Senate passage of the 21st Century Cures initiative is one of the things Congressman Fred Upton hopes to see next year. The plan, promoted by Upton this year, would speed up regulatory approval of new medicines and medical devices, increase funding for the National Institutes of Health, and allow for more medical trials that have previously only been available in other parts of the world. It passed the House this year, and Upton’s optimistic it can pass the Senate.
“The Senate is just starting to get to work on it now, and we’re hoping that in early January, we’ll beginning to see the outlines of their legislation so we can get together and ultimately get it to the president’s desk,” Upton told WSJM.
Another priority for Upton in the coming year will be reauthorizing the Pipeline Safety Act, which increased precautions for oil pipelines. The legislation was drafted after the spill of more than 800 thousand gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River from an Enbridge pipeline in 2010. Upton says the first thing Congress will have to do in 2016 is hear President Obama’s State of the Union, which he’ll deliver on January 12th.
