[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 4722-4723]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE INAUGURATION OF THE IKARIA DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORSHIP OF 
                             CRITICAL CARE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 2010

  Ms. BALDWIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today concerning a matter of great 
interest to

[[Page 4723]]

me, which is the need for greater progress and support for children and 
infants who require critical care.
  Each year, five million Americans are admitted to Intensive Care 
Units (ICUs), and it is estimated that as many as half a million of 
these are infants and children. Indeed, estimates show that nearly one-
half of infants and one-third of older children who die each year 
received ICU care.
  While medical technologies advance across the world, there 
unfortunately have been fewer true breakthroughs in critical care 
therapies in recent years, including those designed for children and 
infants. Babies and children are the most fragile of critically ill 
patients; their ability to thrive and survive should be among our 
highest priorities.
  It is for these reasons that I am pleased to observe that today, the 
Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, D.C. will hold 
an inauguration ceremony naming The Ikaria Distinguished Professorship 
of Critical Care. This chair will be sustained by a donation of $2.5 
million by Ikaria, a bio-therapeutics company which provides acute care 
products that address significant unmet needs of ICU and neonatal ICU 
patients. Ikaria, which has manufacturing facilities in my hometown of 
Madison, Wisconsin, is providing an unconditional gift to endow and 
establish a distinguished professorship for an outstanding physician-
scientist who will provide leadership to advance the science of 
critical care medicine.
  Madam Speaker, I hope you will join me in recognizing the tremendous 
potential value of this vital research professorship, and to applaud 
Ikaria and Children's National Medical Center for their vision and 
commitment to the health of our Nation's children.

                          ____________________