Washington, D.C. - Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following opening remarks today at a Subcommittee on Health hearing on “21st Century Cures Implementation: Updates from FDA and NIH:"
I want to thank Dr. Collins, Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Sharpless, and Dr. Devaney for all joining us to discuss the ongoing work at NIH and FDA to implement the 21st Century Cures Act.
The Cures Act tasked both of your agencies with implementing critical provisions aimed at improving the discovery and development of new treatments and cures. At NIH the law provided significant funding for the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative, the All of Us Research Program, and the BRAIN Initiative. And at FDA, the law included provisions to improve the medical product review process, as well as new authorities and funding to ensure the agency has the resources to recruit the best talent.
At our hearing on this topic last November you both provided promising updates and I look forward to your continued work. As I’ve said before, it’s important to hold oversight hearings like these that allow us to learn directly from the Administration how policies are being implemented.
While I’m pleased that the Subcommittee has decided to conduct continued oversight of the Cures Act, there are several topics within this Subcommittee’s jurisdiction that also deserve hearings and oversight. For example, I’ve asked the Majority to schedule hearings on a number of issues that are priorities for Democratic Members of the Committee. I’ve asked for hearings on maternal mortality, health disparities, gun violence, the Indian Health Service, cosmetics reform, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, drug pricing, abuse of the REMS program, and marketplace stabilization.
These are all different issues within this Subcommittee’s jurisdiction, and we may have different opinions on many of them, but that’s exactly why we should at least have a hearing. These are critical issues that this Committee should be discussing in an effort to find potential solutions.
I hope that in the coming weeks the Chairman will respond to my requests and select a few of these issues to hold hearings on in the short time we have left this Congress.
I yield back.
