[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H3363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            ENACT THE DIABETES RESEARCH WORKING GROUP REPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Nethercutt) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NETHERCUTT. Mr. Speaker, 2 months ago the Diabetes Research 
Working Group released its report entitled ``Conquering Diabetes: A 
Strategic Plan for the 21st Century.'' This document was a result of 
over a year of effort on the part of 12 scientific experts and four 
representatives from the lay diabetes community. Support was provided 
by dozens of other individuals both from within the National Institutes 
of Health and from outside the NIH.
  The Working Group was established by Congress as part of the Fiscal 
Year 1998 Appropriations Act and based on legislation I introduced in 
the last session of Congress. It requested that NIH establish the Group 
to develop a comprehensive plan for NIH-funded diabetes research.
  Dr. Ronald Kahn is an outstanding physician and scientist. He was 
selected the chairman of the group. He has spent literally thousands of 
hours meeting and talking with countless individuals to establish a 
consensus on the direction of diabetes research. The report has 
exceeded all expectations. It clearly details the magnitude of the 
disease both on the individual and on our society.
  On an individual level, diabetes affects virtually every tissue of 
the body with severe damage. Since 1980, the age-adjusted death rate 
due to diabetes has increased by 30 percent, while the death rate has 
fallen for other common diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and 
stroke.

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  Diabetes affects about 16 million Americans, with 800,000 new cases 
diagnosed each year. The societal impact is likewise staggering. One in 
four Medicare dollars are spent to treat people with diabetes. And over 
one in 10 health care dollars spent are spent for diabetes. In economic 
terms, the cost to society is over $105 billion each year.
  The report identifies five areas of extraordinary research 
opportunities for making progress in understanding and treating and 
ultimately preventing and curing diabetes. These five areas are the 
genetics of diabetes and its complications; autoimmunity and the beta 
cell; cell signaling and cell regulation; obesity; and clinical trials 
and research. Within each area, specific research recommendations are 
made, and in all areas rapid advancements are anticipated.
  Finally, ``Conquering Diabetes,'' the name of this report, presents 
an analysis of current spending and estimates, program-by-program, of 
the cost of implementing each opportunity. Current spending, the group 
reports, is far short of what is required to make progress on this 
complex and difficult problem. They calculate that an increase of $384 
million in fiscal year 2000, rising to $1.166 billion in fiscal year 
2004 is, quote, required to have a robust and effective diabetes 
research effort, one which will reduce the rising burden created by 
this debilitating disease.
  The release of the report has generated extraordinary interest among 
the scientific community, Mr. Speaker. Some argue that advances in 
research must be present to generate an increased NIH portfolio, while 
others argue that the presence of research dollars will generate 
advances as in the case of AIDS. By either standard, the time to 
establish a national commitment to diabetes research is now.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress must seize upon the momentum in diabetes 
research and fully enact the Diabetes Research Working Group Report 
recommendations. It will take a commitment of $827 million in the next 
fiscal year. The scientific community has united to develop a concrete 
plan and now it is up to the Congress to unite to make this plan a 
reality.
  I must conclude, Mr. Speaker, by saying that this is a very important 
initiative for our country. I know it is going to be a difficult year 
economically for the appropriations subcommittee that has to deal with 
this issue, but I must say it is in the Nation's best interest, it is 
in the interest of scientific research and the diabetic and all the 
complications that come from diabetes that the Congress step up and say 
$827 million is the number. I urge my colleagues to support this 
initiative in the House.

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