[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E168-E169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 VICE PRESIDENT GORE EMPHASIZES BIOSCIENCE AND COMMITMENT TO RESEARCH 
AND EXPERIMENTATION TAX CREDIT IN VISIT TO GENENTECH, INC. OF SOUTH SAN 
                         FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure to report to my 
colleagues about the visit of our Vice-President, Al Gore, who is a 
former colleague of many of us here in this house. I had the pleasure 
of joining the Vice President on Thursday, January 29, 1998, for his 
visit to Genentech, Inc., which is located in the city of South San 
Francisco in the heart of my congressional district. Genentech is an 
innovative pioneer in the significant and increasingly important 
universe of biotechnology.
  Mr. Speaker, Vice-President Gore's visit serves as an exclamation 
point--not only to the necessity of federal investment in the exciting, 
path-breaking research and development that will lead us into the 21st 
century, but also to the humanitarian nature of biotechnology as 
practiced by outstanding companies such as Genentech. By supporting 
research and development such firms conduct, we are aggressively 
fighting against cancer, prevailing against both rare and common 
diseases, and rallying against those intrepid enemies of our times that 
we have come to know as heart-disease, stroke, and diabetes, among 
others. In short, by supporting research and development, we are 
improving the quality of the lives of all Americans.
  I would like to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to bring to the 
attention of my colleagues the highlights of the remarks of Vice-
President Gore in relation to the specific accomplishments of 
Genentech, Inc., which were made during the meeting at the corporate 
headquarters during our visit.
  Genentech serves as a unique and commendable model for the high-tech 
industry. As Vice-President Gore pointed out, ``Here at Genentech, you 
have taught us another lesson: in the 21st Century, research and 
experimentation--innovation and ingenuity--is about our livelihoods as 
well as our lives.'' In these remarks, Vice-President Gore referred to 
both the high-wage levels of the high-tech industry, as well as the 
high-tech industry's status as one of the largest employers in the 
United States. The fostering of the high-tech industry spurs economic 
growth and a healthy and vital job market that benefits whole 
communities.
  Vice-President Gore also referred to the Administration's proposal in 
its annual budget to extend the $2.2 billion Research and 
Experimentation (R&E) Tax Credit from June 30th, 1998 to June 30th, 
1999. The extension of this tax credit is especially encouraging to the 
growing Bay Area bioscience industry and to all of our high tech 
industries which depend upon the R&E Tax Credit to make their extensive 
and dynamic research feasible. By allowing firms such as Genentech to 
claim a credit against their federal taxes for a portion of their 
extensive research and development costs, we in the federal government 
are taking a critical step to ensure new, high-wage jobs in the

[[Page E169]]

next century. As Vice-President Gore estimated, ``Here at Genentech 
alone, it will mean 150 new jobs for Californians.''
  Importantly, Mr. Speaker, the R&E Tax Credit not only promotes a 
healthy economy, it also stimulates additional research and 
experimentation. The savings gained by the biotechnology companies from 
the R&E Tax Credit allows them to meet significant human medical needs 
as expediently as possible. Genentech is a leader among United States 
firms in its unequivocal commitment to research and development 
investment, spending almost 50% of its total sales revenues on 
continuing research and development activities. The emphasis on 
research has, in part, enabled Genentech to offer the world a special 
insight into the disease of breast cancer. Approximately 45,000 women 
in the United States are affected by breast cancer every year. With the 
help of a new Genentech product, Herceptin, which is currently in the 
final clinical trial phase for the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), 
we may soon be able to fight cancer at a molecular level--a new and 
very promising breakthrough.
  Genentech has completed its Herceptin research and is compiling data 
for the new drug application for FDA approval. The company hopes that 
Herceptin will be as successful as their drug Retuxin, which the FDA 
approved in November and is currently a significant weapon to patients 
battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a type of cancer which attacks the 
lymph nodes. The development of drugs such as Herceptin and Retuxin, 
however, come with a heavy price tag, as the average research cost for 
any one drug can cost over $360 million.
  Despite this expenditure, Genentech works hard to make its drugs 
available to patients, and it is my distinct pleasure to commend one of 
Genentech's humanitarian operations, its Uninsured Patient's Program. 
Through this program, Genentech is committed to make its market 
products available despite the limits of a patient's government or 
private insurance. Essentially, to the extent that a patient cannot 
afford a product, it is provided to them free of charge.
  During his visit to Genentech, Vice-President Al Gore re-iterated the 
Administration's commitment to research with the 21st Century Research 
Fund, the ``largest investment in civilian research and development in 
American history.'' The scientific community works together to produce 
the miraculous science that gives us our current technology and medical 
innovations. This 21st Century Research Fund includes the highest-ever 
increases in the budgets of the National Institute of Health and the 
National Science Foundation. As Vice-President Gore proclaimed, ``Taken 
together, the $31 billion in the 21st Century Research Fund will help 
us to cure deadly diseases; to find new sources of clean energy . . . 
to build the next generation of the Internet, moving 1,000 times faster 
than the current one; and to continue to explore the heavens.''
  I am extremely impressed by the efforts of Genentech and the 
biotechnology industry in the Bay Area. I have always believed that 
Genentech is a special place, a different kind of company, and I was 
pleased that Vice-President Gore commented upon the fact that of all 
the corporations he has visited, he had not seen the diversity of faces 
that he observed at Genentech. And, as a federal legislator, I was 
especially affected by Vice-President Gore's words that, ``In fact, 
Genentech's 3,200 jobs might not be here at all if our federal 
government had not invested in the research that led to the discovery 
of the DNA.''
  It is a meaningful and significant chain that connects our country to 
the high-tech industry, and Vice-President Gore wisely discerned that 
``More research and development means higher productivity, rising 
wages, and lower costs throughout our economy.'' Mr. Speaker, I thank 
my colleagues in this House for their efforts in support of funding 
research and development which has helped to move our country forward 
and make possible the exciting breakthroughs in science and technology 
which have furthered the progress of all of mankind.
  It is with tremendous sense of excitement about the future and a 
profound hope that I urge my colleagues to join me in applauding the 
efforts of Genentech, Inc., and other American companies which are 
leaders in the scientific world through whose work we will step into 
the next century with strength, with courage, and with knowledge.

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