Barbara Boxer: “I rise to support the Mack amendment which recognizes the importance of funds for the National Institutes of Health…”

“I rise to support the Mack amendment which recognizes the importance of funds for the National Institutes of Health [NIH] research programs. The investment that the American public has made in medical research funded by the NIH has been the foundation of this Nation's medical research enterprise--one of the leading sectors of our economy. The NIH supports research at 2,000 colleges, universities, and other scientific institutions, including the efforts of more than 50,000 researchers and their staff throughout the country. An NIH appropriations increase of 100 percent over the next 5 fiscal years and a $2 billion increase by 1998 will save millions of lives. In 1991, NIH launched the Women's Health Initiative, a 15-year study to examine hormone replacement therapy and its impact on cardiovascular disease--the leading cause of death in the U.S.; dietary intervention in the prevention of breast and colonrectal cancer; and vitamin D and calcium in the prevention of osteoporosis and colonrectal cancer. Breast Cancer--the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cancer killer of American women--affects one in eight women in their lifetimes. Federal funding for breast cancer research and programs has continued to increase, but this year alone over 180,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. I want to see the death rate from more diseases drop.”