[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15522-15523]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        21ST CENTURY CURES BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday the House passed the 21st 
Century Cures bill with overwhelming bipartisan support, and I hope to 
see the

[[Page 15523]]

same in the Senate. The medical innovation bill is one that can have a 
substantial impact for families across our country. It supports medical 
research, including promoting regenerative medicine. It provides real 
funding to help combat the prescription opioid epidemic that swept our 
Nation, particularly in places such as my home State of Kentucky. It 
improves mental health programs, among other bipartisan priorities.
  I thank Senator Alexander, chairman of the HELP Committee, for his 
tireless work in driving this critical legislation forward. We should 
also thank Senator Hatch, who worked with our Finance colleagues on a 
significant number of Medicare provisions in the package to protect 
care for America's seniors. I would like to note the great work by 
Senator Cornyn and Senator Cassidy to incorporate key mental health 
reforms into the Cures legislation.
  Let's work together to send it to the President's desk as soon as 
possible.

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