Richard Shelby

Well, you've got a lot in it, and it's finished. And I'd hope you would do that soon, because to activate it, it costs hardly anything, compared to what it cost to build.

Also, you're aware that the community there, near Redstone, Huntsville, has the highest per capita Ph.D. communities in science and engineering.

That's a quantum breakthrough, isn't it?

How big an improvement is this new system, the SM-3 IIB?

Can I get into the ship modifications of the Navy a little bit.

But, basically, does it make us--you're in charge of it--make us more agile?

Could you provide us with some more detail, if you have any yet, of which programs are being delayed, and why?

Will you furnish this to the subcommittee, since we were concerned about analysis of this memorandum of understanding?

It seems it is a pretty good price.

The more you build, the better price you have been able to get in this environment.

I believe it is a valuable addition to the Navy's fleet.

We're going to do our best to make sure that our budget is not only not decreased, but we hopefully increase it a little bit

This proposal limits the amount of rewards one investigator can receive through the peer-review process and does not let science dictate funding decisions.

I'm very upset with the President and his people at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for what they did on that.

This is a very important time, as you said, in the history of drug development.

I support the goal of the NCATS to invest in research that moves a potential therapy from development to market.

I'm concerned that its success puts other institutions in Alabama at a competitive disadvantage to similar schools in the IDeA area.

A fundamental part of the NIH's success over the years has been that scientific need and opportunity have always dictated NIH funding priorities.

However, it is critical that the NIH not lose sight of its goal to fund the best science in the hope of reducing the burden of illness.

We do not want the only result of this change to be scientists spending more time chasing grants than making discoveries.

This is not the time to abandon our commitment to the health of all Americans and to the NIH.

Biomedical research is an answer to lowering, I believe, our Nation's healthcare costs.

Funding for the NIH lays the foundation for drug and device discoveries over the next 10 years.

I do not agree with the funding level proposed by the administration for the NIH. I believe that the NIH funding should be a priority and that its benefits extend well beyond its research discoveries.

A continued commitment to NIH is essential to addressing our Nation's growing health concerns and to spur medical innovation for the next generation of treatment and cures.