English subtitles for clip: File:2016-12-03 President Obama's Weekly Address.webm

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The President: Hi, everybody.

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On the first day of my
administration, I promised

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to restore science to
its rightful place.

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I told you we would unleash
American innovation and

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technology to tackle the
health challenges of our time.

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Over the last eight years,
we've delivered on that

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promise in many ways, both
big and small -- including,

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of course, providing health
coverage to 20 million more

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Americans, and making health
care more affordable for

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all Americans.

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Right now we have the chance
to put our best minds to

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work one more time
-- and in a big way.

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There's a bill in Congress
that could help unlock cures

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Alzheimer's, end cancer as
we know it, and help people

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seeking treatment for opioid
addiction finally get the

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help they need.

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It's called the 21st
Century Cures Act.

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It's an opportunity to save
lives, and an opportunity we

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just can't miss.

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This bill would do a lot
of good things at once.

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Let me tell you
about five of them:

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First, it will make real
investments this year to

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combat the heroin and
prescription drug epidemic

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that's plaguing so many
of our communities.

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Drug overdoses now take
more lives every year than

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traffic accidents, and
deaths from opioid overdoses

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have nearly
quadrupled since 1999.

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Under Obamacare, health
plans in the Marketplace

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have to include coverage for
treatment, but there's more

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we need to do.

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For nearly a year, I've been
calling for this investment

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so hundreds of thousands
of Americans can get the

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treatment they need, and I'm
glad Congress is finally

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getting it done.

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The second thing the
Cures Act does is make a

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significant investment in
Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot.

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In my State of the Union
Address this year, I set a

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goal of making America the
country that ends cancer

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once and for all -- and I
put the Vice President in

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charge of Mission Control.

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This bill will allow us to
invest in promising new

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therapies, in new ways to
detect and prevent cancer,

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and to develop more vaccines
for cancer just as we have

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them for measles or mumps.

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Joe's done an incredible job
-- this bill is a chance for

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Congress to do
its part, too.

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Third, we'll be giving
researchers the resources

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they need to help identify
ways to treat, cure, and

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prevent all kinds
of brain disorders.

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Alzheimer's.

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Epilepsy.

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Traumatic Brain Injury.

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And it also supports
the Precision Medicine

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Initiative, an effort we
started to bring doctors and

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data together to develop
treatments and health care

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that one day can be tailored
specifically to you.

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That can lead to some
big breakthroughs.

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Fourth, the Cures Act
includes bipartisan mental

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health reforms, including
important programs for

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suicide prevention.

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And fifth, we're making
sure the FDA incorporates

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patients' voices -- your
voices -- into the decisions

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they make as they
develop drugs.

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So that's what the 21st
Century Cures Act is all about.

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Like all good legislation,
it reflects compromise.

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This week, the House passed
it overwhelmingly, and in

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bipartisan fashion.

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The Senate will vote in the
next few days, and I hope

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they'll do the same.

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I'll sign it as soon as it
reaches my desk, because

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like a lot of you, I've lost
people I love to cancer.

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I hear every day from
Americans whose loved ones

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are suffering from addiction
and other debilitating diseases.

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And I believe we should
seize every chance we have

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to find cures as
soon as possible.

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When it's your family, hope
can't come soon enough.

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Thanks, everybody, and
have a great weekend.