fred upton: hey there, i'm fred upton, republican congressman from southwest michigan who helped lead the successful, bipartisan effort to find faster cures for families and patients suffering from tragic illness. the holiday season is one of joy. but, it's often a time for families to come together and reflect on loved ones lost -- taken much too soon by disease. we've all said too many early good-byes to folks that we hold dear. families robbed of a parent that will never get to see their kids' milestones. a child born without the gift of a future. every day, countless folks living vibrant lives are delivered unexpected diagnoses. it's a cycle that repeats itself over and over and over. life changes in an instant -- and hope seems just out of reach. whether it be alzheimer's, lupus, ms, cancer -- you name it. so, three years ago, we had an idea. that we could do better. that we needed to do something and transform our health and research system to effectively fight disease in the 21st century. but we knew the first step had to be doing something that congress doesn't do enough of: w

guest: it is a bill that is led by fred upton of michigan, which basically is a reform system for the f.d.a. for moving research through n.i.h., to make sure that positive research taken place with drugs and medical devices and not get bogged down in bureaucracy. he's worked in that for a couple of years. passed the house before and now renegotiated some things and moving it forward. as parts of that package, we also included my bill to helping families in mental healthy crisis act. it passed 22-2. but they have a whole different amendment process over there the senate which bogged down the bills. so there was a number of things that took place. the content of the bills and now, we've passed it this week including the cancer moonshoot

yes, sir, my big brother fred upton is going to be here, the gentleman from pennsylvania bill shuster is going to be here, bob bishop who has graduated from the rules committee as chairman of the national resources committee, among my favorite of all the chairmen in this house, you know that the work is going to get done when these chairmen show up, they have done homework, they have worked on a bipartisan methodology basis, they're making sure that the best interest of taxpayers is taken care of, but we're going to move forward with great exuberance to unleash in this great nation an opportunity for the american people to know that the people's work has been accomplished. so before we go any further, i also want to thank the gentleman from pennsylvania, mike doyle. coach, thank you for being here today. if you will please take this seat up here, we appreciate it. before we come to you without objection, we look forward to your testimony and we are going to defer to the gentlewoman, the young woman from new york for any opening statements she'd choose to make. >> the young woman could

fred upton, who has dedicated years of service to the betterment of our constituents and his passion for fighting this and seeing this through, i'd like to thank him for his dedication. you will be missed as our chairman and with that, mr. speaker, i see no other speakers at this time. so i'd like to yield back the balance of my time.

thank you. >> thank you, i'm fred upton. and this has been a great couple of years, because that's how long it has taken. we have worked not only both sides of the aisle, but both sides of the country from north to south, east to west. and we did something that congress has often acrossed of not doing, and that is, listening. we listen to every group that was out there, the researchers, the scientists, patientrticulare patient groups. the clock is ticking. the folks that have a disease know that it will take them without a cure. this bill is going to fix that problem, because it expedites the approval of drugs and devices, and coupled with literally billions of dollars in more research that will find the answer for those cures years ahead of what it otherwise would have been. i want to thank my colleagues on our committee, you'll remember this bill passed our committee 51-0. it was no easy task. republicans and democrats, but particularly, i want to thank my partners, frank palone and diana digette, and particularly, lamar a

i am fred upton. this has been a great couple of years because that is how long it has taken. we have worked not only both sides of the aisle, but both sides of the country from north to south, east to west. we did something that congress is often accused of not doing and that is listening. we listened to every group that without error. the researchers, scientists, particularly the patient groups. .. republicans and democrats but typically i want to take, thank my partners frank vallone and diana to get. the leadership on both sides of the aisle, particularly lamar alexander who just did an outstanding job as we cobbled this thing together to get the 94th vote yesterday, 392 votes of the two votes the week before in the house. just want to close, you know what made this important, it's personal. it's personal to everybody out there, our colleagues, our staff, our constituents. it is going to find the answer and it's important that we get it right. we also want to thank the administration. because without them it would not be a reality when president obama signed into law next

anyers, and there was additional hearing held by the energy and commerce committee under congressman fred upton and april. >> what was the state of michigan asking from the federal government? ms. burke: governor rick snyder was at that point submitting a request to president obama for about $98 million worth of assistance to respond to the crisis for things like bottled help fixingrs, also flints damaged water lines and pipes in the city, and he was also supportive of the michigan congressional delegation, which was pushing for upwards of almost $600 million worth of emergency aid from congress to again help with infrastructure fixes, help get those lead pipes out of the ground in flint. >> in a few moments, we will watch the house oversight committee hearing talk about the flint, michigan water problem. who testifies in this particular hearing, and what does congress want to learn? ms. burke: the people testifying will be the administrator of the environmental protection agency, gina mccarthy, and the michigan governor, rick snyder, who is a , members ofand they congress had a lot of question

i also take a moment to recognize outgoing chairman fred upton of the full committee. today is a historic and important day as the 21st century cures act goes to the president's desk. i wish everybody a merry christmas and a peaceful millionaire and particularly, safety to our troops, our magnificent troops across the globe, who protect us and the american people in general. mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. >> the chair thinks the gentleman for his remarks. he knows the gentleman went a little over, but because his remarks seemed important and you are thinking the chairman, i consented that the gentleman should be permitted to do that. i first want to thank the ranking member of the committee for being here as well and for a very productive two years on the commerce manufacturing and trade subcommittee. and i recognize you for five minutes for the purpose of an opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you, too. it's been a very interesting and i think productive session of congress and it has been a personal pleasure to be able t

i had a chance to talk to fred upton, the congressman behind this particular bill. to say. >> for every patient that's out there, in year one, the clock's ticking. you want a cure. and what is it that we can do to find faster cures for all these diseases? 10,000 different diseases. we have only 500 cures. 7,000 rare diseases. we can't wait. >> so a lot of families out there feel the same way, we can't wait and we need to get on it. the bill in the house, the vote was 392-26, overwhelming approval for it there. the senate could vote as early as tonight. the white house also behind it. one of those rare moments, neil, everybody seems to come together around this bill but still there are folks who say, hey, not so fast. there is lots of gimmes here for the pharmaceutical industry. do we want to give up the kind of review we've had in the past of all these kinds of medication, treatment, all those special treatments are expecting. neil? neil: gerri willis, thank you very, very much. continued good health to you by the way. all right. let's take a real quick peek at the

alexander, for his work and his leadership on this bill, as well as the energy and commerce chairman fred upton, ranking member frank pallone and congresswoman diana degette. i want to reiterate my gratitude to our staff on both sides of the aisle who put in very long hours and weekends and more to get this legislation finished. as a result of a lot of strong bipartisan work, we are sending a bill now to the president's desk that will invest in tackling our hardest to treat diseases, put real dollars behind the fight against the opioid epidemic, and make badly needed changes to mental health care in our country. in particular, thanks to the strong bipartisan work of senator murphy and senator cassidy as well as congressman murphy. mr. president, i'm confident that i'm not alone in saying i've heard from so many people in my home state about each and every one of these challenges. there are patients and families waiting and hoping for new cures and treatments. people from every walk of life who made clear that the opioid epidemic has cost too many lives and torn too many families apart. and fami

yes, sir, my big brother fred upton is going to be here, the gentleman from pennsylvania bill shusterb bishop who has graduated from the rules committee as chairman of the national resources committee, among my favorite of all the chairmen in this house, you know that the work is going to get done when these chairmen show up, they have done homework, they have worked on a bipartisan methodology basis, they're making sure that the best interest of taxpayers is taken care of, but we're going to move forward with great exuberance to unleash in this great nation an opportunity for the american people to know that the people's work has been accomplished. so before we go any further i also want to thank the gentleman from pennsylvania mike doyle. coach, thank you for being here today, if you will please take this seat up here we appreciate it. before we come to you without objection we look forward to your testimony and we are going to defer to the gentlewoman, the young woman from new york for any opening statements she'd choose to make. >> the young woman couldn't make it today. >> well,

i also take a moment to recognize outgoing chairman fred upton of the full committee. today is an historic and important day as 21st century cures act goes to the president 'desk. at this season, i wish everybody a merry christmas and a peaceful new year and particularly safety to our troops, our magnificent troops across the globe who protect us and the american people in general. and mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of our time. >> the chair thanks the gentleman for his remarks. notes the gentlemen went a little bit over. since his remarks seemed so important and you were thanking the chairman, i ask unanimous consent the gentleman be allowed dodd that. of course, i want to thank the ranking member of the company for being here as well and for a very productive two years. and recognize you for five minutes for the purpose of an opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman. i want to thank you, too. it's been a very interesting and i think productive session of congress and it has been a personal pleasure to be able to serve with you as the chairman and myself a

kudos goes out to fred upton, chairman of the commerce committee, tim murphy, who worked so hard on these pieces of legislation. i also want to thank the democrats for working with us in good faith on the commerce committee and in particular for getting this legislation across the finished line and i expect this to pass in the senate. another issue the senate will be taking up is the 10-year iran sanctions act. that's something we passed near unanimously in the house. that's legislation that needs to get done. we have completed the conference report on the defense authorization bill, the ndaa bill. that gives our troops a much-needed 2.1% pay increase. this is extremely important to give our war fighters what they need to stretch our military dollars farther. that's something we're excited about bringing to the floor. we're getting close on the wrda conference report. this is something we think is important. we're hoping to achieve wrapping that up and then ongoing on the continuing resolution which we hope to bring to the floor as soon as possible next week. with that i'll just open it u

i also take a moment to recognize outgoing chairman fred upton of the full committee, and today is an historic and important day as 21st century cures act goes to the president's desk. at this season, i wish everybody a merry christmas and a peaceful new year, and particularly safety to our troops, our magnificent troops across the globe, who protect us and the american people in general. and mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of our time. >> the chair thanks to gentleman for his remarks. notes the gentleman went a little over, but since his remarks seem so important and you were thanking the chairman, i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman be allowed to do that. of course, i want to thank the ranking member of the committee, ms. schakowsky, from illinois, for being here as well and a very productive two years on the committee, and recognize you for five minutes for the purpose of an opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you, too. it's been a very interesting and i think productive session of congress. and it's been a personal pleasure to be able to se

alexander, for his work and leadership on this bill, as well as the energy and commerce chairman fred upton, ranking member frank pallone and congresswoman diana degette. i am proud of our country's history of lifesaving public health initiatives and world-changing medical innovation. from eradicating smallpox to mapping the human genome, we have risen to challenges and found ways to combat seemingly unbeatable diseases and public health threats, and there's no question we are a stronger country nor that. the bill that we are talking about today, while far from perfect, gives us the chance to build on that tradition of leadership and respond to some urgent health challenges we face right now. one of those is the opioid epidemic. like many of my colleagues, i've heard from far too many families and local leaders in my home state about the ways the opioid use disorders are ruining lives and tearing families apart. my constituent, penny wil legate whose daughter died from an overdose at age of 18 sthais this crisis request k. "happen anywhere and it is everywhere." that's the same thing i hear

and there was an additional hearing held by the energy and commerce committee under congressman fred uptoneld in april. >> but was the state of miss again -- what was the state of michigan asking from the federal government? >> governor rick snyder at that point had submitted a request to president obama for about 98 -- i believe $98 million worth of assistance to respond to the crisis for things like bottled water, filters, also help the damaged water lines and pipes in the city. amidstalso supportive the congressional delegation, which was pushing for upwards of all $600 million worth of emergency aid from congress to help with infrastructure fixes, get those lead pipes out of the ground in flint. >> in a few moments, we will watch the third of the house oversight committee hearings. they were covered about the flint michigan water problem. who testifies in this particular hearing and what this commerce want to learn? >> the people testifying are administrator of the environmental protection agency, gina mccarthy, and the michigan governor rick snyder, who is a republican. of congressmem

kudos go out to fred upton, chairman of the commerce committee, timur fi who work sod hard on these pieces of legislation, and i want to thank the democrats for working with us in good faith for getting this legislation across the fin herb line. another issue, i believe the senate will be taking up later today is the 10-year extension of the iran sanctions act. that's something we passed near unanimously in the house. that's something that needs to get done. we have completed the conference report on the defense authorization bill, the ndaa bill. that gives our troops a much-needed 2.1% pay increase, this is extremely important to give our war fighters what they need, to give our military the reforms they need to stretch our military dollars further. that's something we're excited about bringing to the floor. we're getting close on the wrda conference report. we hope to bring that to the floor early next week. with that, i'll just open it up. >> as a free market conservative, i'm wond forget you're uneasy in any way with the trump administration offering incentives to keep jobs in this cou

i want to thank fred upton for his leadership on our energy and commerce, the helping families in mental health crisis act and tremendous medal in-- medical innovation bill. thank eddie bernice johnson of texas for her conviction and determination and applying her experience as a psychiatric nurse to champion the cause at that someone in crisis should be able to get treatment at a hospital not just locked up in a jail cell. i thank speaker ryan who in his first days as speaker of the house pledged his support and determination to ensure we would take action in the way we treat the mentally ill in this nation. to all my colleagues in the house who spoke up, stepped up, and teamed up with our efforts to end the mental health crisis in america, thank you. i thank our colleagues in the senate as well, senator chris murphy, and senators cornyn and alexander for their leadership to bring this bill to a vote before the senate. as the senate takes up the bill today, i ask them all to cast their vote mindful of the millions of americans' lives it will save. most importantly, i close thanking the

but it was what fred upton whose energy and commerce committee chair and diana degette, the ranking memberon health did. when we started this process we worked in task force and working groups. that was the setup and they gave us the opportunity not to be in a hearing setting but it gave us the opportunity to talk to and with one another and with people who were subject expert in the areas that we had under review. this is something that will change the way we access healthcare, the way we deliver health care and will shift the focus from a one-size-fits-all medical delivery system to a precision medicine system. it involves the nih, the fda, and it will change the way cms pay for things. the entire process was very collaborative, and i think there are lessons for every committee in how we crafted this legislation, how we moved to forward and how we pushed it to completion. >> what have you seen in terms of the ability to work together or across the aisles? have you been able to make friends with some of their democratic counterparts? >> absolutely. i serve on the most bipartisan committee

but here was what fred upton whose energy and commerce committee chair and diana degette, the ranking member on health did. when we started this process we worked in task force and working groups. that was the setup, and he gave us the opportunity not to be any hearing setting, but it gave us the opportunity to talk to and with one another and with people who are subject expert in the areas that we had under review. and this is something that will change the way we access healthcare, the way we deliver health care, and will shift the focus from one size fits all medical delivery system to a precision medicine system. and it involves the nih, the fda and it will change the way cms pays for things. but the entire process was very collaborative. and i think there are lessons for every committee it how we crafted this legislation, how we moved it forward and ho that we pushed it to completion. >> what have you seen in terms of the middle east to work together or across the aisles? have you been able to make friends with some of her democratic counterparts? >> absolutely. i serve on the mo

yes, sir, my big brother fred upton is going to be here, the gentleman from pennsylvania bill shuster is going to be here, bob bishop who has graduated from the rules committee as chairman of the national resources committee, among my favorite of all the chairmen in this house, you know that the work is going to get done when these chairmen show up, they have done homework, they have worked on a bipartisan methodology basis, they're making sure that the best interest of taxpayers is taken care of, but we're going to move forward with great exuberance to unleash in this great nation an opportunity for the american people to know that the people's work has been accomplished. so before we go any further, i also want to thank the gentleman from pennsylvania, mike doyle. coach, thank you for being here today. if you will please take this seat up here, we appreciate it. before we come to you without objection, we look forward to your testimony and we are going to defer to the gentlewoman, the young woman from new york for any opening statements she'd choose to make. >> the young woman could

my big brother fred upton, bill shuster the gentleman from pennsylvania is here. bob bishop who has graduated from the rules national resources committee. among my favorite of all the chairmen in this house, you know that the work's going to get done when these chairman have shown up. they've done their homework and done their work on a bipartisan basis. they're making sure that the best interest of the taxpayers are taken care of but we're going to move forward with great exuberance to unleash an opportunity for the american people to know this the people's work has been accomplished. i also want to thank the gentleman from pennsylvania, mike doyle. coach, thank you for being here. if you'll take this seat up here, we appreciate it. before we come to you without objection, we look forward to your testimony. we're going to defer to the gentlemen woman, the young woman from new york for any statements she'd choose to make. >> the young couldn't make it today. >> well, you're here, luis, and that's good enough for me. >> i have no opening statement. i'd just thank y

want to especially compliment the chairman of the house committee that worked on this, chairman fred upton, as well as congressman pallone and congressman b beget. they have worked with senator murray, the ranking member on the senate's help committee, and with me for the last two years on a very complex bill but a very important bill. part of the bill has to do with money, and one part of that is $1 billion of funding for state grants for opioids. now, i suspect one reason there was such a large vote in the house of representatives yesterday -- only 26 members voted "no," 329 voted "yes" -- was because of this $1 billion for opioids. it would seem to me, at least in tennessee -- and i am a sure it's true in most states of the country -- there's no more urgent epidemic than opioid drug abuse. it is filling up the courts. it's filling up the jails. it's filling up the hospitals. it's providing tragedies in families all across america. the senate passed important legislation earlier this year on programs authorize being new money -- authorizing new money, but, madam president, this is the mo