U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) spoke on the Senate floor to support his bipartisan bill, the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act. The legislation aims to improve outcomes for children with cancer by advancing research and increasing access to essential treatments. After Mullin requested unanimous consent for the bill’s passage, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) objected, leading to strong criticism from Mullin.
The House of Representatives previously passed its version of the bill by voice vote with unanimous support.
Senator Mullin stated, “Every child deserves the opportunity to live a long and happy life. Sadly, while nearly 3 out of 4 rare diseases originate in childhood, most have no FDA-approved treatment for kids. The Give Kids a Chance Act builds off current programs to streamline drug development and accelerate research for pediatric cancer. We named this bill after Mikaela Naylon, a 16-year-old who, even as she battled cancer, advocated for other children with cancer until the very end. We owe it to kids like Mikaela to give families the ability to access combination drugs or targeted medicines to maximize their treatment options. Our kids deserve a fighting chance and that is exactly what this bill gives them.”
Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), co-lead on the bill, added: “Children with cancer deserve access to the most advanced medicines possible, and we must ensure our medical professionals have every tool at their disposal to treat them. Our bill will help child cancer patients access lifesaving trials and therapies to battle this disease. I will work across the aisle to get this done and keep fighting to end children’s cancer.”
Addressing Sanders’ objection on the Senate floor, Mullin said: “Why wouldn’t you want to allow kids, our kids, an opportunity to simply have the same opportunity as adults do with cancer?… It’s hard to explain why we wouldn’t want to do that, but yet, I understand that [the] senator from Vermont intends to object to the Senate doing this, and I think it’s wrong. I think it’s dead wrong to think that someone is willing to hold hostage a child who’s fighting for their life that simply wants to have an opportunity to try an experimental drug that may extend their life one week, one day, or may even cure it, and you’re willing to take that away from the family because you have ever priorities, because you want to hold it hostage, so you can try to do something with community health care centers. I support community health care centers. I want them. They’re important to rural Oklahoma, but there’s a time and place for everything. And to hold this bill hostage because of it is not right.
You’re stealing a family an opportunity to spend maybe an extra minute or an extra day, or maybe a lifetime with a loved one. I don’t know how you argue against it. I don’t know how you can possibly stand up there with a straight face and say, it’s just politics. This isn’t just politics we’re playing with people’s lives. So, this is more than just politics, but I will tell you that if this is objected to, and we can’t find a path forward here today, I can promise you I will not stop fighting…it won’t happen. We’re going to rinse and repeat and continue to go down this path until we give the families with these rare diseases an opportunity to live, because that’s what this is about.”
After Sanders blocked consideration of his bill near Christmas time Mullin said: “I’m talking about giving kids a chance…it has nothing to do with politics…You know, this time of the year, at Christmas, we talk about Grinches all the time, right? They go in and they steal the kids’ gifts, but at the end of the show their hearts grow bigger and they give the gift back and they allow kids be excited about Christmas morning.
What’s happened right here in front of us: The Grinch is stealing kids’ lives and they’re stealing hope from families hopes from families that might have an opportunity just try—for a political agenda. And I hope God every single family that’s going through this will hold Senator for Vermont accountable and state Vermont will hold him accountable too because he’s playing with kids’ lives He’s literally killing kids in front of us because of his political movement and it is ridiculous It is therefore I object.”
Mullin represents Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate as a member of the Republican Party [source]. Before joining the Senate in January 2023 [source], he served ten years in the U.S. House of Representatives [source]. His background includes experience as a business owner expanding companies such as Mullin Plumbing [source] as well as ranching [source]. He also advocates for small businesses [source], rural development [source], agriculture [source], education [source], energy policies [source], veterans’ issues [source] and tribal affairs [source].
The full text of Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act is available online.
