating those differences helps us understand how diseases 
work generally.
  The University of Colorado's Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome 
Research has been on the forefront of this critical work. Just last 
month, Crnic Institute scientists published groundbreaking research on 
the differences in oxygen physiology for people with Down syndrome. 
This new knowledge will help improve treatments for all people with 
chronic hypoxia. This is the kind of research we need to foster, and 
it's why the INCLUDE project needs its own authorization to continue 
its important work.
  I do want to raise one issue I have with this bill as we consider it 
today. It originally contained an authorization of $250 million 
annually, but to conform with the inexplicable rules of this majority 
which say you can't authorize more than a current appropriation, it was 
amended in subcommittee to only $90 million each year. This 
authorization does not even match the $125 million included in this 
year's NIH appropriations bill for the INCLUDE Project, much less give 
the program room to evolve. We need to move this important legislation, 
but we must restore the authorization to $250 million as consideration 
of this bill continues.
  Finally, I'd like to thank my constituent Michelle Whitten, founder 
of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, whose tireless advocacy for 
people with Down syndrome has spurred research and led to scientific 
breakthroughs. It has also helped bring this bill to the floor of the 
House of Representatives today.

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