Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2018
Floor Speech
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Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Walden for yielding. I am grateful for the work he has done on this. I am also grateful to my friends, Representatives Fitzpatrick and Griffith, as well as Senator Johnson, for their advocacy here.
I don't want to get this crucial point lost: it is not us; it is the courageous patients and their friends and their families who deserve the most recognition about how far we have come to get this bill passed. Today is for them, not for us.
Thirty-eight States, soon to be 39 States, have passed this bill. That is enough to amend the U.S. Constitution, but here we stand because some have come and said we shouldn't give people false hope.
There is no such thing as false hope. You either have hope or you have no hope. In this instance, this bill gives tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, or millions even, the hope that they can avail themselves of medication that might prolong their life or maybe even be a cure. These people who have advocated are fighters.
I hear about patient groups who oppose this, yet the States, our employers, they approve this. Every day, Laura McLinn, the mother of Jordan McLinn, receives countless emails from people similarly situated, saying: We need to pass the Right to Try Act. I need that right to try.
I am told: Oh, well, we take care of 1,500 a year.
Mr. Speaker, 1,500 a year, when there are literally tens of thousands of people who need their opportunity.
We are not mandating even. We are providing an opportunity. We are providing an option both for the patient and even the pharmaceutical company.
Now, I heard in the opening statement from my friend across the aisle that we are not compelling them to do it.
Would he feel more comfortable if we compelled pharmaceutical companies to provide those potential lifesaving medications?
We need to recognize that this bill is not for us in this Chamber. It is for Matt Bellina, Jordan McLinn, and Laura McLinn. It is for those who are similarly situated.
We have waited long enough. Let's get this done.
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