[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 22, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S630-S631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MEDICAL RESEARCH APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I was pleased to support yesterday as an 
original cosponsor Senate Resolution 15 which proposes to double 
appropriations for medical research over the next 5 years. That is a 
lofty goal. I subscribe to that goal.
  During my tenure in the U.S. Senate I have served on the 
Appropriations Committee and on the subcommittee which has jurisdiction 
over the Department of Health and Human Services and the funding 
responsibility for the National Institutes of Health.
  I am pleased to note that, notwithstanding very severe budget 
constraints over the years, the subcommittee has consistently raised 
the funding, whether it was Senator Weicker, Senator Chiles, or Senator 
Harkin, or under my stewardship as chairman.
  When I joined the committee in 1981 the appropriations were $3.6 
billion. That has now risen to $12.7 billion. Since I became chairman 
in 1996 we raised the funding by 5.7 percent, and in 1997, fiscal year 
1997, 6.9 percent, some $820 million to a total now of $12.7 billion 
dollars. When the resolution calls for doubling NIH spending within 5 
years, that is a very, very tough goal and a very, very tough objective 
to me. That would really call for an increase of expenditures of about 
$2.5 billion a year. My own view is that it would be a priority worth 
meeting to reach the goal of $2.5 billion a year if the allocation to 
the subcommittee did permit that. But I have grave doubts that will be 
possible, although it is as I say a lofty goal.
  We do need more grants in that field. There are some 27,000 grants 
now in operation. But only a fraction of the applications receive the 
grants, and there are many worthwhile grants that ought to be accepted.
  There have been tremendous advances in breast cancer and prostate 
cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and many, many more.
  What I want to say today and do say is that as chairman of the 
subcommittee I am prepared to commit to an increase in the next year's 
budget of 7.5 percent, which would amount to some $950 million.
  In making that statement, I want to emphasize how difficult it will 
be to reach $950 million and a 7.5-percent commitment. But in 
articulating, stating that view, that is a strong stretch, considering 
the funding and the allocation which is present for the subcommittee 
which I chair. So I invite my colleagues to look toward alternative 
methods of financing if we are to be able to meet the $2.5 billion 
mark, which we really ought to do. But I did want to make a statement 
today, following the introduction of the resolution yesterday, that 
there is the commitment that I am prepared to undertake the 7.5-percent 
figure or $950 million.
  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I am pleased to support the nomination 
of Madeleine Albright to be Secretary of State. Additionally, I am 
pleased to support the nomination of our former colleague, Bill Cohen 
to be Secretary of Defense.

[[Page S631]]

  I am concerned, however, about the general direction of President 
Clinton's foreign policy.
  It has been a policy with very little direction. I fear that the U.S. 
armed forces have become an international cleanup force sent to all 
parts of the world that have no strategic relationship to the United 
States. Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and other U.N. peace-keeping missions 
have been costly with little tangible benefits for the United States.
  In the case of Bosnia, clearly, the administration misled the 
Congress about the length of time troops would be present there. Only 
after the election did the President have the courage to tell the 
American people that the troops would not be coming home in December of 
1996 and that the deployment would extend another 18 months.
  Further, with respect to Bosnia, it has now become apparent that this 
conflict dragged on longer than it should have because the 
administration and Democratic leaders in Congress blocked arm shipments 
for the Bosnians. Yet, in a secret policy, they allowed Iran to arm the 
Bosnian muslims. This administration told the Congress one thing and 
Iran another.
  This is an unacceptable way to conduct American foreign policy.
  The Clinton administration has pursued what I call the un-Reagan 
doctrine. Rather than preside over the decline and fall of the last 
remaining communist regimes, this administration has reached out and 
befriended them. It gave diplomatic recognition to Vietnam. We provided 
foreign aid to North Korea, and we sought warmer relations with Fidel 
Castro until he shot down innocent civilians out of the sky. In 
contrast, this administration ignored, almost to its peril, the new 
democracies in Eastern Europe and Russia, to the point that the 
Communists tried to stage an electoral comeback in Russia.
  This is not foreign policy America can be proud of.
  Another problem with this administration is its handling of our 
future security from nuclear attack.
  In my view, nothing is more important to the national defense of this 
country than deployment of a national ballistic missile defense for the 
United States. More than 25 countries now possess or are seeking to 
acquire nuclear weapons.
  We have to address this issue--we cannot ignore it.
  I would hope that the two people we are confirming today, both of 
whom are honorable, decent, hard-working people will work on these 
issues and improve our defense and foreign policy in the next 4 years.
  Finally, Mr. President, I wish Senator Cohen well in his new 
position. I was pleased to serve with him for the last 4 years, and we 
will certainly miss him in the Senate, but the United States will be 
better off by having him as Secretary of Defense.

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