My remarks I made at Baylor College of Medicine last week. On behalf of all the kids with cancer and their families, I want to thank Baylor College of Medicine for this honor. Admiral McRaven once gave a famous commencement speech at Texas A&M . His #1 piece of advice: make your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished something and set yourself up for success the rest of the day. I’m don't have anything that profound to share with you, but I do want to share my story. It began when my eight-year-old, Jacob, woke up with a headache and nausea. He was diagnosed with a pediatric cancer. Jacob’s treatment was hard. He suffered. And despite 23 months of treatment, Jacob died when he was 10. Today is actually Jacob’s birthday. He would be 28. Jacob loved science. Perhaps he would be sitting here with you, today, graduating from Baylor. Perhaps instead of speaking to you and receiving this honor, I would be a parent in the audience. So the day after Jacob died, I open my laptop on the dining room table and founded Kids v Cancer to change the landscape of pediatric cancer drug development. Every step has been challenging, but thanks to kids with cancer and their families, we have made real progress. We developed a market-based program, a priority review voucher, which incentivized companies to invest in pediatric drug development when the economics alone did not justify doing so. Now, 15% of drugs newly approved by the FDA have received priority review voucher incentive.And we passed a law that required companies that are testing promising drugs in adults to also test them in kids who might benefit. As you begin your medical career, you’ll bear witness to your patients’ tragedies. And one day, you will face a tragedy of your own. When that happens, I hope you’ll remember the following: Life isn’t about avoiding adversity; you can’t. Life is about how you deal with it. There is no more inspiring a person than a kid with cancer. I want to tell you about Mikaela Naylon. Mikaela said, "The thought of making it to the end of the day isn't in the cards. I’m still taking chemo in hopes of killing this thing that keeps taking everything away from me. I am 16. I have dreams and aspirations, and I want to make sure that others receive a better standard of care." Mikaela was persuasive. She moved Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Congressman Mike McCaul here in Texas. In the end, Congress named the bill the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act and passed it unanimously 4 months after she died. It will give countless kids a real chance of surviving and living a better life. So, when you’re done making your bed, pick yourself up, stare down adversity, and remember you too can make a difference. Kids like Mikaela and Jacob are counting on you. Congratulations, Class of 2026. Go change the world.

The morning of my law school graduation, I announced I wanted a PhD. Michael laughed. Who wanted the real world? 35 years later, Baylor College of Medicine will actually award me an (honorary) doctorate. I am truly honored, but I’d rather have Jacob back. bcm.edu/news/dr-thomas-coffm…

FINAL VOTE ON THE FY26 FUNDING BILL AND WITH IT, THE MIKAELA NAYLON GIVE KIDS A CHANCE ACT TODAY! Hi all you pediatric-cancer-policy-nerds! Here is the House Rules Committee vote of yesterday at pm with a schedule for today's vote, at 12:45 - 1:00 pm Watch on C-SPAN! I'll post too. rules.house.gov/bill/119/hr-…

Now Senator Graham (S-SC) is about to lay out is hostage requirements for him not to block the vote (a la Senator Sanders last month).

The Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act is in the HHS appropriations bill. Watch for HHS approp's passage to track our bill

House Republican call for when to schedule the FY26 vote (that would include the MIKAELA NAYLON GIVE KIDS A CHANCE ACT) now pushed back to 4:30 pm ET today.

Looks like the House Republicans are preparing for a Rules Committee meeting. A good sign.

A shutdown is inevitable. We will wait for passage of the MIKAELA NAYLON GIVE KIDS A CHANCE ACT. I guess we should have all bet a shutdown on Polymarket, right?

Can the Senate overcome Senator Graham's hold? (This is necessary to pass the MIKAELA NAYLON GIVE KIDS A CHANCE ACT). Majority White Barrasso (R-WY) says he's "trying to get that done today"

Here's another challenge to a Senate vote on the FY funding bill: Senator Merkley wants to include a new provision to ban pocket recissions. The challenge of this position is that it's unrelated to DHS and wasn't in Senator Schumer's list of ICE concerns. Are we re-legislating everything? The MIKAELA NAYLON GIVE KIDS A CHANCE ACT needs all this to be resolved so that the FY26 HHS approps bill passes and with, the MNGKAC.

Here's one challenge to Senate passage of the FY26 funding bills which would mean passage of the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act: the phone logs of Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) were obtained by DOJ as part of their January 6 investigations. Senator Lindsay will block the Senate vote. He wants notice. He wants to be able to sue. (A few challenges to his position -- he is the only Senator who is taking this position publicly, his legislative language would not protect Representatives or other Americans).

House Republicans just started their call to discuss when they will have a vote on the FY26 funding bills to avert a government shutdown -- INCLUDING THE MIKAELA NAYLON GIVE KIDS A CHANCE ACT!

We all wait for the funding deal to pass the Senate. Then that deal must go back to the House. THEN THE MIKAELA NAYLON GIVE KIDS A CHANCE ACT IS LAW