Orrin Hatch: “Nurturing our biomedical research infrastructure is one of the most important roles Government can serve, and that is…”

“Nurturing our biomedical research infrastructure is one of the most important roles Government can serve, and that is why S. 1897 is a significant piece of legislation. I rise to express my support for the bill, and, in particular, to thank the chairman, Senator Kassebaum, for her cooperation in addressing the concerns that Senator Faircloth, Senator Harkin, and I have expressed about the need to bolster the National Institutes of Health's research efforts on pain management. Pain is a condition that each of us experiences during our lifetime, with millions suffering--perhaps needlessly. After serious study of this issue, I have concluded there is insufficient knowledge about the causes and treatments of pain, despite its substantial impact on virtually every American. Inadequate resources are dedicated to the development and evaluation of pain treatment modalities, and there is an inadequate transfer of what knowledge and information we have to health care professionals. It may surprise many of my colleagues to know that despite the impact of pain on our society, according to estimates NIH supplied to my office, the agency spent less than $60 million of its $11 billion appropriation on pain research last year, a number which, in fact, at best equal to the previous year's level of $59.5 million.”