    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [August 8, 1997]
    [Pages 1079-1081]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Diabetes Initiatives
    August 8, 1997

        Thank you very much. I would like to thank Dr. Wiesel and all the
    people here at the Georgetown Medical Center for hosting us. I want to
    thank Mary Delaney and Chief Joyce Dugan and Sandra Puczynski for their
    speeches and for their example. As you might imagine, over the course of
    my tenure I have had occasion to come to quite a number of ceremonies
    like this. I don't believe I have ever heard three people back to back
    speak so powerfully, so clearly, so eloquently about a matter of great
    national concern. And I think we should give them all another hand.
    [Applause]
        I'd like to thank all of the people who are here today, diabetes
    patients, families, activists, and advocates. Especially I'd like to
    acknowledge the people on the platform: Stephen Satalino, the chair of
    the American Diabetes Association. Joan Beaubaire, the former head of
    the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, is also here. Her son works for me at
    the White House, so I get a little extra prodding on this from time to
    time. [Laughter]
        I'd like to say a special word of thanks to Mary Tyler Moore, who
    has awakened the conscience of our Nation and indeed the entire world
    about this issue, for her long and tireless and selfless efforts. Thank
    you, Mary.
        I want to thank Dr. Phillip Gorden, the head of diabetes research at
    NIH. He's here with us today. And the NIH will play a major role in the
    work that we are discussing here.
        None of us could write the history of the century that is about to
    end without a big chapter on the miracles modern medicine and science
    have wrought in our lives. Polio, mumps,

    [[Page 1080]]

    diphtheria, the diseases that robbed so many families of beloved infants
    and toddlers for centuries have been virtually eradicated. Premature
    babies who just a decade ago would not have had a chance at life beyond
    the intensive care unit are growing into happy and healthy children.
    Powerful treatments are prolonging the lives and improving the quality
    of lives of people with HIV and AIDS all across our country, raising new
    hopes for people living with the disease.
        But there are still frontiers to conquer and still too many among us
    whose lives and futures are dimmed by disease and illness, as we have
    heard so powerfully today. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of
    death in our country and perhaps equally profoundly affects the lives of
    millions and millions of people who have it every day.
        The historic balanced budget legislation I signed on Tuesday is
    about more than balancing the books; it also honors our values,
    increases our chances of keeping the American dream alive in the 21st
    century, and improves the lives of every American. There are some
    little-known but very important provisions in this new balanced budget
    that will take us a tremendous step forward in our fight against
    diabetes. These investments total more than $2 billion over the next 5
    years. They will strengthen our efforts to find a cure, to help our most
    vulnerable citizens better manage the disease, to prevent some of its
    most traumatic, costly, and life-threatening complications.
        These investments represented the committed efforts of many Members
    of Congress and our administration. But I must recognize especially two:
    first, Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse, whose daughter is here and who has
    diabetes, led the bipartisan congressional diabetes caucus in an
    absolutely tireless fight to include the Medicare investments that are
    in this bill. And I thank her. She has done magnificently. Thank you.
        And I must tell you, I wish very much that the Speaker of the House,
    Newt Gingrich, could be with us today. When we have a disagreement, it
    is normally well publicized--[laughter]--and widely understood.
    [Laughter] But I wish the American people could see the numerous private
    conversations that we have had together in quiet rooms about diabetes.
        He watched his mother-in-law live with diabetes and became a great
    champion for people struggling with it, a tireless advocate for greater
    investments in research, prevention, and care, and one of the very first
    people who ever spoke to me not only about the human dimensions of the
    disease but the enormous percentage of our public funds in Medicare and,
    to a lesser extent, in Medicaid, that could be devoted to other purposes
    were it not for the crushing burden of diabetes-related problems
    directly resultant from our failure to invest as we begin to invest
    today. I know he played a leading role in making these new initiatives a
    part of the budget, and I appreciate both what he and Elizabeth and
    others have done.
        Now, this new legislation will do three things. It expands Medicare
    benefits for the more than 3 million senior citizens diagnosed with
    diabetes. Mary talked about that. We all know that early investments in
    prevention can save us millions in expensive treatments down the line.
    If left untreated, diabetes can lead to devastating complications such
    as blindness, amputations, and kidney disease. This new benefit will
    make testing strips and other methods of monitoring blood glucose
    levels, as well as instructions on how best to manage the complicated
    disease, available to all Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes. It will
    empower Medicare patients to take better care of themselves at home and
    to avoid complications that can lead to costly hospital stays and
    destroy health.
        Second, the new legislation will enable Health and Human Services
    Secretary Donna Shalala to boost funding for Type I or juvenile diabetes
    research by $150 million over the next 5 years. Nearly one million
    Americans have Type I diabetes, and as many as half of them are
    children. Even when the disease is managed carefully, the patients
    almost always experience further complications. That's why we cannot
    rest until we find a cure that will free our children from this disease.
    And this unprecedented grant will help us to do that.
        Third, we will provide a 5-year, $150 million grant to the Indian
    Health Service for diabetes prevention, research, and treatment in our
    Native American communities. And I want to say a special word of thanks
    to Senator Domenici of New Mexico for his special efforts on this
    project.
        As Chief Dugan has made it clear, Native Americans are 3 times as
    likely as white Americans to have this disease; far less likely to find
    adequate treatment for it. Too many Native

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    Americans are suffering from the grimmest complications of diabetes.
    This grant will bring public health services, schools, and nutrition
    programs together to reach children and families living on reservations
    and to provide them with the information and tools to prevent and manage
    diabetes.
        And I might say, I told Chief Dugan before I came up here that my
    grandmother's grandmother was a Cherokee who would be very proud that
    there is a woman chief who is doing such a magnificent job. [Applause]
    Thank you.
        Next month our scientists at NIH will be hosting a workshop to bring
    researchers from all across the country to share ideas and discuss the
    most promising avenues of diabetes research. And we will establish a new
    and unprecedented public-private partnership to bring our Nation's
    leading health care providers, purchasers, and consumers together to
    develop uniform guidelines for diabetes care. Through the guidelines, we
    can ensure that all doctors provide their patients with thorough and
    vigilant care, such as regular eye and foot exams, to stay as healthy as
    possible.
        Taken together, these initiatives can make life-changing differences
    for millions of Americans. I was very heartened to hear the American
    Diabetes Association say that these new investments in diabetes are as
    important for people with diabetes as the discovery of insulin in 1921.
    Let us pray that it will be so.
        Let me finally say that discussing this in rather clinical terms
    cannot possibly convey the human impact that Sandra did in talking about
    her child. On the way over here today, I was remembering that 23 years
    ago plus, now, when I began my career in political life, the first
    chairman of my campaign was only a year older than me and was already a
    bank president at the age of 28 or 29, but he died a few years ago from
    complications from diabetes. When I lived in Arkansas, I used to sing in
    a church choir with a man who had to quit singing because of
    complications from diabetes, and I have these vivid memories every
    Sunday of standing there looking at him sitting in the church with the
    pain on his face of not being able to do it anymore.
        This morning I got a note from a friend of mine I'd like to read to
    you. ``For the last 17 years my son has gone to sleep scared, scared
    that his blood sugar would drop and his body would be ripped apart with
    a diabetic seizure. Every day for the last 17 years, my son and his
    family have worried about the opposite effects of having his blood sugar
    remain at too high a level and thereby causing the early onset of
    blindness, heart failure, and loss of limb. Until today, there simply
    wasn't enough money available for scientific research to have a real
    hope to find a cure. Now there is.''
        It is easy to say that in the last 50 years we experienced in
    science the age of physics, the age of space travel, and the beginning
    of genetic research but that in the next 50 years, the 21st century in
    science will be an age of biology. The important thing is that for
    people and their families with diabetes, it can be an age of longer,
    happier, richer lives.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:27 a.m. in the auditorium at Georgetown
    University Medical Center. In his remarks, he referred to Sam W. Wiesel,
    executive vice president for health sciences, Georgetown University
    Medical Center; Mary Delaney, a local resident who suffers from
    diabetes; Chief Joyce Dugan of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians;
    Sandra Puczynski of Ohio, whose daughter suffers from diabetes; David
    Beaubaire, White House Special Assistant to the Cabinet Secretary and
    Director of Surrogate Scheduling; and actress Mary Tyler Moore,
    international chairman, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International.