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Mr. SPECTER. I thank the gentleman for his remarks, and look forward
to continuing to work with him on these matters. Now I would like to
recognize the other Senate sponsor of the Udall Act, another Senator
with a deep and sincere connection to Parkinson's disease, the
gentleman from Minnesota, Senator Wellstone.

Mr. WELLSTONE. I thank the Senator, and commend him for his support
on this very important issue. I also wish to thank my friend, Senator
McCain, for joining me last year in sponsoring the Udall Act.   I
believed when we passed the Udall Act last year we had begun to
change a sad history of chronic underfunding of Parkinson's by the
NIH. It was a very personal victory for me--and for all those who
fought so hard to see the Udall Act enacted into law.   I am here
today, along with my colleagues, in an effort to fulfill the promise
of the Udall Act and the commitment we in Congress made to people
with Parkinson's, their families and those researchers dedicated to
curing this disease. I find it very disheartening to learn that so
little of the research NIH claims to devote to Parkinson's is
actually Parkinson's-focused as called for by the Utall Act. it was
our intent and it is our obligation to ensure that at least $100
million in research specifically focused on Parkinson's is allocated.
And if it takes stronger language, more oversight, or congressional
hearings to guarantee it gets done, then that's what we must do.
Members of the Senate have expressed their interest in seeing the
Udall Act fully funded in fiscal year 1999, and we have taken some
positive steps this year to accomplish that goal. But our work is
not done. The ultimate goal is not legislative accomplishments. It is
not adding more dollars to this account or that one. The ultimate
goal is to find a cure for this horrible, debilitating disease so
that more people don't have to suffer the way my parents and our
family did, or the way Mo Udall and his family does, or the way
countless families do every day in this country. By passing the
Udall Act we made a promise to put the necessary resources into the
skilled hands of researchers dedicated to finding that cure. I
intend, as I know my colleagues and those in the Parkinson's
community intend, to do everything I can to fulfill that promise.

Mr. SPECTER. I thank the Senator from Minnesota and all of my
colleagues for their remarks today about Parkinson's research funding
through the NIH. I look forward to working closely to address the
concerns expressed here today.