PAC2

Senator Sanders: why did you block the Senate vote of the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act?

Dear Friends: We were elated on December 17th when Congress included our pediatric cancer drug development bills, the reauthorization of the pediatric priority review voucher program and the Give Kids a Chance Act, in the federal end-of-year funding bill. We were so close to victory. But three hours before a scheduled vote, to the surprise of the country, the funding bill fell apart. What Congress ultimately passed into law was a stripped down bill from which the reauthorization of the pediatric priority review voucher program and the Give Kids a Chance Act had been dropped. Other critical pediatric cancer bills had been stripped as well, including a bill to ensure kids with cancer on Medicaid can cross state lines for treatment. We went into action. Social media stories blew up the internet. We were covered by CNN, ABC, MSNBC, STATNews, Newsweek, Rolling Stones, The Bulkward. We had one more chance. At 11:50 pm on December 20th, the last hour of the last day of this Congress, the Senate took up our bills. Senator Rand Paul objected. The vote failed. The Senate did pass the Gabriella Miller Kids First Act, but all in all, we have gone backwards. Today, the pediatric priority review voucher program has expired for the first time in 12 years. Now, after yielding 65 new drugs for kids, there is no incentive for companies to develop drugs expressly for kids with cancer and other life threatening illnesses. The Give Kids a Chance Act, which passed in the House in 2022 and 2024c had 235 House cosponsors, had gone through two House hearings, a markup and a House floor vote, is no more. Now, there’s no opportunity for companies to do studies of cocktails of new cancer drugs for kids. And now, kids on Medicaid with cancer who need out of state treatment may not be able to get it. January is a new Congress and we will start all over. Let us now join forces to get these bills passed into law as quickly as possible.