Joe Cunningham: “I joined the Labor-HHS committee because it focuses primarily on two issues: one is education, the other is medical…”

“I joined the Labor-HHS committee because it focuses primarily on two issues: one is education, the other is medical research. This century is going to be, I think, not for technology but the most important century for medical research in the history of mankind, from the genome program to cell division where we can take pancreatic cells and inject into maybe a child that has juvenile diabetes. I would like my colleagues to remember that we lost Herb Bateman this year. Cancer is a brutal thing. I know many of our colleagues on this floor have contracted it. I have talked to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro). She is a cancer survivor. My mom is a cancer survivor. There is no better woman in this country than my little mom. But can you imagine, and I know when the doctor looked me in the face and said, 'Duke, you've got cancer,' that is pretty tough. And I try and put myself in the position that what if I did not have care for my medical retirement from my military retirement, what if someone says, 'Duke, you've got prostate cancer, but you've got no hope. You're going to die.' How terrible is that in a country as powerful as ours? I look at the things in my own personal life. I am pro-life. My colleagues know that. And I disagree with areas like Planned Parenthood on their abortion issue.”