[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 158 (Friday, September 26, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E898-E899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING SEPTEMBER AS CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LORI TRAHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 26, 2025

  Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of September as 
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and to highlight two bipartisan bills, 
the Give Kids a Chance Act and the BRAIN Act, that will help save 
lives. Cancer is a disease which affects nearly every household and 
community around the country, and nowhere is it more heartbreaking than 
when it affects our children.
  This month marks an opportunity to raise awareness for childhood 
cancer and support research for new treatment and therapy avenues. Just 
this year alone, nearly 10,000 children will be diagnosed with 
pediatric cancer. This is an issue that could not be more important and 
pressing.
  The Give Kids a Chance Act removes many of the hurdles and barriers 
to researching treatments for rare pediatric diseases. It restores FDA 
incentives through the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher 
Program, encouraging companies to develop drugs for rare childhood 
diseases. The PRV program has already helped develop new treatments for 
200,000 patients spanning nearly 50 rare diseases. Muscular dystrophy, 
sickle cell, and tropical diseases have all seen medical breakthroughs 
during this program.
  Give Kids a Chance will also reauthorize the FDA to take action 
against drug sponsors that fail to comply with pediatric study 
requirements. Thus, ensuring that patients get the latest and best 
treatments that they require. As Dr. Benjamin Ebert, President of Dana-
Faber, said, ``sustained federal investment is needed to ensure that 
every child has the opportunity for a life free from disease.'' This 
bill would cement that investment and sustain our leadership in 
biotechnology, while costing the taxpayer nothing.
  Similarly, the BRAIN Act is another common-sense, bipartisan piece of 
legislation that

[[Page E899]]

will advance pediatric care. Recently, brain cancer has passed leukemia 
as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths of pediatric patients. 
While the number of cases is growing, survival rates have remained 
stagnant for 45 years. This needs to change.
  The BRAIN Act will increase awareness for clinical trials, invest 
funding into glioblastoma therapeutics and cellular immunotherapy 
research, and authorize the FDA to ensure brain tumor patient access to 
clinical trials. Many aggressive pediatric cases have a survival rate 
of less than the average school year. We have the responsibility and 
opportunity to try and change that. Echoing what David Arons, of the 
National Brain Tumor Society, stated, ``now is the time to build on 
government support for research and access to care for cancer 
patients.''
  During this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, I urge my colleagues to 
support these two bipartisan bills and give pediatric patients, across 
the country, a better chance to fight and survive.

                          ____________________