Bob Casey

Madam Chair, thanks very much.

We cannot emphasize enough the timeliness of raising public awareness on this hidden issue.

I am, of course, showing deference to Pennsylvania.

After all this time, Madam Chair, chit-chatting is so yesterday, isn't it?

Chairman Collins, thank you very much for calling this hearing and for your opening statement.

If confirmed, I will be committed to implementing the TCA, as intended by Congress, including Section 911 related to modified risk products.

I would hope that means that you would advocate against proposals with regard to a hiring freeze or the budget.

I support following the directive of Congress in making sure your laws are faithfully implemented.

I wanted to move as well--I know I have a little more than a minute, and I might defer most of this for a written question.

I wanted to focus on biosecurity. We've seen just in the last couple of years, whether it's Ebola or Zika or any other threat, how important this area of the law is.

I know you may not on some days feel like you are overcoming something, you are not winning. But in so many ways you are.

What is good for the heart is good for the brain.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce a fellow Pennsylvanian.

But we are grateful, and I just hope we can--and this is a challenge that you pointed to and I think all of us wrestle with.

This budget idea would be--or proposal, I should say, would be a giant step backward, or more than one step.

Madam Chair, thank you for calling the hearing, again, and also we know why she is Madam Chair now.

I join her in that disagreement, I will add even denunciation or condemnation, of any budget proposal that cuts NIH the way that the budget proposal does.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Your work and your stories and your families' stories will help us win this battle.

Alzheimer's disease severely impacts both the lives of those who are diagnosed with it and the lives of those who care for them.

It is a topic that I think touches everyone in this room in one way or another, some more directly, obviously, when it is a family member.

I so strongly oppose the administration's plan to slash funding for the National Institutes of Health.

Phyllis, like so many in the audience, cares for her loved one.

We are now learning that a heart-healthy diet is also good for the mind.

I appreciate you sharing that testimony because it is helpful for us.