[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 159 (Monday, December 6, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8557-S8558]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NIH OFFICE OF RESEARCH ON 
                             WOMEN'S HEALTH

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 695, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 695) recognizing the 20th anniversary 
     of the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on 
     Women's Health and the continuing leadership and achievements 
     of the Office on Women's Health in conducting and supporting 
     biomedical research to improve women's health.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate one of the 
greatest recent achievements in women's health--the 20th anniversary of 
the founding of the Office of Research on Women's Health at the 
National Institutes of Health. I could not be prouder of all that the 
Office of Research on Women's Health has done for women's health, and I 
am honored to be a part of its history.
  As an advocate of women's health, a supporter of scientific research, 
and a woman myself, this is an emotional day for me. Twenty years ago, 
women did not have much to celebrate when it came to scientific 
advances. In fact, we were not even at the table. Remember that famous 
study that said, ``an aspirin a day keeps the doctor away''? That study 
included 10,000 men but not a single woman. The same went for the 
famous study on heart disease factors: 13,000 men were surveyed but not 
a single woman.
  We had a big problem. Women were being systematically excluded from 
NIH clinical research. It was not sound science, and it was not 
acceptable. Our worst concerns were confirmed by a 1990 GAO report, 
which proved that women were not being included in clinical trials.
  I had to do something about it. I remember it well: I called up my 
women colleagues, and they agreed. We piled into the car on a hot 
August day, and we drove to NIH in Bethesda, MD. Our aim was to 
assemble all 12 institutes, communicate our concerns, and see what 
goals they could come up with to resolve this unfair exclusion. We 
showed up: Connie Morella, Olympia Snowe, Pat Schroeder, and I--and so 
did the TV cameras and Time Magazine. We made it clear that the time 
had come to include women in scientific research, remember their place 
in the Federal budget, and treat them with respect.
  We got Dr. Bernadine Healy appointed as the first female director of 
NIH, and that was a notable accomplishment. But we needed more. We 
needed an Office of Women's Health at the NIH to be on the law books. 
So Senators Kennedy, Harkin, Kassebaum, and I worked together to create 
and fund it in statute. The first thing that Dr. Healy did with that 
funding was to put it toward the Women's Health Initiative, a now-
famous hormonal study that has helped decrease breast cancer deaths by 
15 percent, saving millions of lives.
  Dr. Healy then appointed Dr. Vivian Pinn to serve as the first 
director of the Office of Research on Women's Health, ORWH. These women 
empowered researchers to look at disease in a gender-specific way, such 
as heart disease and depression. They also made great strides in breast 
cancer and cervical cancer research, as well as AIDS research and 
mapping the human genome. None of this would have been possible just a 
few years earlier. And it would not have been possible without my dear 
friend, Dr. Ruth Kirschstein. She led the fight for women's health on 
the inside of the scientific community, and I was proud to help her 
from the outside.
  Today, we are keeping up the fight. There are now 17 women in the 
Senate, and women's health is one issue that always brings us together. 
During the health reform debate, we would not stand for insurers 
treating gender as a preexisting condition or for restricted access to 
mammograms and other preventive care. That is why I introduced the 
women's health amendment--the first amendment to pass during the Senate 
health reform debate--that provides preventive care for women with no 
co-pays and no deductibles and ends gender discrimination in health 
care. I was proud when my amendment passed the Senate 61-39. We also 
included the Women's Health Office Act in health reform, so that now 
all women's health offices throughout the Department of Health and 
Human Services are set in law. That means we have offices of women's 
health standing sentry for drug approvals, mental health and substance 
abuse issues, quality measures, and public health initiatives that will 
help women.
  But our work goes on. To quote my dear friend Teddy Kennedy, ``The 
work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams 
shall never die.'' I thank the people who made the Office of Research 
on Women's Health a reality. I thank the office itself for all of its 
hard work, and I look forward to another 20 years of ground-breaking 
discoveries.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I note that the main mover of this matter is 
Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. She worked very hard to recognize 
this important office, and she did it for a number of reasons, some of 
which I worked with her on.
  There was a massive study done on the effect of aspirin on people 
taking it as a way to alleviate heart problems. I don't remember the 
exact number, but a huge number of people were tested--like 10,000. But 
there was not a single woman. It was all done with men. That kind of 
raised the ire of Senator Mikulski.
  We found, in doing this, that there were many situations where the 
diseases we focused on were diseases related to men. An example is 
interstitial cystitis--a disease I got involved in early on, about the 
same time we did this. Interstitial cystitis is a disease where 90 
percent of the people who have it are women. It can best be described 
as the pain is like shoving slivers of glass up and down someone's 
bladder. The pain is excruciating and awful. It was a disease that 
people said was psychosomatic because it was only women who had the 
problem, so they overlooked it. If it had been men--and we were an all-
male legislature at the time--I am sure it would have gotten more 
attention. I added my assistance to Senator Mikulski, and we were able 
to establish a protocol. Now people understand this, and it has made a 
lot of progress. This is one example of why the work of Senator Barbara 
Mikulski has been so important.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed 
to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements 
related to this resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page S8558]]

  The resolution (S. Res. 695) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 695

       Whereas the National Institutes of Health (referred to in 
     this preamble as the ``NIH'') Office of Research on Women's 
     Health (referred to in this preamble as the ``ORWH'') is a 
     leader in the national commitment to research, research 
     training, and science-based education programs on women's 
     health and sex differences research;
       Whereas the ORWH was originally established in 1990 in 
     response to congressional, scientific, and advocacy concerns 
     regarding the lack of systemic and consistent inclusion of 
     women in NIH-funded clinical research and the lack of 
     scientific data and information regarding women's health;
       Whereas the ORWH has made significant progress in 
     developing and implementing policies to ensure the inclusion 
     of women in NIH clinical research and, in this manner, has 
     encouraged the increased reporting in scientific literature 
     of sex- and gender-related factors in health and clinical 
     trial analysis;
       Whereas the ORWH initiated the ``Building Interdisciplinary 
     Research Careers in Women's Health'' program in 1999 and has 
     supported the career development and advancement of 
     approximately 400 early-stage research scientists to become 
     independent researchers and obtain academic promotions at 
     major research institutions throughout the United States;
       Whereas the ORWH initiated the ``Specialized Centers of 
     Research on Sex and Gender Factors Affecting Women's Health'' 
     program in 2002 to support interdisciplinary and sex 
     differences research, including basic, translational, and 
     clinical investigations, by accomplished scientists;
       Whereas in 2009, the scientists participating in the 
     ``Specialized Centers of Research on Sex and Gender Factors 
     Affecting Women's Health'' program published 116 journal 
     articles, 176 abstracts, and 63 other publications;
       Whereas the ORWH collaborates with NIH Institutes and 
     Centers to support basic, clinical, population, and 
     translational research in laboratory, clinical, and community 
     settings throughout the United States;
       Whereas the ORWH pursues research efforts to benefit all 
     individuals burdened by diseases and disorders that are 
     within the scope of the mission of the ORWH, including men, 
     women, older and younger adults, children, minority 
     populations who are disproportionately affected by certain 
     diseases, people from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds, 
     and other understudied or underrepresented populations;
       Whereas ORWH-supported research has dramatically increased 
     vital understanding of sex differences research, from single 
     cells to multiple biological systems and mechanisms, and has 
     prompted sex differences research in the fields of 
     endocrinology, immunology, epigenetics, systems biology, and 
     neuroscience, as well as in new technology-enabled fields 
     such as genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics;
       Whereas research conducted and supported by the ORWH has 
     been instrumental in revolutionizing policies, research, and 
     programs focusing on the health, prevention, diagnostic, and 
     treatment strategies for girls, women, and their families, 
     leading to remarkable improvements in health and quality of 
     life;
       Whereas the ORWH sponsors education and outreach programs, 
     with materials tailored for diverse audiences, to improve 
     women's health by disseminating science-based information to 
     women and their families, those at risk for disease, health 
     care educators, and the general public;
       Whereas the ORWH has initiated or participated in 
     collaborative and coordinated research efforts and science-
     based public education programs in order to maximize the 
     Federal investment in research and synergize expertise across 
     the NIH, with other Federal agencies, and with public and 
     private organizations;
       Whereas the ORWH has a farsighted research agenda for the 
     next decade entitled ``Moving Into the Future With New 
     Dimensions and Strategies: A Vision for 2020 for Women's 
     Health Research'' that is based on the culmination of a 2-
     year strategic planning process, involving more than 1,500 
     leading scientists, advocates for women's health, public 
     policy experts, health care providers, Federal, State, and 
     local elected officials, and the general public in 5 regional 
     scientific meetings;
       Whereas the ORWH research agenda is visionary and addresses 
     the 6 major goals of--
       (1) increasing the study of sex differences in basic 
     research studies;
       (2) incorporating findings of sex differences in the design 
     and application of new technologies, medical devices, and 
     therapeutic drugs;
       (3) actualizing personalized prevention, diagnostics, and 
     therapeutics for girls and women;
       (4) creating strategic alliances and partnerships in order 
     to maximize the national and international impact of research 
     on women's health;
       (5) developing and implementing new communication and 
     social networking technologies to increase understanding and 
     appreciation of research on women's health; and
       (6) employing innovative strategies to build a well-
     trained, diverse, and vibrant women's health research 
     workforce; and

       Whereas ORWH-supported initiatives and programs continue to 
     make strides in addressing the expanded concepts of women's 
     health across the entire lifespan of a woman, while 
     continuing to explore understudied areas of reproductive 
     health and the menopausal transition, developing distinct 
     research career paths for investigators in women's health, 
     sex differences, and interdisciplinary research, increasing 
     the number of investigator-initiated women's health research 
     studies in areas such as cardiovascular disease and stroke, 
     musculoskeletal and immune disorders, and mental health and 
     substance abuse, and increasing the scientific knowledge on 
     the health, diseases, disorders, and conditions that affect 
     diverse populations of women: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the 20th anniversary of the National 
     Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women's Health 
     (referred to in this resolution as the ``ORWH'');
       (2) commends the ORWH for its leadership in women's health 
     research, research training, and science-based education 
     programs;
       (3) recognizes ORWH-supported scientists whose studies have 
     improved women's health and whose research continues to yield 
     promising discoveries;
       (4) recognizes the volunteers who participate in clinical 
     studies and the patient and professional health organizations 
     that contribute to the shared research goals of preventing, 
     treating, and curing the diseases and disorders within the 
     scope of the mission of the ORWH; and
       (5) reaffirms the support of the Senate for the ORWH and 
     the continued commitment of the ORWH to carrying out research 
     to improve women's health.

                          ____________________