Providing for Consideration of H.R. 6, 21st Century Cures Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. YODER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join the chorus of Americans who are calling out for support and research and innovation to cure diseases that affect every family and neighborhood in America.

The rule that we have before us would allow us to debate the 21st Century Cures bill forwarded by the Energy and Commerce Committee on a unanimous, bipartisan vote.

What this bill would do would increase, by over $8 billion, research over the next 5 years to be conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Each year, we spend over $700 billion on care for seniors through Medicare; yet we spend just $30 billion a year, roughly, annually, on curing or researching the cures for every disease that plagues our country: Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, heart disease, diabetes.

In all those diseases combined, we spend just $30 billion a year on research; yet we spend trillions on health care. We know, each year, 600,000 people will die of cancer. We know, each year in the United States, 700,000 people will die of Alzheimer's. These are real people, real families that are in anguish over these and many other diseases.

It is not just a moral issue; it is an economic issue. By 2050, estimates are that our country will spend $1.1 trillion annually to treat health care for people with Alzheimer's alone, over $1 trillion annually; yet we spend just $562 million a year researching a cure for Alzheimer's, a true definition of penny wise and pound foolish.

This 21st Century Cures bill increases our commitment to curing disease, as I said, by over $8 billion over the next 5 years.

Each of us has a family member or a friend with a tragic story about one of these diseases. These diseases know no party affiliation; they don't know center of aisle versus the left or right side of the aisle. They know no State; they have no regional boundaries. They don't know the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending.

To cure these diseases is a moral imperative for these families, but to cure these diseases is also an economic imperative. If we cure one of these diseases, our investment will pay for itself a thousand times over. The CBO can't score that; the CBO can't make any recognition of that. This is a savings bill.

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Mr. YODER. I have a 20-month-old daughter, and this isn't just about curing the disease for our generation; it is about curing the disease for her generation and every generation to follow.

Supporting the 21st Century Cures bill bends the cost curve on entitlements; it saves our country from going into bankruptcy, and it helps us balance our budget. These investments are not just necessary for our moral imperative to save lives, but they are also an economic imperative.

All those things together means we ought to have a robust, large vote in this House to pass this rule and to ensure that the 21st Century Cures bill goes forward.

I strongly support it, and I ask my colleagues to do the same.

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