[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15825]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     PASS LEGISLATION TO FIND CURES

  (Ms. KUSTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge the Senate to pass and 
President Obama to sign into law the 21st Century Cures Act.
  This bipartisan legislation represents a comprehensive strategy to 
improve medical innovation, access lifesaving medicine, and improve 
mental health services. The bill includes funding for President Obama's 
Precision Medicine Initiative, for Vice President Biden's Cancer 
Moonshot, and a new program to improve our understanding for brain 
diseases, like Alzheimer's disease.
  But most importantly, Congress has decided to address one of the 
worst public health crises of the 21st century. Sadly, last year, in my 
home State of New Hampshire, we had the third highest opioid overdose 
rate per capita in the entire country. But this crisis is not unique to 
my State. Across America, communities and families are shaken from the 
deaths of loved ones due to overdose. Opioid addiction is truly a 
national public health crisis.
  As founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the 
Heroin Epidemic, I urge the Senate to promptly pass this important 
bill.

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