{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://valadao.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1541", "Congressman Valadao Introduces Resolution to Raise Awareness on Rare Brain Disease", "2024-09-25", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "House", "CA", "David G. Valadao", "V000129", "valadao.house.gov", "valadao", "https://valadao.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-22) introduced a bipartisan resolution to designate November 12th as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Awareness Day. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is a rare brain disease that causes a rapid decline in a person\u2019s cognitive health, and often leads to death within only a few months to one year following the onset of symptoms. Longtime Bakersfield Mayor Harvey L. Hall passed away from CJD in 2018.\n\n\u201cAs the longest serving mayor in Bakersfield history, Mayor Harvey Hall was a beloved member of our community and a dear friend,\u201d said Congressman Valadao. \u201cI\u2019m proud to introduce this bipartisan resolution to designate November 12th as CJD Awareness Day to honor Mayor Hall\u2019s memory and help raise awareness for CJD patients and their families across the country.\u201d\n\n\u201cEveryone in Bakersfield knows the influence late Mayor Harvey Hall had on our community, and of the lasting impact he left,\u201d said Congressman Vince Fong. \u201cWe lost Mayor Hall too soon to CJD, which is why I am cosponsoring the CJD Awareness Day resolution, to honor a tremendous community leader, raise needed awareness for CJD, and show support for those living with the disease and friends and family who have lost loved ones to CJD.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn behalf of the many families across the United States who have been affected by this horrendous disease, I am honored that our great Central Valley Representatives, who knew and worked with my husband Harvey, are once again leading the way to bring awareness to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). Great strides have been made in the past year legislatively, which I believe can be attributed to the attention generated by the inaugural resolution. By combining this legislative support with the groundbreaking medical research taking place on prion disease, I am confident in our collective potential to find a treatment or cure for CJD. I sincerely thank Rep. Valadao for again introducing this year\u2019s resolution, which has the bipartisan support of Rep. Vince Fong and Rep. Jim Costa\u201d said Lavonne C. Hall, widow of Mayor Harvey Hall.\n\nCongressman Valadao was joined in introduction by Reps. Vince Fong (CA-20), David Joyce (OH-14), Vern Buchanan (FL-16), John Rose (TN-06), Aaron Bean (FL-04), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Ben Cline (VA-06), Jim Costa (CA-21), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Don Davis (NC-01), Julia Brownley (CA-26), and Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (PR).\n\nCongressman Valadao spoke in support of the resolution on the House Floor. Watch his remarks here. Download photos of Congressman Valadao signing the resolution here.\n\nRemarks as prepared:\n\nM. Speaker,\n\nI rise today to raise awareness about Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD.\n\nCJD is a rare brain disease that causes a rapid decline in a person\u2019s cognitive health, and often leads to death within only a few months to one year following the onset of symptoms.\n\nThere are about 500 new cases in the United States each year.\n\nSadly, one of these cases was a friend of mine and well-known member of the Central Valley community, Bakersfield Mayor Harvey L. Hall.\n\nIn 2018, Mayor Hall lost his life from CJD just two weeks after his diagnosis.\n\nMr. Hall was a beloved member of our community, and the longest-serving mayor in Bakersfield\u2019s history.\n\nHis sudden death was a shock to our community and devastating for all who knew him, including his wife of 28 years who is here with us today, Lavonne Hall.\n\nI\u2019m introducing a resolution today to designate November 12th as CJD Awareness Day.\n\nI\u2019m proud to honor Mayor Hall\u2019s memory in this way and raise awareness for thousands of CJD patients and the families who have been impacted by this disease.\n\nThank you, I yield back.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "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://valadao.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1541"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8415840566158295, "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"}