Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) listens to the moving testimony of 13-year-old Cynthia Cervantes, a Huntington Park constituent, before the Appropriations Health Subcommittee. A student at Henry T. Gage Middle School in Huntington Park, Cynthia shared her experiences coping with scleroderma, a rare disease affecting only about 300,000 Americans that causes Cynthia’s skin and internal organs to stiffen. Cynthia explained to committee members that, in addition to taking nine pills a day and using an inhaler three times a day, that she must wear gloves and a sweater as part of her treatment even during hot weather. Cynthia asked the panel, on which the congresswoman sits, to support research efforts that might lead to treatments and ultimately a cure for her illness.

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