Ask the new Congress to prioritize childhood cancer
Welcome to the first week of the 119th Congress! The very start of this new Congress is a critical moment where it matters so much that our voices are heard loud and clear.
As you may know, when Congress ultimately passed its year-end package just before Christmas - the American Relief Act - it left kids with cancer behind and stripped out several key bills we fought hard for throughout the last Congressional session including: the Creating Hope Reauthorization Act, the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act and the Innovation In Pediatric Drugs Act.
Read below to find out more about what happened - or just jump in and help right now by sending a message to your Members of Congress so they know on their first full day in this new legislative session that we expect children with cancer to be a top priority.
What happened? The American Relief Act was the third funding bill considered by Congress after weeks of tense negotiations on Capitol Hill in December. It provides fiscal year 2025 appropriations for continuing projects and activities of the Federal Government to federal agencies through March 14, 2025.
The first iteration of that bill - which seemed poised to pass with bipartisan support - included several important cancer provisions: It extended the Creating Hope Reauthorization Act — which incentivizes the development of drugs for rare pediatric diseases — through Fiscal Year 2029. It renewed funding for the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program through Fiscal Year 2031. It also included the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act, which recognizes that children enrolled in Medicaid may need to receive care from providers outside their home state and simplifies this process.
And we were especially pleased and proud that the initial year-end package included provisions of the Innovation in Pediatric Drugs Act, a bipartisan bill we have championed to strengthen the development of childhood cancer drugs. Children’s Cancer Cause has long advocated that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have the same authority to levy civil monetary penalties on companies who fail to complete required studies for pediatric drugs as they currently have for studies in adults. This bill strived to achieve that equity.
Unfortunately, the third and final CR, the American Relief Act, stripped out all of the above provisions. In the end, only the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program passed as Congress separately extended the authorization bill.
Now that the new Congress has been sworn in, it's time to start the hard work of rebuilding what was lost in the year-end shuffle and secure the enactment of these provisions. Kids with cancer have waited long enough. We look forward to working with our advocates and partners in the cancer community to fight for these important issues.