[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9538]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           FIGHTING BLINDNESS

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, for most people, it is a given that 
they are able to see the many wonderful sights the world has to offer. 
But in this country, more than 10 million people are affected by 
retinal diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular 
degeneration, that result in blindness. These people are being robbed 
of their vision, plain and simple. By 2020, as the population continues 
to age, that number is expected to reach 15 million. These diseases 
might not attract much attention, but their impact on the lives of our 
friends, family members, and constituents is significant.
  Later this month, in Baltimore, MD, the Foundation Fighting 
Blindness, a private nonprofit that has raised more than $425 million 
in research funding, will host its national VISIONS Conference. It will 
gather together visually challenged people from across the United 
States, as well as eight other countries, along with renowned 
researchers committed to finding treatments and cures for these 
diseases and physicians providing patient care.
  The Foundation will also celebrate its 40th anniversary by looking 
back on four decades of breakthroughs, progress, and hope in the field 
of retinal disease research. There is a lot to celebrate, as recent 
advances in research, including a number of clinical trials, have given 
new hope for restoring vision. Results from one breakthrough study 
funded in part by the Foundation Fighting Blindness show that gene 
therapy restored vision in patients suffering from a severe retinal 
disease. In fact, a 9-year-old boy who had lost his vision almost 
completely was able to play baseball and read the chalkboard in his 
class for the first time.
  This life-changing work is possible thanks to the Foundation Fighting 
Blindness, which, through various fundraising efforts, provides the 
capital necessary to launch innovative, results-oriented research--the 
kind of research promising enough to draw funding from other sources, 
such as the National Eye Institute, one of the National Institutes of 
Health. Now, as the momentum continues to build, a partnership between 
the private and public sectors is crucial to eradicating blinding 
diseases.
  I congratulate the Foundation Fighting Blindness on its 40th 
anniversary. With the help of this organization and the National Eye 
Institute, research will continue to flourish until cures are 
realized.

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