[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    THE DEATH OF MARY WOODARD LASKER

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to express my sadness at 
the passing of a great American woman--Mary Woodard Lasker. I want to 
extend my condolences to her family and loved ones.
  Mary Lasker was a kind and generous woman who devoted herself to 
public health issues. She sought to garner funds for the research and 
development of cures for various diseases. She spent 30 years 
energetically lobbying Congress promoting medical research. Through her 
persuasion, she convinced the Radio Corporation of America that the 
word cancer could be said on the air. Reader's Digest published a 
series of articles about cancer which concluded with a plea for 
donations. Mrs. Lasker's persistence and dedication had convinced them 
of the urgency and importance of educating the American people about 
the deadly disease.
  Because of the loss of her parents at an early age to fatal 
illnesses, Mrs. Lasker was determined to see medical research become a 
priority in this country. Although private funds were the real sources 
of medical research at the time, Mrs. Lasker was able to convince the 
Federal Government that its resources were the only ones large enough 
to adequately conduct the kind of large scale research that could be 
effective.
  And her influence was great. It was through the tireless efforts of 
Mrs. Lasker, with the support of her husband Albert, that the National 
Institutes of Health transformed from a simple set of medical 
laboratories to the advanced innovative medical research community that 
stands today. Mrs. Lasker's work led to an increase in funding for NIH 
from $2.4 million in 1945 to $5.5 billion in 1986.
  As the visionary that she was, Mary Lasker was even questioned by 
renown scientists when she proposed an independent national cancer 
authority. And again, we owe our thanks to Mary Lasker that President 
Nixon signed the National Cancer Act in 1971. In addition, Mrs. Lasker 
and her husband were avid fundraisers for cancer research and their 
efforts led to the creation of today's American Cancer Society.
  Mary Lasker was an inspiration to us all. Although her name will be 
carried on by the prestigious Lasker Medical Research Awards, Mary 
Lasker's true legacy remains in the commitment that we now have in this 
country to funding medical research, to expanding NIH and our medical 
technology, and to the education and awareness that Americans now have 
about public health.

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