Cohen and Duncan-Sponsored EUREKA Act Passes House as Part of 21st Century Cures Act

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today the House of Representatives passed the 21^st Century Cures Act by a vote of 392 to 26, which included the Ensuring Useful Research Expenditures is Key for Alzheimer’s (EUREKA) Act (H.R. 5073), a bill introduced in the House by Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Congressman John Duncan (R-TN) and introduced in the Senate by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and others. The EUREKA section of the 21^st Century Cures Act would instruct the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support prize competitions to accelerate the discovery and development of treatments to alleviate, prevent, and cure certain diseases, like Alzheimer’s, for which there is relatively little private investment as compared to that which is invested publicly. The 21^st Century Cures Act awaits action in the U.S. Senate. The legislation has the support of President Obama. Congressman Cohen spoke in support of the EUREKA Act and the 21^st Century Cures Act on the House floor. You can watch the video here.

“I am pleased that the House included our EUREKA Act in the 21^st Century Cures bill,”said Congressman Cohen. “The EUREKA Act builds upon efforts to seek innovative solutions from the public and bring the best ideas and talent together to fight dreadful, awful, awful diseases such as Alzheimer’s. For many of these diseases there is no effective treatment, no means of prevention, and no method for slowing progression. I was also pleased to see that Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative was included in the final bill, as well as increased benefits for mental health patients and grants to help combat the opioid epidemic. I hope that we can build on the success of the 21^st Century Cures Act by increasing funding for the NIH and continuing to encourage both private and public research to effectively fight Alzheimer’s and other tragic diseases that plague too many people across our country and around the world.”

“I am eager to see what breakthrough treatments and drugs will come from the Eureka Competition to combat Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other challenging diseases affecting my constituents and millions across the Nation,” said Congressman Duncan. “Diseases are not Republican or Democrat and neither was this effort to help provide cures for them. We can work together as Americans to defeat these horrible diseases that affect almost every family in our Country.”