Nancy Pelosi: “I serve on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education of the Committee on Appropriations. Our…”

“I serve on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education of the Committee on Appropriations. Our subcommittee's jurisdiction concerns the welfare of America's children in many ways: their health, their education and well-being, and the economic security of their families, which is certainly related to their well-being. What we see in that subcommittee, from the scientists who come in and tell us what the possibilities are now in science and what they know about the development of children, is how essential it is for children to have quality health care even before they are born. The research has shown time and time again that investments in their good health are very good investments for our country indeed. The opportunities are great. The knowledge that we have gained through our investments in biomedical research increases the opportunities to help our children not only reach their own personal fulfillment and strengthen the families from which they come, but also enrich our country in terms of our family values and our economic strength. So we all have a responsibility to all children. Every parent, of course, has a responsibility to his or her child, but on the Subcommittee we must think of every child in America as our child, all the children as our children, because indeed they are our responsibility. So in Congress, we have a responsibility to do all that we can to prevent and treat childhood disease.”