[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 7, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7199-S7200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 209--RECOGNIZING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL 
EYE INSTITUTE AND EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR DESIGNATION OF THE YEARS 2011 
                THROUGH 2020 AS THE ``DECADE OF VISION''

  Mr. ISAKSON (for himself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 209

       Whereas vision impairment and eye disease are major public 
     health problems, especially due to the aging of the 
     population;
       Whereas there is a disproportionate incidence of eye 
     disease in minority populations;
       Whereas vision loss as a result of diabetes and other 
     chronic diseases costs the people of the United States 
     $68,000,000,000 each year in health care expenses, lost 
     productivity, reduced independence, diminished quality of 
     life, increased depression, and accelerated mortality;
       Whereas approximately 38,000,000 people in the United 
     States over 40 years of age currently experience blindness, 
     low-vision, or an age-related eye disease, and this number is 
     expected to grow to 50,000,000 by 2020, as the tidal wave of 
     approximately 78,000,000 baby boomers who will begin to reach 
     65 years of age in 2010, many of whom will continue working 
     well beyond age 65, crashes;
       Whereas, in public opinion polls conducted during the past 
     40 years, people in the United States have consistently 
     identified fear of vision loss as second only to fear of 
     cancer, and, as recently as 2008, a study by the National Eye 
     Institute showed that 71 percent of respondents indicated 
     that a loss of eyesight would have the greatest impact on 
     their life;
       Whereas, with wisdom and foresight, Congress passed an Act 
     entitled ``An Act to amend the Public Health Service Act to 
     provide for the establishment of a National Eye Institute in 
     the National Institutes of Health'' (Public Law 90-489; 82 
     Stat. 771), which was signed into law by President Johnson on 
     August 16, 1968;
       Whereas the National Eye Institute (in this resolution 
     referred to as the ``NEI'') held the first meeting of the 
     National Advisory Eye Council on April 3, 1969;
       Whereas the NEI leads the Federal commitment to basic and 
     clinical research, research training, and other programs with 
     respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, 
     mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the 
     special health problems and needs of individuals who are 
     visually-impaired or blind;
       Whereas the NEI disseminates information aimed at the 
     prevention of blindness, specifically through public and 
     professional education facilitated by the National Eye Health 
     Education Program;
       Whereas the NEI maximizes Federal funding by devoting 85 
     percent of its budget to extramural research that addresses a 
     wide variety of eye and vision disorders, including ``back of 
     the eye'' retinal and optic nerve disease, such as age-
     related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic 
     retinopathy, and concomitant low vision, and ``front of the 
     eye'' disease, including corneal, lens, cataract, and 
     refractive errors;
       Whereas research by the NEI benefits children, including 
     premature infants born with retinopathy and school children 
     with amblyopia (commonly known as ``lazy eye'');
       Whereas the NEI benefits older people in the United States 
     by predicting, preventing, and preempting aging eye disease, 
     thereby enabling more productive lives and reducing Medicare 
     costs;
       Whereas the NEI has been a leader in basic research, 
     working with the Human Genome Project of the National 
     Institutes of Health to translate discoveries of genes 
     related to eye disease and vision impairment, which make up 
     \1/4\ of genes discovered to date, into diagnostic and 
     treatment modalities;
       Whereas the NEI has been a leader in clinical research, 
     funding more than 60 clinical trials (including a series of 
     Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Trials Networks, in association 
     with the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and 
     Kidney Disorders) which have developed treatment strategies 
     that have been determined by the NEI to be 90 percent 
     effective and to save an estimated $1,600,000,000 each year 
     in blindness and vision impairment disability costs;
       Whereas the NEI has been a leader in prevention research, 
     having reported from the first phase of its Age-Related Eye 
     Disease Study that high levels of dietary zinc and anti-
     oxidant vitamins reduced vision loss in individuals at high 
     risk for developing advanced age-related macular degeneration 
     by 25 percent, and, in the second phase of Age-Related Eye 
     Disease Study, studying the impact of other nutritional 
     supplements;
       Whereas the NEI has been a leader in epidemiologic 
     research, identifying the basis and progression of eye 
     disease and the disproportionate incidence of eye disease in 
     minority populations, so that informed public health policy 
     decisions can be made regarding prevention, early diagnosis, 
     and treatment;
       Whereas the NEI has been a leader in collaborative research 
     across the National Institutes of Health, working with the 
     National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and 
     Blood Institute to identify factors that promote or inhibit 
     new blood vessel growth, which has resulted in the first 
     generation of ophthalmic drugs approved by the Food and Drug 
     Administration to inhibit abnormal blood vessel growth in the 
     form of age-related macular degeneration commonly known as 
     the ``wet'' form of age-related macular degeneration, thereby 
     stabilizing, and often restoring, vision;
       Whereas the NEI has been a leader in collaborative research 
     with other Federal entities, and its bioengineering research 
     partnership with the National Science Foundation and the 
     Department of Energy has resulted in a retinal chip implant, 
     referred to as the ``Bionic Eye'', that has enabled 
     individuals who have been blind for decades to perceive 
     visual images;
       Whereas the NEI has been a leader in collaborative research 
     with private funding entities, and its human gene therapy 
     trial with the Foundation Fighting Blindness for individuals 
     with Leber Congenital Amaurosis, a rapid retinal degeneration 
     that blinds infants in their first year of life, has 
     demonstrated measurable vision improvement even within the 
     initial safety trials;
       Whereas, from 2011 through 2020, the people of the United 
     States will face unprecedented public health challenges 
     associated with aging, health disparities, and chronic 
     disease; and
       Whereas Federal support by the NEI and related agencies 
     within the Department of Health and Human Services is 
     essential for prevention, early detection, access to 
     treatment and rehabilitation, and research associated with 
     vision impairment and eye disease: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the 40th anniversary of the NEI, commends 
     the NEI for its leadership, and supports the mission of the 
     NEI to prevent blindness and to save and restore vision;
       (2) supports the designation of the years 2011 through 2020 
     as the ``Decade of Vision'', to--
       (A) maintain a sustained awareness of the unprecedented 
     public health challenges associated with vision impairment 
     and eye disease; and
       (B) emphasize the need for Federal support for prevention, 
     early detection, access to treatment and rehabilitation, and 
     research; and
       (3) commends the National Alliance for Eye and Vision 
     Research, also known as the ``Friends of the National Eye 
     Institute'', for

[[Page S7200]]

     its efforts to expand awareness of the incidence and economic 
     burden of eye disease through its Decade of Vision 2011-2020 
     Initiative.

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