Whereas 30,000,000 people in the United States, or nearly 1 out of every 10 individuals in the United States, live with at least 1 of more than 7,000 known rare diseases; Whereas, in 1983, the Orphan Drug Act ( Public Law 97–414 ; 96 Stat. 2049) was enacted to provide research and development incentives to encourage the development of new therapies for diseases affecting less than 200,000 people in the United States; Whereas, in the 10 years prior to the enactment of the Orphan Drug Act, only 10 therapies for rare diseases were developed by private industry and approved for patients; Whereas, since the enactment of the Orphan Drug Act, research and development of therapies for rare diseases has resulted in more than 650 new therapies for rare diseases; Whereas experts estimate that without the tax credit for testing expenses for drugs for rare diseases, known as the Orphan Drug Tax Credit , one of the incentives of the Orphan Drug Act, at least 1/3 of those new therapies would likely not have been developed; Whereas the Orphan Drug Act continues to lead to increased research and successful therapeutic development along the full range of rare diseases, including the rarest diseases; Whereas new therapies for rare diseases benefit the individuals affected by such diseases through increased life expectancy and improved quality of life; Whereas new therapies for rare diseases benefit society through increased productivity of the individuals affected by such diseases and a potential decline in the resources devoted to health care, disability, caregiving, and related spending; and Whereas, despite the success of the Orphan Drug Act, only approximately 5 percent of the more than 7,000 identified rare diseases have at least one treatment option approved by the Food and Drug Administration: Now, therefore, be it