[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 216 (Wednesday, December 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9178-S9179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Tribute to Francis S. Collins

  Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health, will retire this month after serving as 
the Director since 2009. That will be 12 years in one of the most 
challenging jobs in Washington, maybe even in the world.
  Dr. Collins served under three Presidents in that job. No other 
person has served under more than one President. During that 12 years, 
certainly there had been amazing advances in healthcare.

  As a Washington Post reporter put it, and this was a quote from his 
article, ``News that Francis Collins is stepping down as Director of 
the National Institutes of Health is a bit like hearing that Santa 
Claus is handing off his reindeer reins.'' This is the time of year to 
think about that.
  When he announced his retirement earlier this year, it was certainly 
followed by a flood of comments from the scientific community. They 
used words like ``brilliant,'' ``national treasure,'' ``smartest man in 
any room,'' ``beloved,'' and ``gentleman.'' I would also echo those 
words. I think I would add, from the great opportunities I have had to 
work with him and spend time with him, ``straightforward,'' ``kind,'' 
``respected.'' By the way, he never seems

[[Page S9179]]

to need to act like the smartest person in any room even if and when he 
is.
  You know, throughout the 12 years he has been Director, he has made 
countless contributions to biomedical research and public health. Under 
his leadership, the NIH started groundbreaking research programs like 
the BRAIN Initiative, which is aimed at revolutionizing our 
understanding of the human brain, and the All of Us Precision Medicine 
Initiative, which is a historic effort to try to tailor medical care to 
the individual, and we see that is where medical care is going.
  As the Director of the NIH, Francis presided over the creation of the 
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, which translates 
basic science discoveries into cures. He started the Cancer Moonshot 
and the Accelerating Medicines Partnership and increased investment in 
Alzheimer's and opioid research. He also steered the U.S. Research 
Enterprise during a once-in-a-lifetime infectious disease pandemic. 
Without his vision and leadership, we may not have been able to develop 
and deliver several FDA-approved COVID vaccines, COVID therapies, and 
diagnostic tests in less than a year.
  We wouldn't want to forget that this wasn't the first major health 
challenge that Dr. Collins navigated us through. He also led the 
responses to the H1N1 flu outbreak in 2009 and to the 2014 and 2015 
Ebola outbreak. It does sort of make you wonder why he was still there 
when this pandemic came along, but, again, we are fortunate that he 
was.
  His impact on health and healthcare really didn't start when he 
became the NIH Director. In fact, before becoming Director, he made 
significant contributions to the research field of genetics. He 
codiscovered the gene that causes cystic fibrosis, and he found genes 
for Huntington's disease and type 2 diabetes.
  Maybe his most significant scientific contribution was to head the 
Human Genome Project, which mapped and sequenced the full human genome 
for the first time. That monumental effort has allowed scientists to 
unlock some of the great mysteries of human life. It has created the 
potential to develop treatments and cures for some of our most serious 
diseases. What it has really done is to have allowed us to begin to 
think about personalized medicine--realizing that every person is 
different than every other person and that everybody has the capacity 
to fight back against any disease that challenges them. Usually, the 
disease can quickly overwhelm that capacity, which is why the addition 
of immunotherapy and the addition of personalized medicine are such 
critical tools for today.
  His work had a tremendous impact at the time, and it will have an 
even greater impact. We can see that impact as we move forward and look 
at how we need to look at personalized medicine. All of this has been 
accomplished in a way wherein very few scientists, I think, could have 
had the articulation of vision that Francis has to share it in a way 
that people can not only begin to understand these concepts but buy 
into the concepts.
  Certainly, one of the proudest accomplishments I had in the Senate 
with him was in working to increase NIH funding. When I became chairman 
of that committee 7 years ago, we had a 10-year stagnation, really, in 
funding. In working with Senator Durbin, who was here earlier this 
morning and talked about Dr. Collins--I tried to grab, to join, that 
moment but couldn't--and with Senator Alexander and Senator Murray on 
our side of the building and many others and in working with 
Congressman Cole and now-Chairwoman DeLauro of the Committee on 
Appropriations on the other side, we just decided we were going to make 
NIH research a priority and, over the next 7 years, increase funding by 
43 percent at a time when so many things were happening so quickly.
  Francis Collins, of course, not only was part of sharing that goal 
but, frankly, was also part of saying: Don't come up with a goal where, 
when you get there, you are going to stop. Let's keep moving forward as 
long as we are making the kinds of scientific advances that we know the 
country needs to make and the world needs to make. And we are doing 
that.
  Finally, he may be remembered the most in many cases for the hope he 
just has been able to bring to patients and communities. He is a 
physician. He is a scientist. He has been the Director of NIH, as I 
said, for 12 years. But part of his real ability is the ability to 
share who he is and to share the potential of science.
  During the time of COVID, we saw Francis coming up with songs and 
other ways to really focus on the pandemic and the way we need to 
respond to that pandemic. He is an incredibly skillful person. His 
legacy, I think, will live through generations of researchers. He has 
inspired the countless lives he has touched. His impact will be felt 
for a long time.
  I just want to say, on behalf of all of my colleagues--all of whom 
have been part of that progress of making NIH and health research a 
priority--thank you, Francis, for your leadership, for your friendship, 
and for your public service.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Ms. HASSAN. Madam President, before I start my remarks, I would like 
to thank the Senator from Missouri and add my thanks to Dr. Francis 
Collins for his leadership and for his contributions to our country, to 
our country's future, and for his reassurance during very difficult 
times.
  I thank Senator Blunt for so eloquently recognizing Dr. Collins.