[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2057-2058]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MEDICAL RESEARCH

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise today to correct some unfortunate 
remarks made on the floor this month and reaffirm my long-standing 
support for the medical research programs at the Department of Defense, 
most of which fall under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research 
Program, or CDMRP. This program has led to major scientific 
breakthroughs since its creation in 1992 and it is one of my proudest 
accomplishments here in the U.S. Senate.
  This program was created by me and together with my Defense 
Appropriations colleagues Senator Ted Stevens and Senator Daniel Inouye 
specifically in response to grassroots advocacy spearheaded by those 
who suffer from breast cancer, those who have survived it, and their 
families. The Department of Defense runs one of the largest health 
systems in the country, serving 9.6 million servicemembers, their 
families and military retirees, and as a result offered a unique 
opportunity to undertake Breast Cancer Research. Military families 
suffer from the same conditions and diseases that affect our society at 
large, and they also have disproportionate rates of some diseases as a 
result of their service. My colleagues and I believed that offering 
potentially lifesaving research specifically focused on this population 
was a logical step.
  So we started with Breast Cancer research in 1992. In the 22 years 
this program has been funded, we have spent almost $3 billion on Breast 
Cancer research, and $7.5 billion overall on important research on 
numerous conditions through the Department of Defense. Millions of 
Americans, including those who receive their health care from DOD, have 
been touched by conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis--or 
Lou Gehrig's disease--autism, lung cancer, multiple sclerosis, 
neurofibromatosis, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, tuberous sclerosis 
complex and many others.
  And what has that investment yielded? It has paid dividends, with 
breakthroughs in our understanding of breast cancer. It led to the 
development of the revolutionary drug Herceptin that is saving and 
prolonging the lives of millions of American women every day. DOD 
breast cancer research directly contributed to the discovery of a 
frequently mutated gene that contributes to several cancers and the 
OncoVue breast cancer risk assessment test.
  But this program's payoff has not been limited to breast cancer: 
Those who receive Coenzyme Q10 treatment for gulf war illness can thank 
DOD medical research. The prostate cancer treatment Zytiga received FDA 
approval in 2011 due to the rapid early-phase clinical testing funded 
by DOD. Research jointly funded by CDMRP, the National Institutes of 
Health--NIH--and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are 
creating advanced prosthetics that are accurately recreating the 
movement of the human hand--which in recent trial allowed a 
quadriplegic to feed herself for the first time in years. These are 
just a few small examples of the many research, diagnosis, and 
treatment breakthroughs this research has brought about.
  DOD medical research has also made direct contributions to the 
understanding and treatment of medical conditions that uniquely or 
acutely affect those who serve. In addition to the research on gulf war 
illness, servicemembers and veterans who suffer from traumatic brain 
injury, tinnitus, or vision problems know that they can receive the 
most advanced treatment possible thanks to this medical research. DOD 
medical research is also finding biomarkers to better treat mental 
illness, so individual servicemembers do not have to go through the 
trial and error of being prescribed psychotropic medications that may 
or may not be effective for them. These research programs are helping 
to provide a better quality of life for those who have recently served 
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  For a number of years now, some in Congress have made the argument 
that this program does not belong at the Department of Defense, 
suggesting that these programs are duplicative and that this funding 
should be spent elsewhere. In fact, the medical research done at the 
Department of Defense is complementary to and coordinated with the 
research done at NIH, and other Federal agencies including the 
Department of Veterans Affairs. While the medical research done at DOD 
and NIH may have overlapping goals, including many research grants that 
have been jointly funded, CDMRP has a different mandate, uses different 
criteria in selecting grants, and uses a unique two-tiered review 
process that assures high quality of research.
  I simply say to those critics of the program, the outcomes speak for 
themselves. Any suggestion that I believe this program should have been 
created elsewhere or should be moved is incorrect, and I want to make 
sure the Record is clear on this point.
  I thank my colleagues on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, 
Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Cochran, and the chair and ranking 
member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Mikulski and Senator 
Shelby, for providing $1.55 billion in funding for these critical and 
successful medical research programs in Fiscal Year 2014. I look 
forward to many more years of breakthrough medical research conducted 
by the DOD that will directly address the needs of our military members 
and that will have

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broad application to millions of Americans.

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