On the recordOctober 2, 2013
I've listened to the debate. Nobody on the Republican side has answered this question: Why not a vote on the clean CR? Why not? It would pass. That's why you're not bringing it up. It's politics within your conference, but it's harming the people of this country. Piece by piece it's hiding the reality. Let me just point to a bit of it. I'm reading from an NIH document, 2013 figures compared to the 2012 figures for NIH. There were approximately 700 fewer competitive research project grants issued; approximately 750 fewer new patients admitted to the NIH clinical center; cuts to research delaying progress in development of better cancer drugs that zero in on a tumor with fewer side effects; research on a universal flu vaccine that could fight every strain of influenza without needing a yearly shot. Come forth and tell us why not a vote on a clean CR. Don't give us all the other stories. Come, someone, and say why not, why not a clean vote. It would pass. We can do it, a long journey, in one step, right now.
