WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, (both D-VA) have cosponsored the Dr. Emmanuel Bilirakis and Honorable Jennifer Wexton National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act. In April 2023, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10) shared her diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and in September of last year her diagnosis was upgraded to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare and incurable brain disorder that rapidly deteriorates mobility and speech.

Specifically, this legislation would direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to set up a National Parkinson’s Project, under which HHS would create and update a national plan to address Parkinson’s and related conditions, including Rep. Wexton’s diagnosis of PSP, provide an estimate of research needs, and establish an advisory council that would report to Congress.

 “Our friend Jennifer Wexton has been a model of grace and perseverance in the face of a difficult diagnosis,” said the senators. “We are proud to introduce this legislation that will devote time and resources towards tackling Parkinson’s disease and its related conditions so that one day we can find a cure for this devastating disease.”

The National Parkinson’s Project is modeled after the National Alzheimer’s Project which, as co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, Sen. Warner led efforts to introduce and pass. Sen. Kaine is leading the bipartisan Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Reauthorization Act, legislation to reauthorize funding for public health initiatives across the country to combat Alzheimer’s disease and preserve brain health.

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