Dick Durbin: “I would like to respond to my friend from South Carolina. We are friends. We have worked on a lot of things together. I…”

“I would like to respond to my friend from South Carolina. We are friends. We have worked on a lot of things together. I hope we will continue to do so in the future. We clearly see this issue differently today. Two-tenths of 1 percent of the Department of Defense appropriations will go for medical research--about $1 billion in a budget of $524 billion. It is not an outrageous amount. We are not funding medical research at the expense of being able to defend America. Hardly anyone would argue that, but a small percentage would. I can make an argument--and I have tried effectively here--that when it comes to the medical research that is being done through the Department of Defense, it is extraordinary. We have achieved so much for a minimal investment in so many different areas. I could go through the list--and I will--of those areas of research that have made such a big difference. I also want to say that there are 149 universities, veterans organizations, and medical advocacy groups that support the amendment that I offered today. The reason they support it is that what has been suggested--that this is not just another procedural requirement being placed in front of these institutions that want to do medical research--really understates the impact it will have. The Department of Defense itself, after analyzing the McCain language that comes to us on this bill, said it will create a burden, a delay, additional overhead costs.…”