Tom Harkin

I am proud that the first law that President Obama signed into law was one that Rosa championed, the Lilly Ledbetter legislation.

We still need to act to eliminate pay discrimination.

These women are being hurt, and so are their families.

I hope that your Department will look at that.

I think for every $1 we spend we save $6 and that's real money.

But in the 2011 budget request I've noticed you're using $555 million from this emergency supplemental for things that we usually fund in our annual appropriations bill.

I haven't revisited that for some time, but again thinking about having a couple of plants that are cell based.

My hope is that Congress will follow through on the hard work they have done over the last 12 months and send a bill to the President soon.

Quality enhancements nationwide are a critical part of this effort.

I understand it also includes staff salaries. These costs can hardly be called an emergency.

But overall, I think the President's budget is a good start.

Congress appropriated $150.4 billion for national research and development.

Thank you Chairman Harkin and Senator Cochran for the opportunity to support funding for public broadcasting.

I urge you to provide stroke research with a significant funding increase.

I applaud President Obama for including level funding in his fiscal year 2011 budget for this program at $49.3 million.

And congratulations, again, on taking over the reins, and we're looking forward to working with you on this terrible budget crunch that we have.

I've always been in favor of all stem cell research, whether--whatever it is, whatever pathway it leads us down, within the ethical guidelines that we've established.

I'd just ask my staff to get me all the information on this spinal cord.

There are now 64 human embryonic stem cell lines that have been approved by this NIH process that was stimulated by Obama's Executive order.

I think that would be important.

I think it's important to inform patients, from the beginning, help them understand what you're going through, in terms of the regulatory end of it.

I think the atmosphere is just right for this.

The cure rate there is just phenomenal.

I would not want to have a day go by where we were passing up on the opportunity of new ideas to do something about this.

I am impatient, just as you are--frustrated, as you are--about this terrible disease of pancreatic cancer.