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This week, I had the privilege of hosting my 16th annual Childhood Cancer Summit. I founded the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus in 2009 because I noticed kids with cancer didn't have a voice in Congress — and that had to change.
Since the caucus was created, we've passed crucial bills into law that are saving thousands of lives.
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The Creating Hope Act established a voucher program to incentivize the research and development of new, promising pediatric cancer drugs. A dear friend of mine, Dr. Allison from MD Anderson, was able to use the voucher program to obtain FDA approval for a groundbreaking treatment called CAR-T immunotherapy.
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The RACE (Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity) for Children Act allowed the most innovative adult treatments for cancer to be studied for use in children. Since we passed RACE, about 40 percent of all new cancer drugs are now being studied in children — a huge improvement.
- The STAR (Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research) Act, one of the most comprehensive childhood cancer bills ever to be signed into law, enhanced research on the late effects of childhood cancer so that doctors can better care for survivors.
And at this year's summit, I was proud to announce that my Give Kids A Chance Act — legislation I’ve championed for the past year — passed the Energy and Commerce Committee with unanimous support.
This bill will be a game changer. It will build on the success of the RACE Act to expand combination therapy options for kids, who only have access to a fraction of treatments available to adults, and it will reauthorize the Creating Hope Act for an additional five years to extend the very successful voucher program.
It was a joy to once again celebrate our caucus’ achievements, to meet many of the precious children who inspire our efforts, and to assure them we will not stop fighting until pediatric cancer is eliminated once and for all.
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