Blog: Bipartisan Results: Getting the Job Done for Southwest Michigan (Part 9)

Statement

Welcome to the ninth installment of my weekly series highlighting bipartisan solutions that have come out of my Energy and Commerce Committee and their positive impact right here in Southwest Michigan. This week, I would like to highlight a bill that really emphasizes the good we can do when we work together for our communities, H.R. 2019, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act.

My friend and fellow committee member Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS) introduced the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act in May 2013, and by April 2014 President Obama had signed it into law.

What this bill does is simple: It redirects wasteful spending on political conventions and instead invests these dollars in important pediatric research for diseases like cancer.

This bipartisan legislation is named after Gabriella Miller, a courageous young girl who tragically died of brain cancer on October 26, 2013, at the age of 10. While she was ill and undergoing treatment, Gabriella undertook an activist role and was successful in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Make A Wish Foundation and helped to launch the Smashing Walnuts Foundation to fund pediatric research.

Thanks to Gabriella's bravery and unrelenting optimism in the face of unthinkable adversity -- this commonsense bill is now law, bringing hope to countless kids and families from all across the country.

I am proud to serve you in Washington and my mission has remained the same since Day One: Getting the job done for folks here in Southwest Michigan.

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