Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for Als Reauthorization Act of 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Colorado for her kind remarks.

Mr. Speaker, several years ago, a Chicagoan named Brian Wallach came to my office and shared the fact that he was just diagnosed with ALS, a devastating disease that steals a person's ability to move or speak.

The average life expectancy at the time with someone diagnosed with ALS was 2 to 5 years. When Brian came to visit us in Congress, that was the reality he was facing.

He cofounded an organization called I AM ALS with his wife, Sandra Abrevaya. Sandra's life changed overnight, too when she became an ALS caretaker. Since then, she cofounded a company to improve the care of people living with ALS.

This awe-inspiring couple came to my office with a big idea to advance ALS research and access to treatments. After meeting with Brian and Sandra, I was convinced that ALS was not incurable. The research was just underfunded. I was moved by their dedication to each other and the cause.

Like too many families across the country, my family has been touched by neurodegenerative disease. I lost my father to Parkinson's. However, since I started working on the first Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, there hasn't been one Member of Congress whom I talked to who didn't have a personal story or know the impact of one of these diseases.

Our bipartisan work on the first Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act broke through the bitter politics that can divide this place. I believe we have the opportunity to do that again today.

In the last 5 years, ACT for ALS programs have helped people living with ALS to access promising therapies. They have created new methods for researchers to share their work and sustain critical natural history studies.

Since we passed the first bill 5 years ago, we have been able to secure over $350 million in Federal funding for these programs. Today, we are voting on a bill to extend these programs for 5 more years.

To everyone living with ALS who has advocated for this bill, I hope today's vote shows that Congress hears you and we are here for you and that, every once in a while, we break through. At those moments, I am proud to serve here.

To Brian who is still with us fighting the disease and Sandra: Thank you for your tireless advocacy and big dreams.

Finally, I thank Representative Ken Calvert for his work on this with me in the House, and Senators Chris Coons and Lisa Murkowski for their work in the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

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