Houston Daily

The U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously passed the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act, a bill designed to improve pediatric cancer treatments and expand access to therapies for children with rare diseases. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) introduced the legislation in February, joined by a bipartisan group of co-sponsors.

The act merges two previous initiatives: the original Give Kids a Chance Act and the Creating Hope Reauthorization Act. Its aim is to promote drug development for rare pediatric diseases, enhance patient outcomes, and address gaps in research focused on children.

“As a founder of the childhood cancer caucus, I’ve met with countless cancer patients and advocates who have asked me for one thing: to give kids their best chance of beating cancer. Today, the House of Representatives shined a beacon of hope for those children and their families by unanimously passing the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act,” said Rep. McCaul. “Mikaela represents all the children who have advocated for this bill and suffered with this heartbreaking disease. Losing some of these kids has been the hardest part of my career, but today, I’m encouraged because I know Mikaela’s legacy — and all of their legacies — will live on in this bill forever and help save countless lives.”

“Today, we celebrate the House passage of this critical, bipartisan effort to give children battling cancer and rare diseases a real chance at life. By strengthening incentives for pediatric drug development, restoring essential programs such as the FDA Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher, and ensuring that life-saving therapies reach the children who need them most, we are making meaningful progress. I am proud to have contributed to this important work and will continue fighting for children and families across our nation,” said Rep. Bilirakis.

“It’s impossible to know the pain and devastation a family experiences when their child is diagnosed with cancer,” said Rep. Dingell. “Children respond to cancer treatments differently than adults, but there is not enough research to fully understand how therapies impact them. These children and their families deserve better. This bill will expand pediatric cancer research, offering more children a fighting chance. Mikaela Naylon, for whom this bill is named, fought for this until the day she died. I’m proud to pass this legislation in her honor, to show pediatric cancer patients and their families that they are not alone in their fight.”

“By passing the bipartisan Give Kids a Chance Act, the House has taken a meaningful step forward in improving health outcomes for kids fighting cancer and rare diseases,” said Rep. Castor. “This bipartisan legislation eliminates unnecessary red tape, prioritizes life-saving pediatric therapies and re-energizes pediatric drug research at no additional cost to taxpayers. As co-chair of the Childhood Cancer Caucus, I’m pleased to see the House come together to remove barriers to care. Working together is how we strengthen families, expand opportunity and build a healthier, more hopeful future for our young neighbors in Florida and across the country.”

“Today, the House delivered long-overdue hope for the millions of Americans and their families struggling with a rare disease,” said Rep. Matsui. “I’m proud my RARE Act is included in this bipartisan package. It will prevent pharmaceutical companies from abusing their orphan drug status to keep other innovative drugs from coming to market. As Co-Chair of the Rare Disease Caucus, I’ve met far too many families who have been told there are no options for their child’s care. This legislation brings them real hope by ensuring investment into pediatric therapies and getting promising treatments to patients faster. Now the Senate must act quickly, because for the rare disease community, every single day matters.”

Each year about 16,000 children in America are diagnosed with cancer; half of those living with rare diseases are children but treatment options remain limited compared with adults.

The new act reauthorizes an FDA program originally created under McCaul’s Creating Hope Act that allows pharmaceutical companies expedited review of profitable drugs if they develop treatments for rare pediatric diseases—a program that since 2011 has led to 63 priority review vouchers awarded covering at least 39 different conditions.

The act also gives authority to direct companies studying adult drug combinations—now common—to conduct similar studies involving children.

Since founding Congress's Childhood Cancer Caucus, McCaul has led other legislative efforts such as passing laws allowing innovative adult treatments' study among youth (the RACE Act) as well as expanding childhood cancer research through measures like STAR (Survivorship Treatment Access Research) Act.

Michael McCaul has maintained his congressional seat through several election cycles including victories over Theresa Boisseau in 2024 (winning 63.6% of votes), Linda Nuno in 2022 (63.3%), Mike Siegel in both 2020 (52.5%) and 2018 (51.1%), Tawana Walter-Cadien in both 2016 (57.3%) and 2014 (62.2%).