Wexton and Kaine Applaud Inclusion of Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0 in Government Funding Bill
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) celebrated the inclusion of their bipartisan Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0 in the continuing resolution to fund the government. The bill reauthorizes federal funding for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program (Kids First), which has supported lifesaving research of treatments and cures for childhood cancer over the past nine years.
The bipartisan legislation is named in honor of Gabriella Miller, who lived in Virginia’s 10th District and was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and passed away in 2013 at the age of 10. Her passionate advocacy for lawmakers to “stop talking, start doing” led to the passage of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act and creation of Ten-Year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund in 2014.
“For as long as I have been serving in Congress, I’ve been fighting to pass this lifesaving bill and extend critical funding for childhood cancer research. I’m so proud that we’ve successfully included this in the must-pass funding package set to be voted on this week,” said Wexton. “This bipartisan bill will build on the groundbreaking work of the Kids First program and deliver much-needed resources to better understand, treat, and hopefully one day cure childhood cancer. No family should have to face the fear and pain of their child’s cancer diagnosis, and I’m grateful for the remarkable advocacy of Ellyn Miller and the Miller family in honor of Gabriella and her fight, to build support for this bill.”
“Gabriella Miller was a fighter and activist who dedicated her life to fighting childhood cancers like her own. I was proud to help create the Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program in her honor in 2014 to help fund lifesaving pediatric cancer research, and to partner with Congresswoman Wexton to pass our legislation to reauthorize that program for seven years,” said Kaine. “I’m deeply appreciative of the Miller family’s advocacy and support throughout this process, and will keep doing all that I can to honor Gabriella’s legacy.”
In 2014, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act was signed into law by President Obama, establishing the Ten-Year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund and authorizing $12.6 million in annual funds for childhood disease research through Fiscal Year 2023. Since then, Kids First has taken tremendous steps towards understanding childhood cancer, such as establishing the Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center – a comprehensive data resource for research and patient communities meant to advance discoveries. The language included in this year’s government funding continuing resolution reauthorizes the Kids First program for seven years.
Cancer continues to kill more children in the United States than any other disease. Over 15,000 children a year are diagnosed with cancer, with that number tragically having gradually risen in recent decades. Pediatric cancers often differ from adults in the type, how they spread, and how it is treated, and many children do not respond well to conventional adult treatments, which frequently cause long term health issues and disabilities even in circumstances where the cancer is successfully cured. Yet while children face special hurdles when it comes to fighting cancer, only a small fraction of current government funding for cancer is geared specifically towards developing treatments and cures for childhood cancer and other rare diseases.
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