[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15064-S15065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RESEARCH LABORATORIES ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, biomedical research is making great 
strides in providing new treatments for a wide range of diseases. 
Thousands of talented scientists across the country are making new 
discoveries about the fundamental mechanisms of health and disease. Yet 
the talents of these researchers are often undermined by a lack of 
adequate facilities and equipment to conduct their crucial work.
  Numerous authoritative studies have demonstrated that medical 
research laboratories are critically in need of reconstruction and 
repair. The National Science Foundation found that

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over half the institutions conducting biomedical research in this 
country suffer from inadequate space for medical research. The 
Foundation also reported that medical research institutions have had to 
postpone nearly $11 billion in renovation and construction projects due 
to lack of adequate funding. As a result, over a quarter of medical 
research facilities in the nation are in urgent need of renovation or 
reconstruction.
  The need to revitalize the infrastructure of our research enterprise 
is recognized throughout the medical community. The Association of 
American Medical Colleges and the Federation of Societies for 
Experimental Biology have both issued statements calling on the federal 
government to provide increased resources for reconstruction and 
renovation of medical research facilities.
  The bill before the Senate today significantly increases our 
commitment by authorizing a substantial increase in the funds available 
to the National Institute of Health to provide peer-reviewed grants for 
laboratory construction and renovation.
  Not only have medical research facilities fallen into disrepair, but 
laboratories frequently lack needed research equipment. Modern medical 
instruments are increasingly sophisticated. Scientists are gaining new 
insights into such basic processes as the workings of the brain and the 
genetic basis of disease. With this increase in sophistication has come 
an increase in cost. The rising price of medical technology means that 
scientists must often curtail research programs, because they lack 
access to sensitive instruments such as MRI scanners or high resolution 
microscopes.
  To address the acute need for sophisticated scientific instruments, 
the bill before us also provides needed funds for medical researchers 
to purchase major pieces of scientific equipment. Only by giving 
medical researchers the equipment they need to use their talents fully 
can we achieve the scientific breakthroughs necessary to meet our most 
pressing health needs.
  We should not enter the twenty-first century with medical 
laboratories that lack adequate space, adequate facilities and adequate 
equipment. We must provide the funding that is urgently needed to 
construct modern laboratories and give researchers the equipment 
necessary for their cutting-edge research. I urge my colleagues to join 
with me in supporting this legislation that is so vital to the health 
care needs of our nation and I commend my distinguished colleague from 
Iowa, Senator Harkin, for his leadership on this and many other 
critical health care issues.

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