[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 23, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE INAUGURATION OF THE IKARIA  DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORSHIP 
                            OF CRITICAL CARE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 2010

  Ms. BALDWIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today concerning a matter of great 
interest to me, which is the need for greater progress and support for 
children and infants who require critical care.
  Each year, five million Americans are admitted to Intensive Care 
Units (ICUs), and it is estimated that as many as half a million of 
these are infants and children. Indeed, estimates show that nearly one-
half of infants and one-third of older children who die each year 
received ICU care.
  While medical technologies advance across the world, there 
unfortunately have been fewer true breakthroughs in critical care 
therapies in recent years, including those designed for children and 
infants. Babies and children are the most fragile of critically ill 
patients; their ability to thrive and survive should be among our 
highest priorities.
  It is for these reasons that I am pleased to observe that today, the 
Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, D.C. will hold 
an inauguration ceremony naming The Ikaria  Distinguished 
Professorship of Critical Care. This chair will be sustained by a 
donation of $2.5 million by Ikaria, a bio-therapeutics company which 
provides acute care products that address significant unmet needs of 
ICU and neonatal ICU patients. Ikaria, which has manufacturing 
facilities in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, is providing an 
unconditional gift to endow and establish a distinguished professorship 
for an outstanding physician-scientist who will provide leadership to 
advance the science of critical care medicine.
  Madam Speaker, I hope you will join me in recognizing the tremendous 
potential value of this vital research professorship, and to applaud 
Ikaria and Children's National Medical Center for their vision and 
commitment to the health of our Nation's children.

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