{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://lance.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lance-receives-bob-franks-public-service-award", "Lance Receives Bob Franks Public Service Award", "2015-11-02", "2015", "2015-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Leonard Lance", "L000567", "lance.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "TRENTON, N. J. --- Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-07) proudly accepted the Honorable Bob Franks Public Service Award from the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey on Friday in a special ceremony in Trenton. The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ), a trade association for the research-based biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry, selected Lance for his accomplished record on public health matters and his work on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Health Subcommittee.\nRight now in laboratories across New Jersey exciting and groundbreaking treatments are being tested, vetted and envisioned. I work in Congress to give these modern-day inventors the tools they need to research and develop 21st Century cures and therapies that will improve and save lives, Lance told the crowd at the annual celebration of New Jerseys life science leaders. We must commit ourselves to keeping American ingenuity ahead of global competitors. Legislation we have passed in Washington and the partnerships we have formed offer great promise to New Jerseys significant biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry. I will continue to work in the bipartisan spirit of Congressman Bob Franks and be a strong voice and tireless advocate for New Jerseys life sciences community.\nDean J. Paranicas, President and Chief Executive Officer of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey praised Lance. Whether it is protecting patient access to life-saving medicines and medical technologies or preserving the innovative environment necessary to discover the next generation of treatments and cures, Congressman Lance has been a tireless advocate for advancing human health. His enthusiasm for public service and his dedication to the patient community are highly commendable, and we are pleased to honor him with this award.\nThe award is named for the late Congressman Bob Franks who represented the Seventh Congressional District from 1993-2001. Franks wife, Fran, and two of their daughters, Sara and Abby, joined Lance on stage for the award presentation. Following his service in Washington, Franks served as President and CEO of the HealthCare Institute. Lance told the crowd he tries to follow Franks lead on health issues. I use the same approach that Bob did: Look for common-ground, find bipartisan agreement, use advocate enthusiasm and create important public policy to help in the fight to protect patient access to health care and preserve the environment necessary to find the next generation of treatments and cures for the worlds patients. This is how Congress should work, together  on issues that make a lasting difference. \nHINJ cited several Lance achievements for the award:\n Passage of the 21st Century Cures Act  legislation that creates a National Institute of Health Innovation Fund, opens the innovation pipeline enabling biomedical innovation to come to the market faster and streamlines the regulatory process.\n\tPassage of the FDA Safety Over Sequestration Act  legislation which exempts Food and Drug Administration user fees from sequestration and puts those resources back for the approval of drugs and medical devices.\n\tPassage of Excellence in Mental Health Act  legislation that creates pilot programming to expand state resources in improving access to high-quality mental health care\n\tChampioning the MODDERN Cures Act  legislation that will update the drug evaluation process to encourage the discovery and development of new treatments for chronic and rare diseases.\n\tFounding of the Congressional Life Science Caucus  a caucus for lawmakers to advocate for issues important to the life science community\n\tKeeping patient care at the forefront of every debate  Lance has met with hundreds of constituents and organizations advocating for improvements to the Nations health care system.", 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": ["http://lance.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lance-receives-bob-franks-public-service-award"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9921309538185596, "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"}