Cliff Stearns: “I am also pleased to participate in this special order and support of doubling the NIH budget. Last year my colleagues…”

“I am also pleased to participate in this special order and support of doubling the NIH budget. Last year my colleagues will remember we were successful in our efforts to increase funding for the NIH. We all know how valuable the research being conducted by this institution is to our Nation's future, including its economic well-being. Advances in medical research to prevent, cure, or at least minimize the degree of financial devastation caused by such diseases is reason enough for us to fund this vital research project. As my colleagues know, I would like to speak from a little parochial point of view, from Florida's point of view. I know how many of my constituents know how important NIH is, and in fact in 1998 the Sixth Congressional District in Florida received $53 million in funding from NIH. When I asked the people in the poll: Do we receive value for Federal dollars spent on medical research, 65 percent said we do get value for dollars spent.”