[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12599-12600]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              BENEFIT ACT

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, my esteemed colleague from Delaware says 
that we have plenty to do when we get back, and he is, certainly, 
correct. I would join many of my colleagues today, though, in pointing 
out that in the last 3 days, we have actually gotten substantial work 
done. Perhaps we have crammed into 3 days what using the regular order 
and the filibuster and the motions to proceed might have taken 3 weeks 
otherwise. So the leadership on both sides of the aisle are to be 
commended for this burst of progress we have made, and I hope we can 
continue that when we get back.
  Earlier today, this Congress passed a significant piece of 
legislation offered by the Senator who occupies the Chair, my good 
friend, Senator Johnson of Wisconsin. It is the Right to Try Act, which 
seeks to streamline the way people who are willing to take a bit of a 
chance on a drug in order to save their lives--streamline the way they 
can have access to perhaps life-enhancing and lifesaving drugs. It is a 
real achievement. I congratulate my colleague from Wisconsin and 
congratulate the leadership facilitating this breakthrough.
  Moments later, the Senate passed a companion bill authored by Senator 
Klobuchar and me known as the Better Empowerment Now to Enhance 
Framework and Improve Treatments Act or the BENEFIT Act. This is 
another win for patients--patients who deserve to have a voice in the 
drug approval process. This bill, which is a companion bill to the very 
important Right to Try Act, will do that.
  The BENEFIT Act calls for a simple amendment to the Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act--one that could make a big difference to patients whose 
lives may depend on a new therapy or drug. Specifically, the Wicker-
Klobuchar bill would require the use of patient experience and patient-
focused drug development and related data in assessing the risk versus 
the benefit of these particular therapies.
  The bill also includes information from patient advocacy groups and 
academic institutions. This is a small but important step forward.
  If signed into law--and I certainly hope the House passes it and I 
hope the President will sign it into law--this bill would greatly 
enhance the data and information available to FDA when reviewing drugs, 
when reviewing medical products, and when reviewing therapies. It would 
also add to the progress Congress has made in recent years, reaffirming 
the importance of patients' perspectives in drug decisions--decisions 
that can have a profound and lasting impact on the lives of these 
patients. Ask any American who suffers from a disease or who is 
watching a loved one suffer, and they will tell us that all information 
should be on the table when a breakthrough or a cure is at stake.
  Last year, Senator Klobuchar and I joined together to make the FDA's 
use of patient perspectives more transparent with what we call the 
Patient-Focused Impact Assessment Act. This was passed and was signed 
into law as part of the 21st Century Cures Act.
  The BENEFIT Act, passed by the Senate today, would keep that momentum 
going, building on the progress we have made.
  Now, what progress have we made? Let me tell my colleagues this. For 
years, I have sought to find a cure for the devastating, fatal disease 
known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I have worked on this issue since 
my early years in the House of Representatives. Young boys--almost all 
males--is whom this affects. These young boys face this fatal disease, 
and they know better than anyone what a drug can do to improve the 
quality of their lives.
  Since the Congress passed and the President signed the MD-CARE Act 
dealing with Duchenne muscular dystrophy more than 15 years ago, 
research has led to innovative therapies that have added a decade to 
the lives of these young boys. What an achievement by scientists in 
America. What an achievement for the government to have unleashed cures 
and research in this area.
  We need their voices heard, we need their stories heard, and we need 
the voices of patients with other diseases heard.
  I thank my colleagues in the Senate for joining with us on a 
unanimous consent request to pass this legislation. I thank the 
leadership on this side of the aisle and our Democratic counterparts on 
the other side.
  Particular appreciation goes to Senator Alexander, the chairman of 
the HELP Committee, and to Senator Murray, the ranking Democrat on the 
HELP Committee, for their valuable help. Appreciation goes to perhaps a 
new attitude for the rest of the year in the Senate to join together 
with unanimous consent and move bills and nominations forward that have 
widespread support and consensus around the country.
  I congratulate the Presiding Officer, the Senator from Wisconsin, on 
an outstanding achievement, and I congratulate the Senate for joining 
with Senator Klobuchar and me to help out in another way.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page 12600]]



                          ____________________