Political Quotes

“Yes, and the same real joy in knowing that there is extraordinary research going on at both of those institutions. I thank the gentleman for drawing such laser focus on the issue of Alzheimer's disease and why it is, in fact, the number one most prevalent disease in this country. I brought down this Alzheimer's Association sash that many of us wore when our constituents came into town, pleading with us to do more about Alzheimer's research. Many of us took pictures with them and said, yes, we are very supportive, but it is really time for us to put our money where our mouth is. It is not good enough to wear a purple sash and say that you are supportive of Alzheimer's research when, in fact, what we are spending in terms of Alzheimer's research is so much less than it is with every other disease. As you were pointing out with your chart--I have a very similar chart as well--we are spending $566 million a year on Alzheimer's disease. Good. There is no question about it. But it is not good enough. It is not good enough in comparison to what we are spending on cardiovascular disease, on HIV/AIDS, or on cancer--$5 billion, $5.5 billion on cancer research. But let's talk about the big elephant in the room. I mean, we already know that we are not spending nearly as much money on Alzheimer's research as we are on other conditions and we need to pump that up, but let's talk about the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room is not the Republican elephant.…”