[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 151 (Thursday, November 18, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1968-E1969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 2010

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, today, I had the honor to 
speak at a briefing on Alzheimer's disease and the important work of 
the National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health, 
in providing leadership on research and treatments for patients with 
Alzheimer's. In addition to the NIA, the Alzheimer's Foundation of 
America, Alliance for Aging Research, Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer's 
Disease, USAgainst Alzheimer's, and the National Collaborative on Aging 
participated in the briefing.
  November is National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, and the 
briefing today provided an important contribution to increasing 
awareness in Congress. I fondly recall that President Ronald Reagan 
designated the first National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness week in 
1982, 12 years before he announced that he had been diagnosed with the 
disease.
  Alzheimer's disease is now the seventh leading cause of death in the 
United States. Estimates vary, but it is believed that over 5 million 
individuals have Alzheimer's and someone new develops the disease every 
70 seconds. One in eight persons over 65 and nearly half of those over 
85 has Alzheimer's. In my own state of New Jersey, 150,000 residents 
are suffering from Alzheimer's.
  With the aging of the 78 million American baby-boomers, by 2050, 16 
million will have the disease if advances are not made to prevent it.
  In 2009, 11 million family caregivers provided the equivalent of $144 
billion in care. And Alzheimer's costs to Medicare and Medicaid last 
year were $123 billion.

[[Page E1969]]

  When I was first elected to Congress in 1980, diagnosis of 
Alzheimer's was about three million cases, and the National Institutes 
of Health (NIH) invested only $13 million in Alzheimer's research. This 
year, NIH will invest $469 million in baseline funding for Alzheimer's 
research. While we have made progress in federal support, we know that 
much more needs to be done to conquer this terrible disease.
  In 1999, I joined Congressman Markey in founding the Congressional 
Task Force on Alzheimer's to help increase congressional awareness and 
legislative efforts relative to Alzheimer's. The Task Force which now 
includes 158 Members of the House of Representatives, hosts briefings 
and forums for Members of Congress and their staffs and works closely 
with the Alzheimer's Foundation of America and the Alzheimer's 
Association, which has a New Jersey affiliate.
  We are working here in the House and with our colleagues in the 
Senate to pass this year The National Alzheimer's Project Act ( or 
NAPA), legislation designed to better coordinate research and clinical 
programs dealing with Alzheimer's disease all across the federal 
bureaucratic spectrum. NAPA currently has 109 cosponsors.
  As I mentioned earlier, by 2050, nearly 16 million Americans will 
have Alzheimer's, yet there is no national plan to deal with this 
looming crisis. The National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA), which has 
been modified since its introduction in February of this year, 
establishes in the Office of the Secretary of HHS a National 
Alzheimer's Project. It also will establish an inter-agency advisory 
council to advise the Secretary of HHS and address the government's 
efforts on Alzheimer's research, care, institutional services, and 
home- and community-based programs.
  The Alzheimer's Project will create and maintain an integrated 
national plan to overcome Alzheimer's; accelerate the development of 
treatments that would prevent, halt, or reverse the course of 
Alzheimer's; help to coordinate the health care and treatment of 
citizens with Alzheimer's; ensure that ethnic and racial populations--
who are at higher risk for Alzheimer's and least likely to receive 
care--are included in clinical, research, and service efforts; 
coordinate with international bodies to integrate and inform the fight 
against Alzheimer's globally; and provide information and coordination 
of Alzheimer's research and services across all Federal agencies.
  I would like to commend the Alzheimer's Foundation and the 
Alzheimer's Association for their work and support to advance this 
legislation. As you know, such strong advocacy often makes the 
difference in pushing legislation over the finish line. While I am 
extremely disappointed that the Senate HELP Committee cancelled their 
mark-up yesterday that was to include NAPA, we will work with them to 
try to ensure that it is marked-up and passed this year.
  In addition to introducing and fighting to pass NAPA, Rep. Markey and 
I have introduced two other major bills focusing on Alzheimer's:
  On July 29, 2010, we introduced the HOPE for Alzheimer's: Health 
Outcomes, Planning and Education Act (H.R. 5926). The bill would 
provide for Medicare coverage of comprehensive Alzheimer's disease and 
other dementia diagnoses and services in order to improve care and 
outcomes for Americans living with the disease. The HOPE Act aims to 
increase detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other 
dementias and provide access, information and support for newly 
diagnosed patients and their families.
  The Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act (H.R. 3286 which was introduced in 
July 2009 and has 136 cosponsors, authorizes the necessary resources to 
restore momentum in the pursuit of better diagnosis, prevention and 
treatment. Advances and progress in the various areas of Alzheimer 
research have the potential to save millions of lives and save hundreds 
of billions of dollars.
  Also, earlier this year we sent a letter, along with House and Senate 
colleagues, to Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary 
Sebelius to have Alzheimer's and other dementias included in the 
Healthy People 2020 initiative. The Healthy People initiative provides 
10-year national objectives for promoting health and preventing 
disease.
  I am gratified to work alongside Congressman Markey and the other 
members of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's 
Disease to address this oncoming public health tsunami--and hopefully 
to see prevention and a cure before it totally overwhelms our nation's 
health care resources.

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