Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 107 Part 2.djvu/187

This page needs to be proofread.

PUBLIC LAW 103-117—OCT. 27, 1993 107 STAT. 1139 Public Law 103-117 103d Congress Joint Resolution Designating October 21, 1993, as 'National Biomedical Research Day". Whereas the biomedical research commiinity in the United States is recognized as the world leader in discovering knowledge that promotes the health and well-being of people throughout the world; Whereas biomedical research offers the best hope for breakthroughs in the detection and treatment of diseases in the future; Whereas since 1900 biomedical research has helped increase the lifespan of people in the United States by 25 years through the development of vaccines, antibiotics, and anti-infective drugs; Whereas biomedical research has contributed to the virtual elimination of epidemic diseases such as cholera, smallpox, yellow fever, and bubonic plague, and in the United States biomedical research has helped to prevent such childhood killers such as polio, diptheria, tetanus, pertussis, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; Whereas biomedical researchers are working diligently toward cures for diseases such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Alzheimer's disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, heart and lung diseases, mental illness, and countless other diseases that afflict millions of people in the United States; Whereas the Congress has consistently demonstrated a financial commitment to maintaining the preeminence of the United States in biomedical research through support of such agencies as the National Institutes of Health, the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Veterans' Administration; Whereas the products and byproducts of biomedical research contribute to the health of the United States economy by reducing medical costs through prevention of various diseases and by furthering the success of the United States in international commerce and trade; Whereas biomedical research has led to drugs and vaccines that safeguard the animals we raise and the food we consume, protecting the health of such animals as cattle, hogs, sheep, and chickens; and Whereas biomedical research also has contributed to the health and well-being of animals through vaccines for parvovirus, infectious canine hepatitis, rabies, distemper, anthrax, tetanus, and feline leukemia, and has helped the prospects of endangered species by reducing disease and promoting reproduction: Now, therefore, be it Oct. 27, 1993 [H.J. Res. Ill]