[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AWARENESS WEEK

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, this week, March 10-17, is National 
Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week. The goal of this annual event is to 
raise awareness of this disease for those individuals and their 
families who are impacted by it.
  Every hour in the United States, someone new is diagnosed with MS. It 
is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous 
system. Many Americans know a person living with multiple sclerosis, a 
mother or father, a son or daughter, another family member or friend, 
or even a colleague.
  For me, it was a member of my staff. This brave and strong woman 
inspired me to get more involved in the battle to live in a world free 
of multiple sclerosis. As a medical doctor prior to coming to Congress, 
I'm working here to find sensible solutions for the health care 
challenges that Americans face. As the cochair of the newly formed 
Congressional Multiple Sclerosis Caucus, I intend to bring the needs of 
those individuals into the larger discussion of quality health care.
  Mr. Speaker, we must work together to improve access to quality 
health services, to break down barriers, and to make MS therapies more 
affordable. I ask other Members of the House to join me in this noble 
cause. We must always remember that behind every statistic is the face 
of a family member or friend. We have a shared responsibility to offer 
help and hope. There is no better time than now to begin offering it.

                          ____________________