Hearings to examine a future without Type 1 Diabetes, focusing on accelerating breakthroughs and creating hope.

Appropriations Committee

2025-07-09

Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee convened in conjunction with the Breakthrough T1D 2025 Children's Congress to discuss Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) research and funding. Senators, medical professionals, and young individuals living with T1D shared personal stories and discussed the significant progress made in diabetes treatment and the critical need for continued federal investment in research.[ 00:53:52-00:54:10 ]

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Importance of Personal Stories and Advocacy

Senators emphasized that the personal stories of individuals living with T1D are crucial for motivating and educating Congress to support funding for life-changing research.[ 00:27:22 ]

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 Young delegates, like Ruby Whitmore, Rachel White, and Katie Bone, vividly described the daily, relentless challenges of managing T1D, even during sleep and demanding athletic activities. Their testimonies highlighted the invisible burdens, such as constant monitoring, difficult decision-making, and the mental toll of the disease. Senators expressed deep admiration for the courage and resilience of these young advocates and their families, acknowledging their vital role in advancing the cause.[ 01:17:57-01:18:27 ]

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Advances in Type 1 Diabetes Research and Treatment

Federal funding for diabetes research has seen a substantial increase, growing from $319 million in 1997 to over $2.3 billion, largely due to sustained advocacy. This investment has led to significant breakthroughs, including the development of the first FDA-approved artificial pancreas in 2017, which automatically controls blood glucose levels. Additionally, stem cell-based treatments show immense promise, with a clinical trial demonstrating that 10 out of 12 participants no longer needed insulin after one year. Other key advances include a new FDA-approved preventive therapy, Teplizumab, which can delay the onset of T1D by at least three years in at-risk individuals, and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and advanced insulin pumps that significantly improve quality of life.

The Critical Role of the Special Diabetes Program (SDP)

The Special Diabetes Program (SDP) is crucial, providing $160 million annually for T1D research and supplementing regular appropriations.[ 00:53:52-00:54:03 ]

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 It has been instrumental in funding the research behind technologies like the artificial pancreas and stem cell therapies. The program also supports prevention and treatment services for American Indians and Alaskan Natives, who experience disproportionately high rates of diabetes, with notable success in reducing new diagnoses and complications.[ 01:20:04-01:20:07 ]

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 The SDP is set to expire in September, and legislators urged members to co-sponsor a bill to reauthorize it through 2027, emphasizing its proven return on investment in federal healthcare savings.

Challenges to Continued Research and Funding

Several senators raised serious concerns about proposed budget cuts by the Trump administration to the NIH and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).[ 01:13:53 ]

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 These proposed cuts include the termination or freezing of over 260 NIDDK grants, totaling more than $120 million, and a plan to reduce new research grants by 40%.[ 01:13:53 ]

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 There were fears that such reductions would severely impede ongoing research, delay potential cures, and jeopardize the future health of T1D patients.[ 01:40:03-01:40:12 ]

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 Legislators vowed to fight these cuts, asserting that Congress, not the executive branch, determines funding for critical medical research and that bipartisan commitment exists to sustain investment.[ 00:29:15 ]

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Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was largely hopeful and optimistic, with a strong underlying belief in the imminent possibility of a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, driven by ongoing scientific advancements. It was also profoundly empathetic and supportive, as senators and witnesses shared deeply personal stories and expressed mutual admiration for the resilience of young individuals living with T1D and their families.[ 01:17:57-01:18:27 ]

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 Finally, the meeting had a determined and urgent call to action, especially concerning the need to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program and to vigorously oppose proposed budget cuts that threaten to undermine critical research progress.

Participants

Transcript

Thanks for watching!
What an obedient crowd we have here today.  This hearing will come to order.  Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our nation's capital.  I am so pleased to convene this biennial hearing   in conjunction with the Breakthrough T1D 2025 Children's Congress.  It's wonderful to host you and your families at the Senate Appropriations Committee.  As the founding co-chair of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, I have long promoted diabetes research   as one of my top priorities.  Your advocacy for life-changing research to prevent, treat, and ultimately cure type 1 diabetes inspires me.  Looking out at this field of blue inspires me.  But looking at your faces inspires me even more.   Over the years, I have met so many wonderful children living with Type 1.  Individuals such as my summertime neighbor, Ruby Whitmore,   who is going to be testifying today.  Carolyn Cordoza from Brunswick, Maine, who is six and joins us as a delegate.  Aiden Sweeney, whom I first met when he was only age four, and now he is age 23.   There's so many more, including our New Hampshire delegate, Rachel White, who is also testifying today.
And there are adults who are living with type 1 as well, including Nicole Wiesendanger, a teacher who has lived with diabetes for more than 37 years and happens to be married to my nephew.   I told Nicole I'd work her in.  More than 170 delegates have traveled to Washington from across the United States and five other countries to share with members of Congress their personal stories of what it is like to live with type 1 diabetes.  And I want to tell you how much your personal stories really matter.   They motivate and educate senators and House members to get involved and to support funding for the research that is necessary to deliver new treatments, more effective technologies, and one day a cure.  Let me tell you about my very first meeting   with a family who had a son with type 1 diabetes.  I was a brand new senator.  It was back in 1997.   They came to my Portland, Maine office, and this little boy looked up at me and he said, I wish I could just take one day off from having diabetes.  My birthday or Christmas, just one day.  But of course, he could not.  And type 1 diabetes today   is a disease that one can never outgrow.  But I am confident that that is going to change.
Just this morning, six-year-old Carolyn Cardoza from Brunswick, Maine, told me that she is a warrior for the cause of finding a cure for diabetes.   So these personal stories are why I started the bipartisan Senate Diabetes Caucus in 1997.  Since we started the caucus, and it's been bipartisan from the beginning, because diabetes doesn't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent or a Green or what.   We have made some real progress.  It has been exciting.  Federal funding for diabetes research has increased from $319 million in 1997 to more than $2.3 billion.  That's due to your advocacy, and that includes a $10 million   increase enacted just last year.  These investments are yielding results.  One program in particular has led to technologies that will allow better control of diabetes.  That is the special diabetes program at the National Institutes of Health.   and how lucky we are to have Dr. Rogers joining us again this year.  This critical program provides $160 million a year for type 1 diabetes research, supplementing the regular appropriations for diabetes.  In 2017, the special diabetes program led to the development of the first-ever FDA-approved   artificial pancreas that can control blood glucose levels automatically.
And I'm curious, how many of you here today are using the continuous glucose monitor?  All right, that's wonderful.

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