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And while we honor the past, let us imagine the future. The entire store of human knowledge now doubles every five years. In the 1980s, scientists identified the gene causing cystic fibrosis -- it took 9 years. Last year, scientists located the gene that causes Parkinson's Disease -- in only 9 days. Within a decade, "gene chips" will offer a roadmap for prevention of illness throughout a lifetime. Soon, we will be able to carry all the phone calls on Mother's Day on a single strand of fiber the width of a human hair. A child born in 1998 may well live to see the 22nd Century. Tonight, as part of our gift to the next millennium, I propose a 21st Century Research Fund for path-breaking scientific inquiry. This will be the largest funding increase in history, for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute. We have already discovered genes for breast cancer and diabetes. I ask you to support this initiative, so ours will be the generation that finally wins the war against cancer -- and begins a revolution in our fight against all deadly diseases. Jim Cordy Pittsburgh [log in to unmask]