[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 141 (Tuesday, November 18, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H8043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 INCREASE FUNDING FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support increased funding 
for medical research. In the last decade, funding to the National 
Institutes of Health has been cut by nearly 25 percent, and America's 
health, position as global leader, and economy are paying the price.
  In 2013, NIH funded 640 fewer competitive research projects than the 
year before. Fewer opportunities sent a signal to young people to avoid 
careers in medical research. Meanwhile, as America is falling behind, 
Japan, Germany, China, and India are dramatically boosting medical 
research funding.
  Underinvestment in medical research is financially shortsighted. 
Every dollar of NIH funding generates $2.21 in local economic activity.
  We should be investing in ways to alleviate the burden of chronic 
diseases, such as Alzheimer's, which costs the Nation $200 billion a 
year, and cancer, which costs the Nation another $216 billion.
  We cannot afford to wait. I encourage my colleagues to join 
Congresswoman DeLauro and me in supporting H.R. 5580, the Accelerating 
Biomedical Research Act. The time to reverse these cuts is now.

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