21st Century Cures Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Chair, today I stand in strong support of the 21st Century Cures Act. This bipartisan bill gives our nation's best and brightest the tools they need to understand--and eventually defeat disease--and reauthorizes both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The 21st Century Cures Act has the potential to accelerate the discovery of drugs for life-threatening illnesses; repurpose drugs found ineffective for one condition and test them on another; promote an interoperable health system; enhance telehealth practices; and advance the development of more targeted, personalized treatments.
My district, the 7th Congressional District of Alabama, is home to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Southern Research Institute, and the University of Alabama. NIH funding is critical to the continuing vitality of these three leading institutions, as well as to the region.
The prospect of this act alone provides hope. Hope that cures can be discovered, hope that one day no diagnoses indicate inevitable ailment or death, and hope that one day treatments will yield more reward than risk.

Despite the potential of this bill, there are two amendments that threaten that hope and essentially aim to inhibit the health of several Americans. First, the Hyde Amendment has reared its ugly head yet again. It is a harmful and discriminatory bill that prevents women from making their own healthcare decisions. Further, it serves as a stark contradiction to efforts geared toward providing health positive resources for all.
Second, the Brat amendment aims to convert the federal funding of the NIH and the FDA from mandatory to discretionary. Such a transaction would stifle the progress both federal agencies have already made and will continue to make. It will singlehandedly reverse the trajectory of medical progress and halt further research efforts.

With only 5 percent of rare diseases having an FDA-approved treatment, it would be a gross understatement to say our medical systems have failed to keep pace. Viruses and diseases will not wait for us to catch up; they will mutate, grow ever more virulent, and continue to impact our public health. We need to leverage our investments to make potentially game-changing strides in treatment. We need 21st century solutions for 21st century threats.

An investment in health affects more than our physical well-being, and the 21st Century Cares Act reflects this. H.R. 6 is not only a health bill; it is a jobs bill. Our country has been the leader in both the medical device and biopharmaceutical industry for decades, helping us become the core of global medical innovation. This puts a target on our backs, as China and other countries have attempted to attempt to claim this role and thus, our jobs. U.S. medical device-related employment totals over 2 million jobs, and the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry is responsible for over 4 million U.S. jobs. NIH funding currently supports over 400,000 jobs at research institutions across the country, including jobs for young and upcoming scientists. Without this funding, our jobs are out there for the taking. Without this funding, the thousands of jobs in my district provided by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Southern Research Institute, and the University of Alabama are not safe. The policies in this legislation will help us fight off foreign competitors and allow us to continue innovating, so we can all protect medical jobs in our districts and add more.
We must get serious about addressing the unmet medical needs of the American people.
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I urge my colleagues not to deprive the American people of the cures they deserve. Vote against these poison pill amendments because when it comes to the health of our constituents, there is no place or time for partisan politics. I urge my colleagues to oppose the Brat and Hyde amendments, and I urge them support H.R. 6.

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