[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 98 (Friday, June 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      RECOGNIZING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR 
                       BIOTECHNOLOGY INFORMATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DAVID R. OBEY

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 26, 2009

  Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today, as a member of the House of 
Representatives who has been intimately involved with the area of 
biomedical research and health care, to draw the attention of the 
Congress and the nation to the 20th anniversary of the National Center 
for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a national resource for molecular 
biology information located at the National Library of Medicine, 
National Institutes of Health (NIH).
  I am reminded at this time of our late distinguished colleague Claude 
Pepper who, in 1987, introduced H.R. 393, a bill to establish a 
National Center for Biotechnology Information. As he eloquently 
described it, the Center would deal ``with nothing less than the 
mystery of human life and the unfolding scroll of knowledge, seeking to 
penetrate that mystery, which is life itself.'' A quick study, Claude 
early on concluded there was a growing need to fit together the pieces 
of the genetic puzzle so as to benefit humankind. Although the term 
biotechnology was relatively new at that time, there was clear evidence 
that the whole biotechnology information infrastructure was overloaded 
and there was an urgent need for developing a central repository for 
storing and sharing the data resulting from the explosive growth of 
research in molecular biology. The information-handling organization 
envisioned in the bill, the National Center for Biotechnology 
Information, became a reality with the signing by President Reagan of 
the Health Omnibus Extension Act (P.L. 100-607) on November 4, 1988.
  I remember well those early years when a group of Nobel Laureates 
appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and 
laid out a vision that revolutionized our understanding of biology and 
genomics. Chairman Bill Natcher and those of us on the subcommittee 
enthusiastically supported the Genome Project. Its magnitude was 
nothing short of President Kennedy's vision of landing a man on the 
moon for it launched a grand national challenge of utmost importance to 
human health. NIH Director James Wyngaarden testified that year that we 
had sequencing data on less than one-tenth of one percent of the human 
genome. He said then that while the pace of biology research was 
rapidly accelerating, the ability to analyze and share information was 
severely constrained and that if we were going to understand the 
disease process we would need new and better information approaches. 
Clearly, the organization defined in Claude's bill fit that need and so 
the Appropriations Committee readily provided the necessary funding for 
NCBI.
  Today molecular biology and genomics are the primary drivers of 
medical progress. And, under the innovative leadership of Dr. David 
Lipman, NCBI's first and current director, NCBI's molecular biology 
information resources are empowering hundreds of thousands of 
researchers around the world to identify disease-related genes and 
develop strategies for treating and preventing disease. It's amazing 
that each and every week researchers are downloading data from NCBI 
that is equivalent in size--I am told--to the entire contents of the 
Library of Congress.
  The U.S. Congress has encouraged and generously supported the more 
than 40 database resources developed by the NCBI. The recent 
legislative requirement that the results of NIH-funded research be made 
available through NCBI's PubMed Central database will, we believe, 
accelerate scientific progress and the discovery of new treatments.
  Over the past 20 years, the management of biological information has 
progressed rapidly and has become an integral part of the scientific 
process. It is now virtually impossible to think of an experimental 
strategy in biomedicine that does not rely heavily on the kind of 
resources and tools developed by the NCBI for analyzing molecular and 
genomic data.
  In summary, Madam Speaker, under Dr. Lipman's careful planning and 
creative stewardship the NCBI has responded successfully to the 
challenge of the mandate of the 1988 legislation by effectively 
developing a major national resource for molecular biology information 
that is greatly benefiting medical researchers, practitioners, 
educators, and the general public.
  I believe that the era of ``personalized medicine''--including highly 
targeted individualized treatments-- will soon be upon us, and NCBI 
clearly will be a driving force in making that a reality. So I want to 
offer my congratulations to NCBI's visionary leader, Dr. David Lipman, 
to NLM's excellent director, Dr. Donald A. B. Lindberg, and to the 
bright and dedicated staff of the NCBI for 20 years of outstanding 
public service to the nation and to the world.

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