{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bilirakis.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bilirakis-21st-century-cures-is-about-the-patients", "Bilirakis: \u201c21st Century Cures is about the patients\u201d", "2016-12-13", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Gus Bilirakis", "B001257", "bilirakis.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Major legislation supporting medical research for finding new treatments and cures for deadly diseases now signed into law\nWASHINGTON, D.C. -- A major bipartisan medical research bill, the 21st Century Cures Act, has been signed into law today by the President. U.S. Representative Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), a strong supporter of 21st Century Cures, worked with local patients, doctors, and advocates from Florida to ensure their input is reflected in the final version of the legislation.\n\u201cThe 21st Century Cures Act has been three years in the making, and I am so proud that it is now finally law,\u201d said Bilirakis. \u201cThis legislation will have an incredible impact on millions of Americans who are affected by deadly diseases like cancer, Alzheimer\u2019s, ALS, and others. I especially want to thank all of the people in Florida who attended my roundtable discussions on boosting the discovery, development, and delivery of new treatments and cures. 21st Century Cures is about the patients, and their voices are certainly heard in this bill.\u201d\nOverall, the 21st Century Cures Act provides the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a fully offset $4.8 billion to help advance the Precision Medicine Initiative, bolster the \u201cCancer Moonshot,\u201d and invest in the BRAIN initiative.\nSee below for a list of key provisions in 21st Century Cures that were introduced or cosponsored by Bilirakis, or visit Bilirakis\u2019 website here for a full list:  \n\t\u00a0\n Section 2061 \u2013 National Neurological Conditions Surveillance System. Bilirakis was a lead cosponsor on this provision to\u00a0create a national data collection system for neurological diseases, like Parkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s, which would help develop better treatments.\n\t\t\u00a0\n\tSection 3013 \u2013 Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis. This provision, also cosponsored by Bilirakis, would\u00a0reform the nation\u2019s mental health system\u00a0by improving federal mental health programs and expanding access to treatment.\n\t\t\u00a0\n\tSection 3088 \u2013 Clarifying Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization. Bilirakis worked closely on this provision to allow the FDA to allow the emergency use of animal drug products to\u00a0fight public health emergencies such as Zika\u00a0or new strains of animal-based pandemic flu.\n Please click here for more details on Bilirakis\u2019 roundtable discussions in Florida, and here to learn more about Cures.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bilirakis.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bilirakis-21st-century-cures-is-about-the-patients"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0723578743636608, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}