[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S43-S44]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FUNDING FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, a few months ago my colleague from
Missouri, Senator Blunt, took the floor and spoke to two issues we have
in common. I will speak to one of them in a moment--the flooding in the
Midwest--but I wish to also address another one that he raised.
Senator Blunt is in an extraordinary position, having been given an
opportunity to handle the appropriations bill for the Department of
Health and Human Services. Within the Health and Human Services
appropriations bill is funding for most of the biomedical research by
the Federal Government.
I have spoken to Senator Blunt over the past year and even before
about my strong feelings on this subject. I feel, as most Americans do,
that our investment in biomedical research is a wise investment,
potentially sparing people from disease and death that could follow an
illness but also making an investment in America's innovative economy,
creating opportunities for jobs and for expanded research and new
products and pharmaceuticals. Senator Blunt took that challenge to
heart, and when he was faced with the appropriations bill for this
Department, he made a special effort when it came to medical research.
I am so happy that he did.
It was only a few years ago that we had automatic, across-the-board
cuts called sequestration. It was devastating. As a net result of that,
many of the youngest and most promising researchers gave up on the
field because they didn't think there was a commitment from Congress,
from the President, and from the government to continue to expand
biomedical research. We saw the median age of researchers climbing
because younger researchers looked for other jobs. That is a horrible
waste of talent and a squandering of an opportunity, I am sure, to find
ways to make life more bearable and to cure diseases across America.
Several years ago, when I visited the NIH, the head of the National
Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, told me that if we could
have 5 percent real growth in biomedical research at the NIH for 10
years, he could light up the scoreboard. We were on the cusp of so many
discoveries that this was an opportunity, if the investment were made,
to really have some medical breakthroughs. I took that to heart and
introduced a bill called the American Cures Act, and I am sure Senator
Blunt and many of my colleagues are tired of hearing about it. The
notion is 10 percent by Congress; 5 percent real growth each year when
it comes to the NIH.
As it turns out, this year we are knocking on the door of doing just
that with the investment that was made by the appropriations bill. This
investment is almost $42 billion in biomedical research, $32 billion in
the National Institutes of Health, a 6.6-percent increase over last
year; $7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a
4.5-percent increase over fiscal year 2015.
There are two other areas of research opportunities in biomedical
research: the Veterans Medical and Prosthetics Research Program and the
Department of Defense Health Program. That is an appropriations bill I
have something to do with, working with the chairman, Senator Cochran.
Both of those programs received a 7-percent increase over the previous
fiscal year. These increases at NIH, CDC, Veterans, and Defense are a
real turnaround. They bring to an end a decades-long downward trend
when it comes to biomedical research.
Senator Blunt has said--and I have, too--this shouldn't be a one-hit
wonder. We have to repeat that this year when it comes to the
appropriations for the next fiscal year beginning October 1. We have to
make sure we make our promise and keep it when it comes to biomedical
research. If we do it, I know this level of funding is going to result
in dramatic, positive developments.
There are so many areas we need help with. I can think of a few that
are obvious, including Alzheimer's. An American is diagnosed with
Alzheimer's once every 67 seconds. When my staff told me that, I didn't
believe it. I said: Go back, recalculate, and tell me the real number.
It turns out they were right. Once every 67 seconds, a person is
diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
[[Page S44]]
Last year we spent over $200 billion in Medicare and Medicaid for
Alzheimer's care. That is just a fraction of the total cost. Think
about what individual families spent, what private insurance sources
spent, the charitable care that was given to Alzheimer's patients. So
when we talk about increasing the NIH budget by $2 billion for 1 year,
it is a tiny fraction. It is 1 percent of the amount we are spending on
Alzheimer's.
If we could find a way to detect Alzheimer's earlier, delay its
onset, reduce the period of time of suffering, or perhaps even find a
cure, God willing, it would have a dramatic, positive impact on so many
lives and families and on our bottom-line Federal budget. Take that
argument about Alzheimer's and apply it as well to cancer. How many of
our families and friends are suffering and fighting cancer right now?
My wife and I were struck over the holidays by how many of our close
friends are battling cancer at this moment. We know they are looking
for hope. They are looking for drugs. They are looking for something
that will break through and give them a chance at life. That is why I
believe this biomedical research is so critical.
Let me add one postscript. Stopping with these agencies is not
enough. I recently visited the Department of Energy. The new Secretary
there, Ernest Moniz, and I were talking about biomedical research. He
said that when it comes to the technology for imaging that is making
such a difference in the world, it isn't just in biomedicine; it is in
engineering and science as well, in the Department of Science, within
the Department of Energy. So let's not be shortsighted. Let's have an
open mind about innovation and creation.
Last week I was in Peoria, IL, an area I am proud to represent. I
went to visit OSF Hospital there. I went to what is known as the Jump
Center. We don't forget that name very easily. What they have done in
the Jump Center is they have combined the University of Illinois
Medical School and the University of Illinois Engineering Department in
a common effort to bring new engineering and new technology to medicine
and medical breakthroughs. What they are doing there is amazing--first,
training doctors and medical professionals to do their job effectively
without mistakes. That, of course, is the ultimate outcome we are
looking for. Over their shoulders are engineers and technicians who are
looking at these doctors doing their work, finding new applications for
computers and engineering technology that can make their work easier
and more effective.
They showed me a model of the human heart. It was a heart of an
infant with serious heart problems. This model they gave me was the
actual human heart reproduced of an infant who was facing surgery. They
took the MRIs and the CAT scans, put them into a 3D copier, and
produced this little heart that you could hold in your hand. They were
able to give that heart to the surgeon to look at before the surgery,
and they opened it so that the surgeon could look inside that heart
model--a model which tracked the reality of that infant--and know
before the surgery what he would find.
It meant less time on the heart-lung machine, a more likely positive
recovery. It was the use of technology in engineering to move us
forward and to give that little baby a fighting chance. So I thank
Senator Blunt. I want to especially thank my colleague Senator Patty
Murray. She has been a terrific leader in this field, both on the
appropriations and authorizing committees, and also Senator Lamar
Alexander.
I think we have all come to conclude that regardless of how much time
we have in the Senate, we should leave a mark that makes a difference.
When it comes to biomedical research, this year's budget, which Senator
Blunt referred to, will make a difference. Now, let's make sure it is
not a one-hit wonder. Let's make sure we do it again in next year's
budget as well.
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