Virginia lawmaker with Parkinson’s helps lead the charge in creating panel to fight the illness

By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the House have introduced a bill, likely the last of the year, they hope may one day stomp out Parkinson’s disease. The bill is named for Virginia Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who has the disease, and Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis’ brother, who passed away in May after a long battle with it. Wexton helped lead the charge for passing the bill. She suffers from a particularly aggressive form of the illness, so much so that a colleague read her speech for her. Her statement says that “if there’s one thing we can all agree on is that we can and must do better to fight these terrible diseases.”