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21st Century Cures Act

Floor Speech

Date: May 20, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the 21st Century Cures Act. This is legislation that we, at the Energy and Commerce Committee, are working on in a bipartisan basis, and we look forward to moving it to the House floor and seeing this passed and signed into law. Why are we doing it? Because we want to put the focus on cures, real cures that will enable people to live better lives.

Let's take just one disease, Alzheimer's. There are 5 million Americans that currently have Alzheimer's. The cost to the Nation is $215 billion a year. When you look out several decades to 2050, the cost is estimated to be $1 trillion a year for one disease. Yes, we need to focus on finding cures.

And there are other disorders and diseases that need that attention. Take autism, diabetes, ALS, cancer, the list moves on.

It is time for us to encourage and support young scientists, to put the focus on our most challenging health conditions, and we want the regulatory agencies to be there to encourage this effort, and I encourage support for the 21st Century Cures Act.

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