Date: 2015-07-09
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chair. I rise in support of H.R. 6. the 21st Century Cures Act. Unanimously passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with a 510 vote. the 21st Century Cures initiative will encourage innovation in biomedical research and development of new treatments. With $8.75 billion in mandatory funding over the next five years delivered to the newly created National Institutes of Health and Cures Innovation Fund and $550 million for the Food and Drug Administration over the next five years. it is clear that Congress is committed to investing in health research. Developing a better system of funding towards highrisk high reward research and research by early stage investigators is crucial to finding better health outcomes. With a better focus on infectious disease. precision medicine. and biomarkers. I strongly believe that we will finally address these areas of unmet medical needs. which are often the most pervasive issues in our health system. The modernization of clinical trials by supporting a more centralized system. moving to more adaptive clinical trial designs. and creating a national neurological disease surveillance system will help to develop better data and provide more patient success stories. The legislation also allows for better sharing of clinical trial information for researchers and scientists for more efficiency across the board. Also. the bill ensures that strategies will be developed to cast a wider net for clinical trials in order to increase minority representation. Last October. I wrote a letter urging the White House to take into consideration UTSouthwestens existing particle therapy research infrastructure and expertise in leading cancer treatment research in the U.S. when selecting the planning grant award recipients. The planned center would serve as a research adjunct to an independently created and funded. sustainable clinical facility for particle beam radiation therapy. Currently. the planning grant includes pilot projects that will enable a research agenda in particle beam delivery systems. dosimetry. radiation biology. and/ or translational preclinical studies. Mr. Chair. the advanced planning grant the UT Southwestern Medical Center received in February 2015. is exactly the type of medical and technological advancement the DFW Metroplex and country needs and is the type of federal investment we need to continue to lead the world in stateoftheart medical research. Not only is this grant a major advancement for STEM. it is a crucial step in the right direction for cancer research and those affected by cancer here in the United States. This legislation provides new funding opportunities for innovative cancer treatment approaches such as the development of Americas first Heavy Ion Center for cancer therapy and would pave the way to keep America at the forefront of medical research and stateoftheart cancer treatment. While H.R. 6 contains many provisions regarding the biomedical research workforce. clinical trials. FDA improvements. I am most proud of the initiatives provisions regarding mandatory funding for the NIH and FDA. I strongly believe that the Congress has not placed enough importance on scientific research and this is a way to get us back on track. Investing in innovation will yield high rewards for the medical community. especially patients. I am proud to support H.R. 6. the 21 st Century Cures Act.