[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 104 (Tuesday, September 7, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8847-S8848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RESOLVE, THE NATIONAL INFERTILITY ASSOCIATION

  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to commend 
RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association, on its three decades of 
accomplishment and for the many activities it has planned to observe 
National Infertility Awareness Week, which will be celebrated this year 
during the week of September 26 to October 2, 2004.
  For 30 years, RESOLVE has compassionately and effectively served the 
needs of the nearly seven million Americans comprising our Nation's 
infertile community, and has been a leading force in efforts to educate 
the broader public about this devastating condition. Infertility is 
recognized as a disease and medical condition that has devastating 
physical, social and psychological consequences.
  RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association, was incorporated by 
Barbara Eck Menning, in 1974, to aid and support individuals with 
infertility. RESOLVE is a nonprofit organization, governed by a 
volunteer board of directors, many of whom are individuals with first-
hand personal experience with the physical, emotional, and social 
challenges accompanying infertility. They are citizens who have 
overcome these challenges through assisted reproductive technologies 
and adoption or determined that their lives would be childless. 
Regardless of their resolution, RESOLVE helped them to reach it with 
information, education, and support. RESOLVE's leaders are also members 
of the professional community who address these issues including 
National Institutes of Health funded researchers, attorneys, 
physicians, nurses, and other representatives from the health care 
industry and related businesses. RESOLVE has a database of more than 
40,000 individuals and providers, and a network of more than 40 
chapters providing support services, information and grassroots 
advocacy in local communities nationwide.
  National Infertility Awareness Week focuses attention on the fact 
that infertility affects approximately 6.6 million people in the United 
States, a figure which represents 1 in 10 couples in which the woman is 
of reproductive age. These are only the reported cases. Millions go 
unreported because of the stigma attached to infertility and recent 
surveys suggest that nearly three-quarters of those who can be helped 
do not seek medical or other assistance because of, among other things, 
their fears and lack of awareness of the resources available to them 
and the limited insurance coverage to assist them. The National 
Institutes of Health, most particularly the National Institute for 
Child Health and Development, spends approximately $300 million a year 
on biomedical research focused on reproductive health, treatments, and 
cures of reproductive disorders. This important research will advance 
our understanding of infertility-associated diseases and the 
availability of more effective and affordable treatments that will be 
respected by insurers and employers as a routine benefit for all those 
insured.
  I am proud that my state of Hawaii and 14 other states have enacted 
laws that require insurance companies to provide some level of coverage 
for infertility treatment. Like the thousands of individuals working as 
part of the RESOLVE network, a dedicated community of Americans, I am 
committed to helping to ensure that those struggling with the multiple 
challenges of infertility have regular access to appropriate and 
affordable health care coverage to address their health care needs.
  I applaud the work of RESOLVE, The National Infertility Association, 
and commend the many ongoing efforts and special activities throughout 
the country aimed to educate and inform the public about the issue of 
infertility, during National Infertility Awareness Week, September 26 
to October 2, 2004.


                            ``FOUR TRIALS''

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as we approach the end of this Congress, we 
will reach a point when a number of us will make statements reflecting 
on those who will not be returning to the Senate next year. I will miss 
a number of Senators who have chosen not to seek reelection. Today, I 
want to focus on a Senator who is responding to the country's call by 
joining with another extraordinary American leader, John Kerry, in this 
year's national campaign. I speak, of course, of John Edwards, whose 
energy, optimism and good sense have been a great asset to the Senate 
over the last 6 years.

[[Page S8848]]

  I read that political partisans at corporate business and insurance 
organizations have established a ``November Fund'' of $10 million to 
seek to smear John Edwards. I hope that before the American people or 
the media fall prey to these attacks, they consider the facts. In that 
regard, I urge Americans to read ``Four Trials''. This extraordinary 
book is an autobiographical account of John Edwards's life and some of 
the cases in which he represented ordinary citizens who had suffered 
grievous wrongs. John is rightly proud of his hard work as the lawyer 
representing E.G. Sawyer, Jennifer Campbell, Josh Howard, Valerie Lakey 
and so many other middle class and working class families against 
powerful interests that both harmed them and then refused to 
acknowledge responsibility for causing that harm.
  I wish that those preparing to launch attacks against John Edwards 
and other trial lawyers would read ``Four Trials.'' It has recently 
been released in paperback, so now for only $13 they may save 
themselves millions in negative attack ads. No one who knows the story 
of John Edwards's legal career can have anything other than admiration 
for what he was able to achieve through hard work, persistence and 
belief in the American people who serve on our Nation's juries. That 
faith in ordinary Americans and commitment to justice is what he is now 
bringing to American voters across the Nation.
  My plea may be futile when addressed to the rabid partisans who, 
again this year, will apparently stop at nothing. Those who will foster 
and promote attacks on John Kerry's military service and on John 
Edwards's representation of injured, ordinary citizens in need of a 
voice have likewise savagely attacked John McCain during the Republican 
primaries 4 years ago and Max Cleland 2 years ago.
  They promote attacks to divide us. They lessen America by fostering 
squabbles for partisan gain. I was pleased to see John Kerry and John 
Edwards issue a call at the Democratic nominating convention in August 
for the Republican ticket and its supporters to abandon negative 
attacks. I am disappointed that Republican partisans have not risen to 
that challenge but continue to engage in what is rightfully termed a 
``smear and fear'' campaign. George Bush could have and should have 
called a halt to the scurrilous attacks upon John Kerry's heroic 
military service but seems more than willing to see Karl Rove's well-
known smear tactics dominate this fall's campaign.
  The upcoming wave of attacks against John Edwards will be one 
financed by those who oppose lowering drug prices for seniors, oppose a 
real patients' bill of rights and oppose accountability for misconduct 
that shatters the lives of ordinary Americans. Let them tell David and 
Sandy Lakey that John Edwards, and lawyers like him who fight for 
victims, should not be allowed to seek justice in America.
  I urge fair-minded Republicans and independents as well as Democrats 
to consider John Edwards's life and work and to read ``Four Trials.'' 
It will make you cry. It will remind you that good-hearted people like 
John and Elizabeth Edwards do the right thing and seek to help their 
neighbors. It will make you proud to live in a country where ordinary 
Americans can take on the powerful with the help of a committed legal 
advocate and achieve some measure of justice.
  I look forward to the days and weeks ahead when more and more of the 
country will have the opportunity to get to know John Edwards. I have 
every confidence that come the inauguration in January, John will 
return as President of the Senate as a part of his duties as Vice 
President of the United States. It has been a pleasure and a privilege 
to serve with him, and I look forward to working with him on behalf of 
the American people in the years to come.

                          ____________________