By U.S. Senator Deb Fischer

** Audio for this week’s column is not available due to the Nebraska work period **

We all know a family afflicted by Alzheimer’s cold embrace. Everyone understands the heartbreak cancer causes. And for the past several years, whether on the nightly news or in our communities, we have seen the horrifying toll of heroin and opioid addiction.

Such tragedies are difficult to take. Yet the holiday season is always a time for hope. The reasons are many, but this year, we can add one more: a piece of legislation called the 21st Century Cures Act. 

The Senate passed this bipartisan bill last week to boost medical innovation, hunt down cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer, and fight the addiction epidemic that has affected so many of our neighbors, friends, and family. I was proud to join 93 of my Senate colleagues in supporting this bill. I am pleased to report it is ready for the president’s signature.

The 21st Century Cures Act takes powerful steps to fight cancer by providing additional funding for new research, such as immunotherapy, vaccine development, and genomic analysis of tumor cells. It adds firepower to scientists’ efforts to unlock the mysteries of the human brain to make headway on treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The bill provides grants to states to help them battle the opioid epidemic. It also streamlines the ways federal agencies and departments deliver services for Americans suffering from mental illnesses. 

This bill also brings badly needed updates to government agencies. For too long, red tape at the Food and Drug Administration has stunted competition in the drug marketplace. It drove up prices of medicines that families desperately needed. The 21st Century Cures Act cuts that red tape. It brings the agency into the 21st century. 

This bill has broad support from Nebraska’s top health care leaders. The Alzheimer’s Association Nebraska Chapter has called it “a tremendous step forward.” The president of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Hank Bounds, praised it as “a vital investment in biomedical research that will help maintain the United States’ global competitiveness and advance the life-saving work done by our scientists.” The Chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Dr. Jeffrey Gold, confirms it will allow for the “expansion of cancer research in Nebraska.”

I was proud to work with each of these organizations, and with many others, both in Nebraska and in our nation’s capital, to pass this bill. I am hopeful for the effects it will have. They cannot come soon enough. While we must never look to government to provide all of the answers, we can be grateful for this significant start. 

That said, no legislation, no matter how effective, can replace the love that comes from a human heart. For someone suffering from illness or addiction, a phone call or a visit from a friend or loved one can make all the difference. It can remind them of their life’s great dignity and value, despite the burden they carry. This holiday season, let’s remember our responsibility to restore hope for those suffering. 

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.