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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. RES. 225 |
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| 5 | 5 | | Supporting the designation of March as ‘‘Autoimmune Awareness Month’’ |
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| 6 | 6 | | and supporting efforts to increase awareness of autoimmune diseases |
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| 7 | 7 | | and increase funding for autoimmune disease research. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | MARCH14, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Ms. S |
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| 11 | 11 | | TEVENSsubmitted the following resolution; which was referred to the |
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| 12 | 12 | | Committee on Energy and Commerce |
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| 13 | 13 | | RESOLUTION |
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| 14 | 14 | | Supporting the designation of March as ‘‘Autoimmune |
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| 15 | 15 | | Awareness Month’’ and supporting efforts to increase |
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| 16 | 16 | | awareness of autoimmune diseases and increase funding |
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| 17 | 17 | | for autoimmune disease research. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Whereas researchers have identified that the category of |
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| 19 | 19 | | autoimmune diseases includes more than 100 diseases |
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| 20 | 20 | | that are chronic and in many cases debilitating, with no |
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| 21 | 21 | | known cures; |
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| 22 | 22 | | Whereas autoimmune diseases can affect any part of the |
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| 23 | 23 | | body, including the blood, blood vessels, muscles, nervous |
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| 24 | 24 | | system, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine glands, and mul- |
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| 25 | 25 | | tiple organ systems, and can be life-threatening; |
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| 26 | 26 | | Whereas researchers have identified a close genetic relation- |
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| 27 | 27 | | ship and a common pathway of disease that exists among |
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| 29 | 29 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •HRES 225 IH |
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| 31 | 31 | | autoimmune diseases, explaining the clustering of auto- |
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| 32 | 32 | | immune diseases in individuals and families; |
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| 33 | 33 | | Whereas the family of autoimmune diseases is underrecog- |
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| 34 | 34 | | nized, and poses a major health care challenge to the |
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| 35 | 35 | | United States; |
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| 36 | 36 | | Whereas the National Institutes of Health estimates that |
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| 37 | 37 | | autoimmune diseases afflict up to 50,000,000 people in |
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| 38 | 38 | | the United States, 80 percent of the people affected are |
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| 39 | 39 | | women, and the prevalence of autoimmune diseases is ris- |
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| 40 | 40 | | ing; |
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| 41 | 41 | | Whereas autoimmune diseases are among the top 10 leading |
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| 42 | 42 | | causes of death in women under 65; |
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| 43 | 43 | | Whereas autoimmune diseases frequently affect children and |
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| 44 | 44 | | young adults, leading to a lifetime of disability; |
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| 45 | 45 | | Whereas diagnostic tests for most autoimmune diseases are |
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| 46 | 46 | | not standardized, making autoimmune diseases very dif- |
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| 47 | 47 | | ficult to diagnose; |
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| 48 | 48 | | Whereas, because autoimmune diseases are difficult to diag- |
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| 49 | 49 | | nose, treatment is often delayed, sometimes resulting in |
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| 50 | 50 | | irreparable damage and unnecessary suffering, making |
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| 51 | 51 | | early diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases |
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| 52 | 52 | | critical; |
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| 53 | 53 | | Whereas the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies |
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| 54 | 54 | | reported that the United States is behind other countries |
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| 55 | 55 | | in research into immune system self-recognition, the |
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| 56 | 56 | | cause of autoimmune diseases; |
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| 57 | 57 | | Whereas a study by the Autoimmune Association revealed |
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| 58 | 58 | | that it takes the average patient with an autoimmune |
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| 59 | 59 | | disease more than 4.5 years to get a correct diagnosis; |
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| 61 | 61 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | •HRES 225 IH |
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| 63 | 63 | | Whereas there is a significant need for more collaboration |
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| 64 | 64 | | and cross-fertilization of basic autoimmune research; |
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| 65 | 65 | | Whereas there is a significant need for research focusing on |
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| 66 | 66 | | the etiology of all autoimmune-related diseases, to in- |
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| 67 | 67 | | crease understanding of the root causes of these diseases |
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| 68 | 68 | | rather than treating the symptoms after the disease has |
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| 69 | 69 | | had its destructive effect; and |
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| 70 | 70 | | Whereas designating March as ‘‘Autoimmune Awareness |
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| 71 | 71 | | Month’’ would help educate the public about autoimmune |
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| 72 | 72 | | diseases and the need for research funding, accurate di- |
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| 73 | 73 | | agnosis, and effective treatments: Now, therefore, be it |
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| 74 | 74 | | Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (1) supports the designation of ‘‘Autoimmune 2 |
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| 76 | 76 | | Awareness Month’’; 3 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (2) supports the efforts of health care providers 4 |
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| 78 | 78 | | and autoimmune patient advocacy and education or-5 |
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| 79 | 79 | | ganizations to increase awareness of the causes of, 6 |
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| 80 | 80 | | and treatments for, autoimmune diseases; and 7 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (3) supports the goal of increasing funding for 8 |
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| 82 | 82 | | aggressive research to learn the root causes of auto-9 |
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| 83 | 83 | | immune diseases, as well as the best diagnostic 10 |
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| 84 | 84 | | methods and treatments for people with autoimmune 11 |
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| 85 | 85 | | diseases. 12 |
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| 86 | 86 | | Æ |
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| 88 | 88 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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