[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1045-S1046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

                                 F_____
                                 

                          AMERICAN HEART MONTH

  Mr. DURBIN. I come to the floor today in recognition of American 
Heart Month.
  For more than 50 years, Congress has recognized February as American 
Heart Month. During this time, we have seen many advances in reducing 
congenital heart defects, heart disease, stroke, and other forms of 
cardiovascular disease through improvements in research, education, 
prevention, and treatment.
  Over 1 million cardiovascular disease deaths are now averted each 
year thanks to advances in biomedical research, prevention programs, 
and the development of new drugs and therapies; yet every 15 minutes, a 
child is born with a heart defect, and nearly 86 million adults are 
living with some form of cardiovascular disease. Congenital heart 
defects are the most common type of birth defect, and heart disease 
alone remains our Nation's leading cause of death.
  For millions of families across the country, including mine, the 
impact of heart defects and disease can be overwhelmingly painful.
  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, parents can now afford health 
insurance, and coverage can no longer be denied for a preexisting 
condition. Also, insurers cannot set arbitrary lifetime or annual 
limits on care. These protections can be lifesaving, literally, when 
dealing with congenital heart conditions.
  And while I am so proud of what we did in health reform to improve 
access to care, we must do more to improve quality of care--and that 
means finding ways to better treat and even prevent these diseases.
  Thankfully, there is hope for patients and families across the 
country. Breakthroughs in research are getting us closer to 
understanding the risk factors and causes of these diseases. We are 
developing new drugs and therapies to help those who are suffering, and 
we are improving standards of care for those living with and managing 
these diseases.
  Increases in funding for the NIH and CDC in the fiscal year 2016 
omnibus bill will support these critical efforts in prevention, 
research, and treatment. We provided a historic funding increase of $2 
billion for the NIH, and the CDC's budget was increased by nearly 5 
percent. These increases will support leading research efforts at the 
NIH on the causes of cardiovascular diseases and possible treatments; 
community prevention programs at the CDC; as well as initiatives to 
gather data and track the incidence of congenital heart disease. These 
cannot be onetime increases. We must commit to sustained long-term 
investments in our Federal health agencies--that means ensuring robust 
funding increases above inflation year after year. That is why I will 
again fight for funding equal to five percent real growth in the fiscal 
year 2017 appropriations bills for NIH, CDC, and seven other research 
agencies that contribute to medical and scientific advancements 
consistent with two bills I have introduced.
  The American Cures Act would provide annual budget increases of five 
percent over inflation every year for 10 years at American's top four 
biomedical research agencies: the National Institutes of Health; the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Department of Defense 
health programs; and the VA's Medical and Prosthetic Research Program, 
its biomedical research arm.
  The American Innovations Act would invest an additional $110 billion 
over 10 years in the critically important basic science research at 
America's top research agencies: the National Science Foundation; the 
Department of Energy Office of Science; the Department of Defense 
Science and Technology Programs; the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology Scientific and Technical Research; and the NASA Science 
Directorate.
  We can't afford not to invest in the work these critical agencies are 
doing. And let me tell you why.
  A few weeks ago, I was in Peoria, IL, touring the OSF Hospital there. 
Researchers from the University of Illinois Medical School are teaming 
up with the engineering department in joint efforts to bring new 
technologies to medical breakthroughs. They showed me a model of an 
infant's heart. It was an exact 3-D printed replica of an actual infant 
heart with serious congenital defects that would be operated on. The 
model was produced

[[Page S1046]]

through MRIs and CAT scans. This allows surgeons to look at the heart, 
open it, and prepare for the procedures that they are about to conduct. 
It meant less time on the heart-lung machine, and it improves the odds 
of a positive recovery. These medical breakthroughs--made possible by 
Federal, State, and private contributions--are giving millions of 
Americans hope.
  In early January, surgeons at Prairie Heart Institute in my hometown 
of Springfield, IL, operated on a local woman from Decatur. The doctors 
replaced two diseased heart valves with artificial valves that were 
threaded into position inside catheters, smaller than the width of a 
pencil. This procedure is known as a double trans-catheter valve 
replacement. This successful surgery was only the fourth of its kind in 
the United States, and the first in the world to use the latest 
generation of artificial valves. The lead surgeons were from Prairie 
and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Had the valve not 
been replaced, the patient would have faced a substantially higher risk 
for death from congestive heart failure.
  As co-chair of the Senate NIH Caucus, and co-chair of the bipartisan, 
bicameral Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition, I want to thank my 
colleagues for their commitment to lifesaving research for all 
Americans. I also want to thank the researchers, advocates, public 
health professionals, families, and patients for their leadership and 
tireless support for advancements in the science and treatment of heart 
diseases.
  There is more work to be done, but I am optimistic for breakthroughs 
in the near future.
  Thank you.

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