[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 120 (Monday, July 14, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E665]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING MS. ABBY LACHMAN FOR HER DEDICATED MEDICAL RESEARCH 
                                ADVOCACY

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                         HON. JANELLE S. BYNUM

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 14, 2025

  Ms. BYNUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding 
efforts made by one of my own constituents, Ms. Abby Lachman. Ms. 
Lachman, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 6, recently 
visited Washington, D.C. to advocate on behalf of herself and the 
millions of Americans living with Type 1. I am impressed by her 
dedication to advocating for herself and her peers at such a young age 
and I am eager to see the changes she will make in the future. I am 
proud to represent you here in Congress Abby. I include in the Record 
the following article written by Noemi Arellano-Summer in the Bend 
Bulletin highlighting Abby's work.

       A Bend teenager who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 
     age 6 is going to Washington, D.C. to advocate for medical 
     research and affordable insulin. Abby Lachman is traveling to 
     D.C. Monday through 10 with Breakthrough T1D, an organization 
     that supports those with Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is 
     a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's immune 
     system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, 
     so people with the disease must take insulin by injection or 
     insulin pump to survive Abby, 15, will be a sophomore at 
     Summit High in the fall. One of Abby's mentors with 
     Breakthrough T1D encouraged her to apply to be part of the 
     Children's Congress, an initiative the organization runs that 
     sends more than 160 kids with Type 1 diabetes to the capitol 
     every two years to advocate for research. She will be 
     speaking with a senator and representatives to share her 
     story.
       ``A lot of it, I think, is just to put a face to the number 
     or the story,'' she said. ``Because we want to help increase 
     funding or continue it, especially at a time when a lot of 
     medical research is getting cut. . . I'm looking forward to 
     all of it. Sometimes it feels surreal just thinking about it. 
     This is such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I feel so 
     blessed that I get to go and do this.'' Abby's been part of 
     Zoom meetings with the team to talk through ideas for the 
     trip and has put together a scrapbook of her journey with 
     Type 1 diabetes, she said. She's had to manage her disease 
     constantly for nearly a decade. ``For me, since I've had it 
     for so long, it's pretty much my life, so I'm a lot more used 
     to it. I have two devices, which are really helpful,'' she 
     said. ``It's pretty much just constant regulation. It's like, 
     where's my number at? Do I need to give a little insulin to 
     help it bring down? Do I need to eat something to come up? 
     It's just constantly doing little things, checking it, making 
     sure you're where you need to be.''
       When she was first diagnosed, Abby had to give herself 
     injections, and didn't have the insulin pump, phone app and 
     other devices she has now to help her monitor her blood 
     sugar. ``I didn't have the easiest time with it, so if I get 
     the chance to maybe help other kids not have that, it's 
     really important to me,'' she said. ``I think that's a big 
     part of what keeps me involved with this stuff.'' Last 
     summer, Abby helped out at Camp Tamarack, during a week that 
     is dedicated to kids with Type 1 diabetes. In the future, she 
     said she wants to travel and see the world.
       Though there are two types of diabetes, they are fairly 
     different, and Abby thinks that's part of the reason why Type 
     1 diabetics have a hard time being diagnosed. ``(Type 1 
     diabetes) is definitely a hard disease to see, and it is 
     common. A lot of people have it, which is why it's so weird 
     that it's almost unheard of at times,'' she said. ``Diagnosis 
     is not easy for a lot of kids. My time with diagnosis was 
     easy. My mom's a doctor, so we caught it super easy, which 
     was very lucky. Kids that don't have that same chance--I knew 
     a kid who didn't know, his parents had no idea it could be a 
     possibility and he got super sick. When he woke up in the 
     morning, he had to get evac'd out and had brain damage. He 
     had to learn how to walk again. It's just so hard. It really 
     needs both that work towards a cure and showing that this is 
     something out there that people struggle with.''

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