[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 24 (Thursday, February 14, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                 INVEST IN AMERICA AND GROW OUR ECONOMY

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COHEN. I join in concern about our budget. Advancements to health 
would be cut in a major way. When I was a child, I had polio, and it 
has effects on people who have polio in later years. But because of the 
Federal Government's investment in research like the Salk vaccine and 
the Sabin vaccine, it has saved many families and children from that 
devastating disease. And around the world it's been successful, too. 
There are other diseases like heart disease, Alzheimer's, and cancer 
that the National Institutes of Health is primarily responsible for the 
research.
  I'm worried about health and also jobs, and a major driver of jobs is 
research and development, education, and infrastructure spending by the 
Federal Government. Most of our great advances, whether it's railroads 
or the Internet or health care, have come through Federal Government 
partnerships with the private sector. We need to continue those to 
create a middle class--consumers that can grow our economy out of these 
problems. It's not just President Obama who says it. It's also who I 
call the three wise men: Krugman, Stiglitz, and Robert Reich.
  Austerity hasn't worked. We need to invest in America and grow our 
economy.

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