On the recordDecember 11, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I oppose this legislation because it is window dressing, and it is not the big picture. Thirteen million dollars is less than 1 percent of the $1.5 billion sequester cut. It is less than 1 percent. The NIH is our research institution. It is our Department of Defense. It defends us from cancer and heart disease and Alzheimer's and AIDS and diabetes, but it is not being prioritized. It should be the number one priority of this House-- keeping Americans safe and alive. Now, the $13 million was picked because that is the amount of money we put into political conventions. It just so happened to fit. We could have picked the F-35 bomber and saved billions of dollars and taken that out, which we don't need, and put in that money, which would have made a real difference in research. As for Kids First Research, I live in the city that has the best pediatric cancer facility in the world, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. It needs more than this. Kids later will get Alzheimer's and AIDS and heart disease and cancer, and they need to be protected. In the long run, they can only be protected with the full funding for the NIH. I urge the full funding for the NIH and not smoke and mirrors.
