On the recordDecember 11, 2013
Regrettably, this legislation before us does nothing to truly advance research at NIH. If we really had a sincere commitment to strengthen research at NIH, let's work together on a bipartisan basis. Let's have hearings on the legislation. Let's make sure that we have funding for all the research activities. I think that we need to find a solution to restore NIH funding rather than purely symbolic legislation. This reminds me of the time when the Republicans closed the government. They refused to pass an appropriations bill for the government to function. And then people said, Well, what about the parks? They said, Well, we'll have a bill just to open the parks. What about NIH research? Well, we'll do NIH research, but not the Centers for Disease Control and not other things. If you are going to do the job, do it right, and don't pretend, especially to a family that is grieving, that you are really doing more for pediatric research when the overall NIH funds are not increased.
