[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10872-10873]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1130
                                 EMILY

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, Emily Whitehead is a young 
girl from Philipsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Emily wants to be a 
veterinarian when she grows up. She loves writing and her dog, Lucy.
  At the age of 5, Emily was diagnosed with leukemia. She worked 
through multiple different treatments. Unfortunately, in 2011, she 
relapsed. Emily received chemotherapy for months and was scheduled for 
a bone marrow transplant in 2012, but she relapsed just 2 weeks before 
the transplant date. Unable to get back into remission, doctors told 
Emily's parents there were no options left.
  The family decided to take a chance. They traveled across the State 
to enroll her in a clinical trial at the Children's Hospital of 
Philadelphia. Emily

[[Page 10873]]

would be the first child in the world to receive modified trained 
cells, or T-cells, to fight her cancer. By May of 2012, Emily was in 
remission. The treatment had worked.
  I want to thank Emily and her family for making it to Capitol Hill 
last week. This body needed to hear her story and about the medical 
research and innovation that saved Emily's life.

                          ____________________