Washington, D.C. - Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, issued the following statement on the unanimous passage of three bills out of the Subcommittee yesterday, May 18, 2017. The markup included two public health bills: H.R. 1222, the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act of 2017 and H.R. 2410, the Sickle Cell Disease Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment Act of 2017. The markup also included H.R. 2430, the FDA Reauthorization Act (FDARA) of 2017, which reauthorizes several user fee programs at the Food and Drug Administration. 

“Each of these bills will improve care for Americans from all walks of life. The Subcommittee has worked hard to advance these efforts. In particular, the advancement of the FDA Reauthorization Act is just the latest step in nearly two years of work by the FDA, Congress, and the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. This bipartisan bill will ensure that FDA has the resources necessary to get medical treatments and cures to patients and health care providers as quickly as possible. 

“As a physician who cared for patients with sickle cell disease at Parkland Hospital, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating effect this disease can have on people. The Sickle Cell Disease Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment Act provides an important step forward in ensuring that we have the resources to better understand this disease and to maintain access to services for those affected by sickle cell disease.”