Tom Lantos: “tonight's debate on the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006 is extremely important to the well-being of our…”

“tonight's debate on the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006 is extremely important to the well-being of our Nation. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world's greatest medical research center with its 27 separate institutes and centers. The lives of millions of Americans are directly impacted by the work of NIH helping prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability. Medical research conducted by NIH has a proven record and with our support NIH will provide medical miracles for tomorrow. I am pleased that the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in my congressional district is a leader in providing biomedical research, educating health care professionals and providing patient care. Its medical research developed gene-splicing techniques that have revolutionized biology and opened the biotechnology industry to save lives. NIH provides essential funding for USCF's promising research to treat AIDS, cancer, and diabetes and leading the way in stem cell biology. Mr. Speaker, this bill aims to restructure NIH and reauthorize the agency for the first time since 1993.”