Political Quotes

“Mr. President, at this point, I hope I can appeal to my friend from Oklahoma. It is important to every single State, but it is certainly important to my State of Illinois where we have thousands of researchers and millions of dollars being spent. But it is also important to his State. Oklahoma has very valuable laboratories and hospitals that do research as well. I would like to just give you some examples. Each year, Oklahoma receives $160 million in NIH funding. This money supports 2,500 jobs in the State of Oklahoma and $450 million in economic activity. The top NIH funding research in Oklahoma is the University of Oklahoma. It receives $80 million a year. With this funding, researchers in Oklahoma recently conducted research on slowing kidney disease progression, improving brain function after strokes, and how changes in cell activity can slow the progression of Alzheimer's. Senator Mullin, I know, is a graduate--a proud graduate, I am sure-- of Oklahoma State University, which receives $50 million in NIH funding. Mr. President, I hope I can appeal to my colleague and others to take a close look at their own home States on this medical research. It makes a difference in their States, and it makes a valuable difference in the quality of life for Americans across the board. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.”