[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 23 (Monday, June 14, 1999)]
[Pages 1068-1070]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Dedication Ceremony for the Dale and Betty Bumpers 
Vaccine Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland

June 9, 1999

    Thank you very much, Senator Harkin, for your friendship, your 
leadership, and for your successful efforts to get this facility named 
for Dale and Betty Bumpers. You know, ever since the Republicans won a 
majority in the House and the Senate in 1994, it's been impossible to 
get anything named for a Democrat. [Laughter] We named more buildings 
than ever before in the history of the country, at a breathtaking rate, 
and I just wanted to come here to make sure this was actually going to 
happen today. [Laughter] And I really thank you, Tom Harkin, for your 
persistence.
    Thank you, Dr. Varmus, Dr. Satcher. Secretary Shalala, thank you for 
your remarks and what you said. I want to thank all the leaders of the 
NIH who are here, and others involved in all the various endeavors, 
especially Sandy Thurman, who leads our efforts on AIDS. I want to say a 
special word of appreciation to the families of Dale and Betty Bumpers 
who are here, including two of their three children.
    I want to express the regrets of the First Lady and the Vice 
President for not being able to be here today. And in particular, 
because of our long friendship and common interest, I know that Hillary 
wanted to come.
    Forty-four years ago Edward R. Murrow described the day Dr. Salk 
announced his discovery of a polio vaccine with these words, ``The Sun 
was warm, the Earth coming alive. There was hope and promise in the air. 
The occasion called for banners in the breeze and trumpets in the 
distance.''
    Indeed, that discovery did herald the dawn of a golden age of 
development of vaccines and prevention of disease. In the 50 years 
since, we have benefited from the discovery of vaccines against some 20 
infectious diseases; tens of millions of lives have been saved; tens of 
millions of children have been spared the agony and crippling pain of 
polio, mumps, rubella, measles, most recently, meningitis.
    Twenty years ago we eradicated smallpox, the disease that for 
thousands of years struck down men, women, and children all around the 
world and destroyed entire civilizations. We have eliminated polio from 
our own hemisphere and, as you've already heard, we'll eliminate it from 
the Earth early in the new millennium.
    The triumph of vaccines over infectious disease is one of the great 
achievements of a remarkable 20th century. And at century's end, the men 
and women who labor in labs to unlock the mysteries of human biology and 
disease, especially those here at the National Institutes of Health, 
have made this one of America's great citadels of hope, not only for our 
people but for people throughout the world.
    I think it is important to note, though, that we are here today 
because the triumph of immunization over disease is also the triumph not 
just of scientists but of countless citizens across America, public 
health specialists, advocates, volunteers, leaders in Government, who 
work together to support new research and to bring lifesaving vaccines 
to all people. It is the triumph of the couple we honor today, my 
friends of many, many years, Dale and Betty Bumpers.
    More than 25 years ago, Betty Bumpers was the first person to open 
my eyes to the fact that though many vaccines had been discovered, 
approved, and marketed, too few children in our State, then, and across 
America, were being immunized. As the First Lady of our State, she 
visited every community and every school, talking to parents and 
teachers about the necessity of immunizing their children. In fact, 
Betty became so identified with the immunization cause that people used 
to joke that every time she walked into a school, the kids would start 
to cry. [Laughter] They knew that when she came in, somebody was going 
to have to get a shot.
    Her work inspired President Carter to launch a nationwide campaign 
to immunize all children by the time they entered school. Today, I am 
still amazed by her tirelessness in traveling across the country with 
Rosalynn Carter to ensure that every child is immunized by the age of 2. 
I'd also like to say something that many of you know: She is here today, 
just 2 days after back surgery,

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which is an ultimate testament to her grit and determination.
    She's made sort of a second career, Betty has, out of deflating 
egos, especially her husband's and mine. [Laughter] And I told her 
today, she just hit me one more time. I got a huge applause in the State 
of the Union Address a couple of years ago, railing against these HMO's 
and hospitals that kicked people out after drive-by surgery. And she's 
exhibit A for drive-by surgery. [Laughter] I mean, here she is; she 
looks great. I'm going to have to at least modify my position on that 
issue, I guess.
    When Betty was working at the grassroots, Dale was working in 
Government. Over four terms and 24 years, representing our home State in 
the United States Senate, he became the resident expert and the greatest 
champion for immunization in that body. Through dark times, when it 
looked as if Congress and the White House might fail to do their part to 
make vaccines more widely available, his passionate and persuasive 
arguments would stir consciences and, on occasion, change votes.
    After the measles epidemic of the late eighties and early nineties, 
Dale Bumpers rallied his colleagues. He took to the Senate floor to 
lament 27,000 cases of measles, cases he called, and I quote, ``totally 
shameful and avoidable.'' He challenged his colleagues to rise to their 
responsibility to protect our children. Our children have been lucky to 
have his heart and his voice at their service.
    For a long, long time, Hillary and I have been inspired by Dale and 
Betty's personal crusade. In 1993 I took office committed to renewing 
America and preparing our country for a new century. A key to the 
strategy we embraced was investing in our people, investing in 
technology, and dramatically increasing our efforts in research and 
development in areas that were pivotal opportunities for the future of 
Americans' quality of life. We made funding basic science research that 
could lead to new vaccines one of our top priorities. We launched a new 
initiative to improve immunization services, to make existing vaccines 
safer and more affordable, and to boost immunization rates across 
America.
    And I was profoundly proud when, two summers ago, Hillary and I were 
able to invite Dale and Betty to the White House, where we announced 
that finally America had reached its highest immunization rate ever and 
more than 90 percent of all 2-year-olds in our country have received 
their most critical doses of recommended vaccines, thanks in no small 
measure to the years and years and years of effort that they have 
spearheaded.
    Therefore, it is entirely fitting that today we dedicate this state-
of-the-art facility to them, two great Americans, two wonderful human 
beings. Today we also lay a new cornerstone in our ongoing efforts 
against HIV and AIDS. With biotechnology accelerating the development of 
new vaccines and making existing ones even safer, it is a hopeful moment 
for vaccine research in America, including the challenge of finding a 
vaccine against AIDS.
    Today, one out of every 100 people in the world is living with HIV 
and AIDS. With the recent news that AIDS has surpassed tuberculosis and 
malaria to become the leading infectious killer in the world, claiming 
2\1/2\ million lives in 1998 alone, and growing, I might add, at truly 
breathtaking rates in Africa and India, we cannot afford to waste a 
second in our fight against it.
    Over the past 6 years, we have worked hard to conquer this disease. 
We have established the Office of National AIDS Policy to lead an effort 
full-time, expanded our investment in AIDS research to a record $1.8 
billion, accelerated the approval of new drugs. Two years ago, as 
Secretary Shalala said, I challenged America to come together to develop 
a vaccine for AIDS within 10 years. Our balanced budget will target $200 
million toward this goal. And until an AIDS vaccine is tested and 
approved, it will remain the primary mission of the Dale and Betty 
Bumpers Vaccine Research Center.
    I am confident that this is a place where miracles will happen, 
miracles born of hard work, ceaseless effort, visionary dreams. I look 
forward to the day when I can come back here, to a grand facility with, 
in Murrow's words, ``banners blowing in the breeze, and trumpets in the 
distance,'' heralding another great vaccine achievement for mankind, the 
end of AIDS.

[[Page 1070]]

    When that day comes, it will be due in large part to the people who 
will be here at the Bumpers Center, and to the two truly wonderful 
people for whom the center is named.
    Thank you, for your work and for letting me be a part of today's 
ceremony. And God bless you, Dale and Betty.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 3:15 p.m. at the National Institute of 
Health. In his remarks, he referred to Harold E. Varmus, Director, 
National Institute of Health; Surgeon General David Satcher; and 
Director of National AIDS Policy Sandra Thurman.