[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6676-S6677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF SUCCESS FROM THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH ON WOMEN'S
HEALTH AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions be discharged from
further consideration of S. Res. 242 and the Senate proceed to its
immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 242) celebrating 25 years of success
from the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National
Institutes of Health.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Amendment No. 2663
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 2663 to the
resolution and ask that it be reported by number.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The bill clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Maryland [Ms. Mikulski] proposes an
amendment numbered 2663.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the resolving clause)
On page 4, line 1, strike ``it is the sense of the Senate
that'' and insert ``the Senate''.
On page 4, strike line 2 and all that follows through page
5, line 23, and insert the following:
(1) commends ORWH for its work over the past 25 years to
improve and save the lives of women worldwide and expresses
that ORWH must remain intact for this and future generations;
(2) recognizes that there remain striking sex and gender
differences among many diseases and conditions on which ORWH
should continue to focus;
(3) encourages ORWH to continue to focus on ensuring that
NIH supports biomedical research that considers sex as a
biological variable across the research spectrum; and
(4) encourages the Director of the NIH to continue to
consult and involve ORWH on all matters related to the
influence of sex and gender on health, especially those
matters pertaining to the consideration of sex as a
biological variable in research with vertebrate animals and
humans.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the amendment?
If not, the question is on agreeing to the amendment.
The amendment (No. 2663) was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the resolution?
If not, the question is on agreeing to the resolution, as amended.
The resolution (S. Res. 242), as amended, was agreed to.
Ms. MIKULSKI. I further ask unanimous consent that the Mikulski-
Collins amendment to the preamble be agreed to; the preamble, as
amended, be agreed to; the title amendment be agreed to; and the
motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with
no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2664) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the preamble)
In the eighteenth whereas clause, strike ``CDC'' and insert
``Centers for Disease Control and Prevention''.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as
follows:
S. Res. 242
Whereas, on September 10, 1990, the Office of Research on
Women's Health (in this resolution referred to as ``ORWH'')
was established at the National Institutes of Health (in this
resolution referred to as ``NIH'') to--
(1) ensure that women were included in NIH-funded clinical
research;
(2) set research priorities to address gaps in scientific
knowledge; and
(3) promote biomedical research careers for women;
Whereas ORWH was established in law by the National
Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993 (Public Law
103-43; 107 Stat. 122) and implemented the law requiring
researchers to include women in NIH-funded tests of new drugs
and other clinical trials;
Whereas today, more than \1/2\ of the participants in NIH-
funded clinical trials are women, enabling the development of
clinical approaches to prevention, diagnosis, or treatment
appropriate for women;
Whereas, in 2015, ORWH, with enthusiastic support from NIH
leadership, announced that, beginning in January 2016, NIH-
funded scientists must account for the possible role of sex
as a biological variable in vertebrate animal and human
studies;
Whereas ORWH, along with NIH leadership, enhances awareness
of the need to adhere to principles of rigor and
transparency, including the need to publish sex-specific
results to inform the treatment of women, men, boys, and
girls;
Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has helped expand
research on women's health beyond its roots in reproductive
health to include--
(1) the study of the health of women across the life-spans
of women; and
(2) biomedical and behavioral research from cells to
selves;
Whereas by studying both sexes, ORWH is leading the
scientific community to make discoveries headed toward
treatments that are more personalized for both women and men;
Whereas today, ORWH communicates through programs and
policies that sex and gender affect health, wellness, and how
diseases progress;
Whereas turning discovery into health for all, the NIH
motto, means studying both females and males across the
biomedical research continuum;
Whereas the ORWH Specialized Centers of Research on Sex
Differences program supports established scientists who do
basic, clinical, and translational research with a sex and
gender focus;
Whereas all NIH Institutes and Centers fund and encourage
scientists at universities across the Nation to conduct
research on the health of women and on sex and gender
influences;
Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has established
several career-enhancement initiatives for women in
biomedicine, including the Building Interdisciplinary
Research Careers in Women's Health program that connects
junior faculty with mentors who share interests in women's
health research;
Whereas ORWH co-directs the NIH Working Group on Women in
Biomedical Careers, which develops and evaluates policies to
promote the recruitment, retention, and sustained advancement
of women scientists;
Whereas the Women's Health Initiative (in this resolution
referred to as ``WHI'') marked the first long-term study of
its kind and resulted in a wealth of information so that
women and their physicians can make more
[[Page S6677]]
informed decisions regarding postmenopausal hormone therapy;
Whereas WHI reduced the incidence of breast cancer by
10,000 to 15,000 cases per year, and the overall health care
savings far exceeded the WHI investment;
Whereas ORWH supported the National Cancer Institute's
development of a vaccine that prevents the transmission of
Human Papilloma Virus, resulting in a decrease in the number
of cases of cervical cancer;
Whereas, in 1994, ORWH co-sponsored with the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases a landmark
study, the results of which showed that giving the drug AZT
to HIV-infected women with little or no prior antiretroviral
therapy reduced the risk of mother-to-child transmission of
HIV by \2/3\;
Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, perinatal HIV infections in the United States
have dropped by more than 90 percent;
Whereas ORWH co-funded a large clinical study of the
genetic and environmental risk factors for ischemic stroke,
which identified a strong relationship between the number of
cigarettes smoked per day and the probability of ischemic
stroke in young women, prompting the targeting of smoking as
a preventable and modifiable risk factor for cerebrovascular
disease in young women; and
Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has contributed
support toward major advances in knowledge about the genetic
risk for breast cancer, and discovery of the BRCA1 and BRCA2
genetic risk markers has enabled better-informed genetic
counseling and treatment for members of families that carry
mutant alleles: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) commends ORWH for its work over the past 25 years to
improve and save the lives of women worldwide and expresses
that ORWH must remain intact for this and future generations;
(2) recognizes that there remain striking sex and gender
differences among many diseases and conditions on which ORWH
should continue to focus;
(3) encourages ORWH to continue to focus on ensuring that
NIH supports biomedical research that considers sex as a
biological variable across the research spectrum; and
(4) encourages the Director of the NIH to continue to
consult and involve ORWH on all matters related to the
influence of sex and gender on health, especially those
matters pertaining to the consideration of sex as a
biological variable in research with vertebrate animals and
humans.
The amendment (No. 2665) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the title)
Amend the title so as to read: ``A resolution celebrating
the 25th anniversary of the Office of Research on Women's
Health at the National Institutes of Health.''.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I think the parliamentary choreography
does not show what we just did.
We are now, through a resolution cosponsored by Senator Collins and
me, cosponsored by all the women of the Senate on both sides of the
aisle, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Office of Research on
Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health.
Twenty-five years ago, on September 10, 1990, the Office of Research
on Women's Health was established at NIH. It ensured that women were
included in NIH-funded research protocols. It set research priorities,
scientific peer review and scientific knowledge, and it promoted
medical research.
There were two outcomes that I am so proud of--No. 1, what we have
done to improve women's health, and No. 2, we showed that a process of
working on a bipartisan basis actually worked.
This is not to tell old war stories about legislative issues. Twenty-
five years ago women were not included in the protocols at NIH. There
were many reasons given, most of them not scientifically reliable or
accurate. Working together, Senator Nancy Kassebaum and I--the only two
women in the Senate at the time--joined hands with the House--
Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, Connie Morella, and Senator Olympia
Snowe--and we worked together to get legislation passed to get women
included in the protocols, scientifically appropriate, and to establish
the office of women's health. We worked then with Senator Tom Harkin
and Arlen Specter here and Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Kassebaum to
get it done. These rollcalls of people who are no longer with us in
this institution and some who passed by showed we got it done. It was
modest in money, big in dreams. I will give one outcome of what they
did.
George Bush the elder appointed Dr. Bernadine Healy to be head of
NIH. Dr. Healy led a scientific study on hormone replacement. She was
able to get the money because of Tom Harkin, Arlen Specter, and all of
us, all working together. I was an appropriator as well who helped and
assisted, Senator Kennedy, Senator Nancy Kassebaum--now, of course,
Baker. And guess what. This is the outcome: Because of that hormone
replacement study, medical practice was changed because of the
excessive use of hormones in inappropriate situations. As a result, it
is estimated by public health epidemiologists that we save 15,000 lives
a year. Because of the hormone replacement study, breast cancer rates
went down 12 percent.
So when they say: Can't you guys and gals work together? When we do,
we save lives. We save lives. It is estimated that over 600 lives were
saved because of this one study alone, and more will happen every year.
So when we get it together, yes, we save lives, hundreds of thousands
at a time.
So I commemorate the great work of the Office of Research on Women's
Health, and I want to once again, joining with my dear friend and
esteemed colleague Senator Collins, show that when we work together, we
can really make a change--a change that improves the lives of the
American people, and women all over this country thank this body for
the leadership we have provided.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am delighted to join with my friend and
colleague, the Dean of the Senate women, Senator Barbara Mikulski, in
sponsoring this resolution to commemorate the 25th anniversary of NIH's
Office of Research on Women's Health. This office has improved and
saved the lives of countless women not only in our country but
worldwide. It has been a great success.
Our resolution, as Senator Mikulski mentioned, is cosponsored by
every single one of the women serving in the Senate today. I always
point out that just as the men of the Senate span the ideological
spectrum, so do the women of the Senate. But we have come together to
endorse this resolution because each and every one of us recognizes the
critical, lifesaving work that has been done by this office at NIH.
As the Senator from Maryland has pointed out, this was a
collaborative effort among women--including my former colleague,
Olympia Snowe--in both the House and the Senate 25 years ago to redress
the fact that so many clinical trials that were being conducted by NIH
or through NIH funding excluded women. I remember one on heart disease
that was called Mr. Fit. Mr. Fit. Not a single woman was included in
this groundbreaking study despite the fact that women die of heart
disease more than any other disease and despite the fact that women
react differently than men do to different therapies, to different
drugs.
Our resolution commends the office for its work over the past 25
years to improve and save the lives of women. It recognizes that there
remain striking gender differences among many diseases and conditions
on which this office should continue to focus. It also encourages the
office to continue to focus on ensuring that NIH supports biomedical
research that considers gender as a biological variable across the
spectrum of research projects that we are doing. And it encourages the
Director of the NIH to continue to consult and involve the Office of
Research on Women's Health on all matters related to the influence of
gender on health, especially those pertaining to the consideration of
gender as a biological variable in research with humans.
I am delighted that we have now been able to clear the obstacles to
the adoption of this resolution and that it has been approved without
dissent. As my colleague has indicated, it is an example of a
development that was taken 25 years ago in response to a real problem
of women being excluded from clinical trials, from health care
research, and we have made a difference with this office. That is why I
am proud to join with my friend the senior Senator from Maryland, the
Dean of the women of the Senate, in sponsoring this legislation with
each of our female colleagues serving the United States as Members of
this great body.
____________________