Support for Rapid Innovation Act of 2018

Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by Senators Capito, Van Hollen, and Isakson in the introduction of the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research, STAR, Act of 2017. This legislation is an extension of ongoing bipartisan efforts in the Senate over the past decade to get us closer to the goal of hopefully one day curing cancers in children, adolescents, and young adults. Representatives McCaul, Speier, Kelly, and Butterfield are introducing the companion legislation in the other body.

I first started working on this issue after meeting the Haight family from Warwick, Rhode Island in June of 2004. Nancy and Vincent lost their son, Ben, when he was just nine years old to neuroblastoma, a very aggressive tumor in the brain.

With the strong support of families like the Haights for increased research into the causes of childhood cancers and improved treatment options, I introduced bipartisan legislation that eventually was signed into law in 2008 as the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act.

This was an important step. Yet, more work remains. The STAR Act seeks to advance pediatric cancer research and child-focused cancer treatments, while also improving childhood cancer surveillance and providing resources for survivors and those impacted by childhood cancer.

If a treatment is working, doctors elsewhere should know immediately. The same should happen if a treatment isn't working, or if other major medical events occur during the course of a particular treatment. It is critical that doctors, nurses, and other providers are able to effectively communicate information about the disease, the treatment process, and what other health and development impacts children can expect to experience with a particular course of treatment.

As such, the STAR Act would reauthorize the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, creating a comprehensive children's cancer biorepository for researchers to use in searching for biospecimens to study and would improve surveillance of childhood cancer cases.

This legislation also includes provisions dealing with issues that arise for survivors of childhood cancer. Unfortunately, even after beating cancer, as many as two-thirds of childhood cancer survivors are likely to experience at least one late effect of treatment; as many as one-fourth experience a late effect that is serious or life- threatening, including second cancers and organ damage.

We must do more to ensure that children survive cancer and any late effects so they can live a long, healthy, and productive life. This legislation would enhance research on the late effects of childhood cancers, improve collaboration among providers so that doctors are better able to care for this population as they age, and establish a new pilot program to begin to explore improved models of care for childhood cancer survivors.

Lastly, this bill would ensure more pediatric expertise at the National Institutes of Health to better leverage the research investment to improve pediatric cancer research by requiring the inclusion of at least one pediatric oncologist on the National Cancer Advisory Board and improving childhood health reporting requirements to include pediatric cancer.

Last year, Senator Capito and I were able to get a provision of this bill included in the 21st Century CURES Act, which was signed into law at the end of the year. That provision will provide some clarity for patients and their physicians attempting to access new drugs and therapies from pharmaceutical companies. When a patient has run out of other options, the last thing they and their families need is to spend months being given the run-around trying to access a potential treatment.

I am hopeful that we can build on this momentum. Indeed, it was heartening to see the House of Representatives pass the Childhood Cancer STAR Act as one of its last acts of the 114th Congress by a unanimous vote. While, the Senate was unable to follow suit as time ran out at the end of the year, HELP Committee Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray have committed to working with Senator Capito and me to move the legislation this year.

The Childhood Cancer STAR Act has the support of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, St. Baldrick's Foundation, and Children's Oncology Group, among others. I look forward to our continued work with these stakeholders to build support for the bill and with the HELP Committee to see this bill advance through the legislative process.

Mr. President, one of the most important elements of the rule of law is the promise of swift access to the courts, but that promise has been broken in my home State of Arizona. That is because Arizona falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a circuit that is both oversized and overworked.

With the jurisdiction encompassing 13 districts spread across nine States and 2 U.S. territories, the Ninth Circuit covers 1 in 5 Americans. It hears roughly 12,000 appeals each year. The next busiest circuit doesn't even hear 9,000, and for the thousands of cases under its consideration, the average turnaround time exceeds 15 months.

Now, if excessive delays weren't bad enough, it turns out the Ninth Circuit is overturned by the Supreme Court 77 percent of the time when the Supreme Court grants cert--77 percent of the time. That is obviously higher than any other court. So not only is the court excruciatingly slow, but in many instances it is simply wrong.

The court, itself, is unusually large. It has 29 authorized judgeships. That is 12 more than the next largest circuit.

The Ninth Circuit is so big that it can't even rehear cases as a whole body, like every other appeals court does. Instead, cases are reheard with limited en banc; these are panels of 11 judges each. That means that only one-third of its judges are deciding law for the entire court--only one-third.

Of the States suffering under the weight of the Ninth Circuit's crushing backlog, Arizona shoulders a uniquely heavy burden. Per capita, Arizona has the busiest Federal docket in the circuit. That puts Arizonans at the back of an already long line just to get their day in court.

As if the deluge of cases continues to fill the Ninth Circuit's docket, the line keeps getting longer and longer if you happen to live in Arizona.

With problems like these, we are left to ask: Is the Ninth Circuit simply too big to succeed? If you are an Arizonan, the answer is unquestionably yes.

Arizonans deserve better, and that is why today I am introducing a bill to break up the Ninth Circuit.

With the support of my colleague from Arizona, John McCain, and the support of Gov. Doug Ducey, I have introduced the Judicial Administration and Improvement Act. This bill would create a new Twelfth Circuit by moving Arizona, as well as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington, out of the Ninth Circuit. Doing so would create two smaller appellate courts where one dysfunctional court stood, all the while establishing stronger local, regional, and cultural ties. This would help alleviate the Ninth Circuit's enormous caseload and ensure a more timely and accurate judicial process for both circuits.

Now, importantly, the bill would also free the new circuit from the Ninth Circuit's precedent. That means States like Arizona would be able to chart their own legal course, consistent with their local needs and traditions.

A fair and functioning judiciary is one of the pillars of our democracy. Geography shouldn't limit a citizen's access to the courts.

The Judicial Administration and Improvement Act will right this wrong by restoring faith in our judicial system and securing the access to Justice that Americans deserve.

Mr. President, in recent years we have seen the inability of the Federal Government to quickly adapt to changing technology and emerging threats. In June of 2015 the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, was infiltrated with a major cyber breach, affecting more than 22 million current and former Federal employees, including myself. In January of 2016, another nearly half a million Americans had their social security numbers stolen when the Internal Revenue Service was hacked.

I spent 28 years in the private sector, 12 years with a global cloud computing company. We faced cyber threats daily, and our customers expected security of their data. We delivered, not once was our data compromised. Until I came to the Federal Government and received the letters from OPM, my data had been secured too.

I know firsthand that industry has the talent and incentive to keep their information systems secure. The Federal Government should continue to innovate and utilize industries' expertise and learn from their best practices.

That is why I am introducing the Support for Rapid Innovation Act. This

legislation will extend the authorization for the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out innovative research and development projects that will enhance our Nation's cyber security. It will focus efforts on developing more secure information systems, technologies for detecting and containing attacks in real-time, and develop cyber forensics to identify perpetrators. This will be done by leveraging private sectors' innovation and ingenuity.

I want to thank Senator Warner for being an original cosponsor of this bill and Representative Ratcliffe of Texas for leading introduction of companion legislation in the House of Representatives. I ask my Senate colleagues to join us in support of this important legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, in recent years we have seen the inability of the Federal Government to quickly adapt to changing technology and emerging threats. In June of 2015 the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, was infiltrated with a major cyber breach, affecting more than 22 million current and former Federal employees, including myself. In January of 2016, another nearly half a million Americans had their social security numbers stolen when the Internal Revenue Service was hacked.

I spent 28 years in the private sector, 12 years with a global cloud computing company. We faced cyber threats daily, and our customers expected security of their data. We delivered, not once was our data compromised. Until I came to the Federal Government and received the letters from OPM, my data had been secured too.

I know firsthand that industry has the talent and incentive to keep their information systems secure. The Federal Government should continue to innovate and utilize industries' expertise and learn from their best practices.

That is why I am introducing the Support for Rapid Innovation Act. This

legislation will extend the authorization for the Secretary of Homeland Security to carry out innovative research and development projects that will enhance our Nation's cyber security. It will focus efforts on developing more secure information systems, technologies for detecting and containing attacks in real-time, and develop cyber forensics to identify perpetrators. This will be done by leveraging private sectors' innovation and ingenuity.

I want to thank Senator Warner for being an original cosponsor of this bill and Representative Ratcliffe of Texas for leading introduction of companion legislation in the House of Representatives. I ask my Senate colleagues to join us in support of this important legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.