Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. It has been great working with him all these years, and I appreciate him very much.

I rise in strong support of H.R. 3391, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0. I am proud to be a co-lead on this bipartisan piece of legislation with my friend and colleague, Representative Jennifer Wexton, who does an outstanding job on these issues.

Again, she is retiring at the end of this Congress, and we are going to miss her. She did such wonderful work, particularly on the Parkinson's bill, and we are going to get it across the finish line.

I am grateful for her leadership on this particular bill, as well, to reauthorize the Kids First Pediatric Research Initiative at the National Institutes of Health. Our bill will continue the critical work being done to conduct biomedical research and discover new insights into pediatric conditions such as childhood cancers.

The Kids First program has helped facilitate a better understanding of shared genetic pathways between childhood cancers, birth defects, and other pediatric conditions, and H.R. 3391 ensures that this research will continue for another 5 years.

Further, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act requires coordination of all Federal efforts related to pediatric cancer research, as well as a report detailing current federally funded programs and initiatives and all advancements made thus far, and there have been several advancements.

We all agree that these scientific discoveries could help unlock the key to developing future treatments and cures for our most vulnerable patients--our kids who suffer from pediatric cancers and rare diseases.

We must continue to fight the battle against kids' cancers, both inside and outside the Federal Government. I urge my colleagues to support our bill, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0.

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