{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/greg-walden-supports-historic-plan-boost-medical-research-find-cures", "Greg Walden supports historic plan to boost medical research, find cures for deadly diseases", "2015-07-10", "2015", "2015-07", "Republican", "House", "OR", "Greg Walden", "W000791", "walden.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Greg Walden supports historic plan to boost medical research, find cures for deadly diseases The 21st Century Cures Act overwhelmingly passes the U.S. House, will help Americans live longer, healthier lives  Click here or on the image below to watch Waldens speech in support of the bill WASHINGTON, D.C.  The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6), a sweeping, bipartisan initiative cosponsored by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) to bring hope to millions of Americans suffering from deadly diseases. This is really big: 21st Century Cures. All of us have known someone afflicted by the deadly diseases. Most of us have seen people in our own families. My mother passed away from ovarian cancer. My sister in law had brain cancer. I lost a son to a congenital heart defect. My mother in law had rheumatoid arthritis from a very early age. My step mother died of a stroke. Were all affected,Walden said during debate on the bill. Investing in cures, investing in treatment, investing in innovationright here in Americais the best step forward. This legislation would modernize the nations biomedical innovation infrastructure and streamline the process for how drugs and medical devices are approved in order get new treatments to patients faster. Of the 10,000 known diseases in the world (7,000 of which are considered rare), there are treatments for only about 500 of them. Yet, the cost and time associated with conducting clinical trials are at all-time highs (it takes upwards of 15 years to bring a new drug to the market, and the cost of developing new drugs has doubled since the early 1980s). This bill would boost medical research and streamline the approval process for new treatments to help accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of cures. And it is fully paid for with cuts in other spending. Walden also told of soliciting input from researchers like Dr. Brian Druker, of Oregon Health & Science Universitys Knight Cancer Center, a true pioneer in the fight against cancer. And he talked about patients and their families in Oregonincluding Linda Sindt, Nancy Roach, and Colton and Tiffany Allenwho would gain hope from this bill. He concluded,We owe it to people like Linda, Nancy, Colton, Tiffany and all Americansand people around the globeto pass this legislation, to tackle these diseases that have no treatment or cure, to develop new and innovative treatments, provide better health technology, and ultimately bring more hope and better lives for all. Patients and their families in Oregon praised the bill. I am so excited about the progress made on the critical 21st Century CURES Act. This will, if passed into law, ultimately put us on a path toward improved survival for pancreatic cancer and other deadly diseases. Duane, my vibrant, seemingly healthy husband of 40 years, was one of the \"lucky\" ones. He was diagnosed at Stage 1 and one of the few able to have surgery. Even so, that only bought us one more year together. I am still grieving his loss three years ago. The dreadful fact is that 80 percent of those with pancreatic cancer will die within one year of the diagnosis. A grim 7 percent will survive for five years. I know we can do better than that as a nation! I am so personally proud of and grateful for longtime friend, Congressman Walden's, key leadership in battling this terrible disease! said Linda Sindt of Medford. Colton Allen, a Talent resident living with ALS, said, One of the worst parts about living with ALS, is the feeling of complete hopelessness. Your body just starts failing and theres nothing you can do. There is no treatment, and there is no cure. You lose the ability to walk, use your hands, talk and swallow, and you eventually lose the ability to breath. Because The 21st Century Care Act gives people living with ALS hope, by providing more incentives for industry to develop treatments and cures that would otherwise be considered too expensive and too risky to develop. His wife, Tiffany, added,Hope is not easy to come by when you live with ALS. The 21st Century Cures Act is an opportunity to create a bit more hope for all of us living with diseases that are considered rare. As a registered nurse, I treat patients with medicine every day that will cure their diseases, or at least slow the progression. At home the only thing I can offer my husband is palliative care, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. We can't stop his disease, we can only plan for the worst. The 21st Century Cures Act will give the NIH a kick start and a fast track for clinical research, which will give us and all those living with ALS a little more hope for a cure. Nancy Roach, a colon cancer advocate in Hood River, said, H.R. 6 is a bipartisan bill (supported by both Republicans and Democrats) that will accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of lifesaving and life-improving therapies and transform the quest for faster cures by: Modernizing clinical trials, Incorporating the patient perspective into the drug development and regulatory review process, Investing in 21st century science and next generation investigators by providing nearly $9 billion in funding for the NIH over the next 5 years. I fully support this legislation, and hope that Congress moves forward to help patients. Research, discovery, and innovation necessary to prevent, treat, and cure the most difficult diseases depend on steady and robust funding from NIH. OHSU is deeply grateful that the 21st Century Cures legislation recognizes the critical importance of maintaining the NIH as a national priority. We commend the leadership of Energy and Commerce Committee, including Congressman Walden, in forging this meaningful legislation and facilitating OHSUs participation in this initiative. We thank the members of the Oregon Congressional delegation who voted in support of the bill, and we look forward to working with the Senate to pass their version later this year,said Dr. Joe Robertson, President of Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). After a strong vote in the House, this bill now goes to the Senate. For a short summary of the bill, please click here. For a full summary, please click here. ###", 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://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/greg-walden-supports-historic-plan-boost-medical-research-find-cures"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.989020336419344, "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"}