[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 160 (Wednesday, December 12, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7790-S7792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO DR. SANDY GREENBERG
Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I rise today to join with my colleague,
Senator Paul, to discuss the life and work of an exceptional American,
Dr. Sandy Greenberg, who is here with us today, along with his wife Sue
and his sister Brenda.
Sandy, in my view, is an honorary Delawarean because he spends a
month every year at one of our most beautiful beaches, Rehoboth Beach.
But he is much more than that. A successful businessman and
philanthropist, Sandy has a wide variety of interests and life
experiences. He has founded and run software and technology companies,
he is a pioneer in the use of technology in medicine, and helped bring
telemedicine to rural health care facilities as chairman of the Rural
Health Care Corporation.
He was appointed by President Clinton to the Board of the National
Science Foundation. As a young man he took a break from his studies at
Columbia, where he roomed with Art Garfunkel--a well-known musician--to
work as a fellow in Lyndon Johnson's office.
All of this on its own merits would make for a life well-lived and a
substantive, meaningful contribution to our country. But there is one
thing I have not yet mentioned. At the young age of 19, Sandy went
blind. He lost his sight, and with that all likely hope of the
successful completion of his college career or a successful career in
life. He was told by the social workers who met with him after glaucoma
stole his sight from him that his future would likely consist of
assembling screwdriver kits in a sheltered workshop in his hometown in
upstate New York.
But because of the kindness and the intervention of his roommates--
Art Garfunkel and Jerry Spire--and others who volunteered--Marc
Mukasey--who dedicated countless hours reading to him, he was able to
finish his class work, to be successful in completing his studies at
Columbia, and then to go on to Harvard Law School and to Oxford, and
then to go further and further.
He has lived his entire adult life and achieved a career most of us
can only dream of while also plunged in darkness. His exceptional
courage and his perseverance don't end there. Today he wants to serve
others and catalyze a transformative shift in the health of our Nation
by ending blindness by the end of this decade.
Is this outrageous? Is this audacious? Maybe. But that is what
experts said when President Kennedy stood before this Congress--in the
same year, 1961, that Sandy lost his sight--and challenged our Nation
to put a man on the Moon by the end of that decade. The best and
brightest minds, the top scientists and researchers of Kennedy's
generation rose to that challenge and achieved his impossible dream.
Now, for this generation, Sandy and his wife Sue have once again raised
our sights and challenged the best scientific and medical researchers
in the world to rise to an enormous challenge--a challenge that has
been with us from the beginning of mankind.
In the Bible itself we hear of blindness, of people who could not see
with their eyes but only their hearts. For millennia, humanity has
struggled to understand and overcome blindness. Yet today we have the
scientific tools necessary to reach for a cure--to restore the physical
sight so many of us take for granted to those who otherwise live in
darkness; to bring to life the 39 million people in this world who live
without sight, many in the world's poorest countries, at a time when
experts already believe 80 percent of blindness can be prevented or
cured.
We know we can do it. Just think of what an awe-inspiring
accomplishment this would be, what a triumph of the human mind, of
individual initiative, of collaborative efforts of the scientific
method, of modern technology, and of our investment in the belief that
America can and should be a world leader in curing the diseases that
have ailed humanity for generations.
Mr. President, a majority of all research scientists in human history
are alive today. That remarkable fact alone carries with it great
potential. That is why Sandy and his wife Sue created the Prize to End
Blindness by 2020, to take advantage of this incredible historic
opportunity to bring together scientists and researchers and end
blindness by the end of this decade. To inspire them, the Greenbergs
have provided a prize of more than $2 million in gold. Why gold? Well,
it is a reminder of the color of the beautiful shimmering sunsets Sandy
and Susan enjoyed together in the waning days of Sandy's sightedness,
and it is a reminder of the beauty of the challenge of a prize to
restore sight to millions who live in blindness.
Mr. President, I am no expert on the health or science of the eye,
but we are blessed to have in this Senate two Members who are. We had
some supportive comments that will be given by Senator Boozman of
Arkansas, but I am particularly glad and honored to be joined today by
Senator Paul, by Dr. Paul, who is not only a tireless advocate for the
people of Kentucky, but who, by professional training and background,
is an ophthalmologist.
I yield the floor at this time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
Mr. PAUL. I thank Senator Coons for inviting me, both figuratively
and literally, across the aisle to join him on this side--I am glad to
be here today--and for introducing me to this prize that Sandy
Greenberg has brought forward to end blindness.
I am an eye surgeon. I have also done research on glaucoma and have
been a longtime member of Lions Club International, whose primary
research and goal is the prevention of blindness.
One of the heroes to the Lions' eye movement and to our work
worldwide on blindness has been Helen Keller who, at the age of 19
months, lost not only her vision but her hearing. In 1925, she came to
the Lions Club International with this mandate--and this is part of her
speech from that day:
You have heard how through a little word dropped from the
fingers of another, a ray of light from another soul touched
the darkness of my mind and I found myself, found the world,
found God. It is because my teacher learned about me and
broke through the dark, silent imprisonment which held me
that I am able to work for myself and for others. It is the
caring we want more than the money. The gift without the
sympathy and interest of the giver is empty. If you care, if
we can make the people of this great country care, the blind
will indeed triumph over blindness.
The opportunity I bring to you, Lions, is this: To foster
and sponsor the work of the American Foundation for the
Blind. Will you not help me hasten the day when there shall
be no preventable blindness; no little deaf, blind child
untaught; no blind man or woman unaided?
There is a long history, both in our country and in other countries
around the world, of private philanthropy and these prizes. Going back
to the early 18th century, there was a prize for longitude. The
Harrisons, father and son, worked for nearly 40 years to develop a
clock to precisely measure where they were on the Earth, to measure
longitude.
[[Page S7791]]
We currently have something called the X Prize, which gave money last
year to a company that developed a technology to speed up the cleanup
of oil in the ocean after BP's disaster.
Siemens Foundation gives a $100,000 prize. That was given last year
to a 17-year-old girl from California who developed a nanoparticle
that, with a chemotherapy agent, goes directly to treat tumors. A prize
from Siemens was also given to 15-year-old Benjamin Clark, who won the
prize for his work in how stars are born.
I love the idea, and I think it is underappreciated, of private
philanthropy. Today, I am happy to be here with you to congratulate
Sandy Greenberg for putting forward this prize, and I hope it will
bring some results.
I think there is within our grasp the ability to treat and,
hopefully, prevent blindness.
Mr. COONS. I thank Senator Paul. I ask unanimous consent to enter
into a colloquy with my colleague from Kentucky.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. COONS. Mr. President, it certainly hasn't escaped the expert
knowledge of my colleagues here today that 2020--the date of the prize
of Sue and Sandy whom we have spoken about--is also the numerical
indication of perfect vision. So the goal to end blindness by 2020--
which is what the Sandy and Sue Greenberg prize is calling us toward--
is also a year on the calendar, a year just over 7 years away. In those
7 years, Sandy Greenberg has the courage, the audacity, the strength to
believe we can end blindness, working together, by 2020. It is a goal
that could transform our society, our world, and the lives of millions
who live in darkness today. We can do it.
At earlier times in our history, as Senator Paul has just reflected,
we have come together in response to audacious goals or inspiring
prizes to conquer other debilitating diseases. One that Sandy Greenberg
shared with me when we sat together and first talked about this was
polio, a crippling disease that struck terror into the hearts of
parents every summer.
Dr. Jonas Salk convinced medical researchers at charities such as the
March of Dimes to instead turn their focus from treatment, with devices
such as the iron lung, to ending the disease itself. Because of that
kind of forward thinking, polio has now been largely eradicated and
does not threaten children in the United States, although it remains in
a few isolated outposts around the world.
We can see even more cutting-edge examples today in my home State of
Delaware. Just earlier this week, I met with scientific researchers Dr.
Kmiec from Delaware State University and the leaders of a company
called Orthogenics, who are taking on the audacious goal of ending
sickle cell anemia. That particular effort--banishing this disease from
bodies around the world through research and development--is something
supported by public-private partnership.
In the end, private contributions, extraordinary generosity by Sandy
and Sue Greenberg and his family, are critically important.
I happen to believe there is also a vital role for a partnership with
the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, and
others that have the unique ability to bring researchers together,
hopefully for efficient and effective advances in medicine.
To continue the citations of the great disability rights advocate
Helen Keller: ``Alone, we can do little; together, we can do so much.''
Even in this era of austerity, these times of budget crunching and
belt-tightening, in my view there are few areas more important for our
sustained investment than the development of treatments and cures for a
devastating, life-changing health condition such as blindness.
In my view, there is also a pressing economic element to this
humanitarian equation. Economists have said that most of the new wealth
created in this country in the last century came from biomedical
research and its application to fighting and changing the human
condition. They have told us that curing and treating ancient diseases
and conditions is a lot of what has driven the extraordinary economic
growth of this country in the last century.
We know that when we as a nation invest in making possible cutting-
edge advances, interconnected networks of learning make possible the
next gigantic leap. I am so grateful to Sue and Sandy for making
possible this challenge, for putting out this pot of gold to literally
lift the sights of teams all over the world, of individuals, of
communities of effort. It is an effort that could literally bring sight
to the blind.
Senator Paul, any closing thoughts?
Mr. PAUL. I think what is great about the prize is it didn't set a
short and limited goal. It goes for the whole thing: They want to
prevent and cure blindness.
I think we need more big thinking. We need to talk about let's cure
diabetes, let's cure AIDS. Sometimes it takes an incremental approach.
But sometimes it takes a big, grand or bold vision.
The Senator mentioned Dr. Salk. In the early days, with the polio
vaccine, some actually died from the vaccine. He had to move forward
despite some obstacles and despite some setbacks.
Originally, the whole idea of vaccination came from Dr. Boylston in
Boston, preceding the time of our Revolutionary War. There, it was a
live vaccine taken from the actual pustules of someone who had
smallpox, lanced it, stuck it into the pustules, and then cut into a
person who did not have smallpox and gave them the disease. He tried to
give them a mild variant of this. For this, Dr. Boylston was hounded
through the streets and mobs came to the house. The persons he chose to
vaccinate first were his kids. That took a very bold step forward to
vaccinate his kids. His kids survived, and the rest is history.
George Washington had his family inoculated. Back at the time of the
Revolutionary War, more people died from communicable diseases than
died from actual bullets. This was true in most wars up until this
century.
I think it takes bold vision, and I think Sandy Greenberg will help
to move this along with this prize. I love the idea of incentives. We
are a country built on incentives. I don't think any scientist is going
to jump forward and say, I am doing it only for the prize. But prizes
don't hurt, and we should acknowledge that these scientists who can
come forward and may come forward with a great cure should be rewarded.
I would like to thank Sandy Greenberg and his family for setting up
this prize. I hope that out of this some great good will come for those
who have gone blind and for prevention.
Mr. COONS. I thank, Senator Paul. I, like the Senator, am confident
that some great good will come out of this bold vision, out of this
clear initiative.
As we look forward at the health care debates that have raged
throughout this Chamber and this country in the last few years, I will
simply say in closing, as we look to the future of the United States,
there is a path forward that says the right way to deal with
skyrocketing health care costs and the fiscal challenges they provide
is to simply crunch down, to limit, to narrow, to cut off access, and
to manage downward.
A competing and I think a more compelling and I think, frankly, a
more American view is we should take bold risks. We should innovate. We
should dare to speak of curing diseases that are immensely harmful and
expenses that are challenges and burdens for our whole country and the
world.
This prize--this challenge from Sue and Sandy Greenberg--is something
I think should lift the sights of all of us in this country to the very
real possibilities of working together to find exceptional cures.
I thank the Presiding Officer for letting us speak about this
extraordinary American, his wife and his family and his quest to end
blindness by the end of this decade.
I urge anyone interested in this topic and interested in working with
us further to visit the Web site endblindnessby2020.com. I thank Sandy
and Sue Greenberg for their courage, their perseverance, and their
commitment to bringing light to millions of their fellow men and women
around the globe.
I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
[[Page S7792]]
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
____________________