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Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, they say that baseball is the great American sport, and I am a fan. I love watching baseball games, especially the Cubs and the Cards and the White Sox in the region where I grew up. But possibly one of the greatest moments remembered in baseball actually didn't occur during a game; it occurred in 1939 when a baseball player by the name of Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees gave a famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium.
Gehrig was an amazing baseball player. Naturally, he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was indestructible. His nickname was the ``Iron Horse''--so durable, so dependable. He was always there.
In April of that year, 1939, he had removed himself from the game, saying he couldn't play any longer. Then, just a few weeks later, he made his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium. He was sick and suffering from a rare disease, known as ALS, but he stood up there in front of that microphone. We can still remember it in our mind's eye-- that black and white film--when he announced he was the luckiest man on Earth. He died 2 years later from ALS.
The disease, because of his prominence and the public sentiment and profile, became known forever as Lou Gehrig's disease. It is still with us. It still is as virulent and deadly as it was in his time.
I have come to know a number of people who have suffered from that disease.
Recently, just a few months ago, my dear friend Gary LaPaille, who was the State chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party when I ran for the U.S. Senate and who was a strong supporter, passed away from ALS.
A great friend of mine, Bill Brandt, who lives in the suburbs of Chicago, is now battling it.
This morning, I had a visit in my office from Brian Wallach. Brian Wallach and his wife Sandra have been dealing with the diagnosis of more than 6 years ago, of ALS. Brian is still with us, thank goodness, because of his determination and the determination of his family.
Brian is an unusual and extraordinary person. He was working in the Obama White House with Sandra when they decided to marry. He is an exceptional, talented individual, as is his wife Sandra, who served as my communications director for many years.
When the diagnosis was handed down, it was a few days before they brought home their baby from the hospital--a little girl--6 years ago, but they were determined that Brian was going to see as much of her life as possible even though he had been diagnosed with ALS. So they created an organization known as I AM ALS and set out with an agenda to beat the disease.
Brian has been an amazing fighter in dealing with that disease and in trying to find ways to cure himself but, basically, to cure others who might be diagnosed in the years to come. Their focus is on many different areas, but primarily it is on medical research. What they have achieved when it comes to medical research--just the two of them with their organization and many supporters across the United States-- is nothing short of remarkable. For example, after a 5-year period in which no new ALS drugs were approved, the FDA approved two new drugs over the past year, and there is another one that I understand was announced just a few days ago. They were pushing for research to find ways to treat ALS successfully.
The reason I tell that story--and the fact that Brian was just in my office is fresh in my mind--is I hear the debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate about our Federal budget. Part of our Federal budget--an important part of our Federal budget--is the budget for the National Institutes of Health. This is the premier medical research Agency in the world--in the world. I am proud of the fact that it is in the United States and that every day it is responsible for dramatic breakthroughs against diseases and illnesses all across the spectrum and all across the United States and benefits to the world. Their discovery of new drugs for ALS is just one indication of the good work that they do.
For instance, Collins was the head of the NIH for many years under Presidents of both political parties. He is so good--and I am glad he is still working with the Biden administration--he is so good that Presidents--conservative, moderate, liberal; all of them--wanted Francis Collins to head up the National Institutes of Health, which he did remarkably. He was part of the team that discovered the human genome, which literally changed overnight the way we approach medicine in the United States and around the world.
I met with Dr. Collins a few years back and said: I would like to help you at the NIH. I think your work is one of the most important assignments in the Federal Government. What can I do?
He said: Senator, if you could give me 5 percent real growth in NIH budgeting each year, my researchers will continue their inspiring work to find cures and find new drugs that will make a difference in the lives of millions of people.
I set out to do that with the cooperation and help of Roy Blunt, a Republican; with Lamar Alexander, a Republican; and with Patty Murray, who has just been our North Star when it comes to medical research.
We said: Let's try to achieve the goal of 5 percent real growth each year with the National Institutes of Health. We were lucky in the last 10 years to do it six or seven times. The question is, Will we be able to do it in next year's budget?
Sadly, the budget proposed by the Republicans in the House of Representatives devastates the National Institutes of Health's budget-- at least a 20- to 25-percent cut in the amount of money on medical research. What impact does that have? Well, I can tell you it has a direct impact on lessening the number of grants that are awarded each year for medical research, but, secondarily, it sends a message to the researchers who are working so hard across the United States that they can't depend on us in Congress to fund their needed research in the years to come. That will discourage some, and some will walk away from a lot of research that could be very promising. And to do that in the name of helping America is just plain foolish. In fact, it is offensive.
I would like to say to Speaker McCarthy and those who are endorsing his budget: Stop for a minute and consider the impact of what you are doing. There are people and families all across America who are counting on medical research for someone they love, and that research is coming through in remarkable ways, unprecedented around the world.
To think that we would cut the medical research budget of the United States by 25 percent and to argue that that is in the best interest of our country is madness, and it is political selfishness.
I would just plead with my friends on the other side of the aisle: At the end of this debate on the budget, don't let medical research be one of the casualties.
There are so many important areas I can add to that list of things that are critical for the future of America, but I wanted to speak to medical research this morning because Brian Wallach was a visitor in my office, and he reminded me that the determination of Brian and his wife Sandra and many people just like them to push for medical research is literally making a difference so that Lou Gehrig's disease will one day be a disease of the past that we will have conquered.
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