Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan amendments submitted by myself and my friend Congressman Costa which would transfer $1 million from the HHS Secretary's general department management account to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to begin to design the infrastructure for the Pediatric- Onset Epilepsies Consortium.

The Consortium would enable cooperative research studies, accelerate the development of knowledge about the epilepsies, and rapidly advance therapeutic options and their implementation to improve treatments and healthcare outcomes.

As a co-chair of the Congressional Epilepsy Caucus, along with Congressman Costa, I am proud to offer this bipartisan amendment to support millions of Americans with epilepsy.

Just to give you a few statistics. More than 3.4 million individuals and their families are affected by epilepsy in the U.S. today, with nearly 500,000 children having epilepsy in the United States. One in 26 individuals will be diagnosed with epilepsy during their lifetime.

As November is Epilepsy Awareness Month, we must continue to build awareness around epilepsy, reduce the stigma applied to it, and educate the public and physicians on epilepsy disorders.

I thank Representative Costa for his support and co-leading this amendment. This is personal to me, as I have a child who has dealt with epilepsy now for close to 16 years and is doing well, but I want other individuals from across the country to do well also.

Mr. Chair, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on the amendment.

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