[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 148 (Thursday, September 21, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S14099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL FUND FOR HEALTH RESEARCH ACT

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise as an original cosponsor of 
the Hatfield-Harkin bill. I wish to express my strong support for this 
legislature which provides additional resources for health research 
over and above those provided to the National Institutes of Health 
[NIH] in the annual appropriations process.
  This legislation would create the National Fund for Health Research 
Act, financed by a tobacco tax, in the form of 25 cents per pack and an 
equivalent tax on other tobacco products. As a result of this act, 
annual revenue in excess of $4 billion would be raised to provide 
additional funds for medical research, which is an important, but often 
underfunded part of our health care system.
  Investment in medical research yields benefits in countless ways: 
improvements in preventing disease, better methods of diagnosis and 
treatment, and breakthroughs that have led to cures and therapies for 
afflictions ranging from cancer to schizophrenia.
  Improvements in public health depend on basic research to find 
answers to fundamental questions about disease processes. The most 
widely heralded medical triumphs--such as the discovery of antibiotics, 
the vaccine for polio, the identification of human immunodeficiency 
virus--reflect the vast body of fundamental knowledge accumulated 
through medical research.
  In addition, medical research is the first line of prevention 
defense. Research has produced immunizations, a screening test to 
prevent the transmission of HIV through blood products and the finding 
that AZT can reduce by two-thirds the rate of HIV transmission from 
mother to infant. With rising health care costs, it is in our best 
interest to fund medical research to further both prevention and 
treatment of disease.
  This legislation raises funds for research while protecting our 
children. Everyday more than 3,000 children become smokers and more 
than 1,000 of them will eventually die as a result of smoking. Raising 
tobacco taxes is a highly effective manner in which to reduce tobacco 
use by children. A 25 cent tax will discourage an estimated 1.3 million 
children and adults from smoking.
  I urge my colleagues to recognize the importance of medical research 
to the American people and support the Hatfield-Harkin bill.

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