Political Quotes

“Thousands of Americans are on Capitol Hill today to attend the Rally for Medical Research and to demand increased funding for the National Institutes of Health. The NIH supports 400,000 American jobs. In fact, 82 percent of its budget supports research conducted in every State in this Nation, and every dollar of NIH funding generates $2.21 in local economic activity. The effects are, obviously, not only economic. Thanks in large part to the National Institutes of Health, deaths from heart disease are down 50 percent over the last 40 years, deaths from cancer are down 20 percent since 1991, and the cure rate for childhood cancer is now 80 percent. From 1997 to 2003, Congress doubled funding for the National Institutes of Health, but, since then, it has fallen by 25 percent when accounting for inflation. Just yesterday, the National Cancer Institute released a report that identifies research that won't be conducted unless Congress restores its purchasing power with sustained annual funding increases over the next decade. We must not let that happen. I urge this House to give the NIH the resources it needs to conduct the work our Nation deserves. ____________________”