Pete Domenici: “Fellow Senators, I normally get up to argue a case when I think I can win. And sometimes--not too often--I get up to…”

“Fellow Senators, I normally get up to argue a case when I think I can win. And sometimes--not too often--I get up to argue a case on the floor of the Senate because I think the case deserves my argument, even if I do not think I am going to win. And who in the world would think any Senator could deny this money to the National Institutes of Health? You surely would have to be a bigger Senator than from New Mexico to argue this kind of case and win. I want to tell you something: You have heard about people in the Federal Government who want more and more and more for their agencies. We have nicknames for them. You have some; I have some. I hate to say it. The NIH is one of the best agencies in the world, but they have turned into pigs, pigs. They can't keep their 'oinks' closed. They send a Senator down here to argue as if they are broke. Will you listen to what has happened to NIH in 5 years and you tell me that they should get this much money? And while you are doing that, ask about the rest of the sciences. Is America going to survive on NIH alone? When will we run out of physicists? When will we run out of scientists? Do you know what? We already are. We are importing them from all over the world. You go ask NIH what they need most and they will say: We need scientists to come and join us.”