[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 15 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 15

   Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Federal commitment to 
 biomedical research should be increased substantially over the next 5 
                                 years.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 1997

   Mr. Mack (for himself, Mr. Gramm, Mr. Frist, Mr. D'Amato, and Mr. 
Specter) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Appropriations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Federal commitment to 
 biomedical research should be increased substantially over the next 5 
                                 years.

Whereas heart disease was the leading cause of death for both men and women in 
        every year from 1970 to 1993;
Whereas mortality rates for individuals suffering from prostate cancer, skin 
        cancer, and kidney cancer continue to rise;
Whereas the mortality rate for African American women suffering from diabetes is 
        134 percent higher than the mortality rate of Caucasian women suffering 
        from diabetes;
Whereas asthma rates for children increased 58 percent from 1982 to 1992;
Whereas nearly half of all American women between the ages of 65 and 75 reported 
        having arthritis;
Whereas AIDS is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 24 
        and 44;
Whereas the Institute of Medicine has described United States clinical research 
        to be ``in a state of crisis'' and the National Academy of Sciences 
        concluded in 1994 that ``the present cohort of clinical investigators is 
        not adequate'';
Whereas biomedical research has been shown to be effective in saving lives and 
        reducing health care expenditures;
Whereas research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health has contributed 
        significantly to the first overall reduction in cancer death rates since 
        recordkeeping was instituted;
Whereas research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health has resulted in 
        the identification of genetic mutations for osteoporosis; Lou Gehrig's 
        Disease, cystic fibrosis, and Huntington's Disease; breast, skin and 
        prostate cancer; and a variety of other illnesses;
Whereas research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health has been key to 
        the development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron 
        Emission Tomography (PET) scanning technologies;
Whereas research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health has developed 
        effective treatments for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Today, 80 
        percent of children diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia are 
        alive and free of the disease after 5 years; and
Whereas research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health contributed to 
        the development of a new, cost-saving cure for peptic ulcers: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Biomedical Research 
Commitment Resolution of 1997''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

    It is the sense of the Senate that appropriations for the National 
Institutes of Health should be increased by 100 percent over the next 5 
fiscal years.
                                 <all>