President Obama Makes Remarks to National Academy of Sciences

Posted on April 27, 2009October 17, 2012

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2009

Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
National Academy of Sciences
Washington, DC
April 27, 2009

It is my privilege to address the distinguished members of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as the leaders of the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine who have gathered here this morning.

I’d like to begin today with a story of a previous visitor who also addressed this august body.

In April of 1921, Albert Einstein visited the United States for the first time. His international celebrity was growing as scientists around the world began to understand and accept the vast implications of his theories of special and general relativity. He attended this annual meeting, and after sitting through a series of long speeches by others, he reportedly said, “I have just got a new theory of eternity.” I’ll do my best to heed this cautionary tale.

The very founding of this institution stands as a testament to the restless curiosity and boundless hope so essential not just to the scientific enterprise, but to this experiment we call America.

A few months after a devastating defeat at Fredericksburg, before Gettysburg would be won and Richmond would fall, before the fate of the Union would be at all certain, President Lincoln signed into law an act creating the National Academy of Sciences.

Lincoln refused to accept that our nation’s sole purpose was merely to survive. He created this academy, founded the land grant colleges, and began the work of the transcontinental railroad, believing that we must add “the fuel of interest to the fire of genius in the discovery… of new and useful things.”

This is America’s story. Even in the hardest times, and against the toughest odds, we have never given in to pessimism; we have never surrendered our fates to chance; we have endured; we have worked hard; we have sought out new frontiers.

Today, of course, we face more complex set of challenges than we ever have before: a medical system that holds the promise of unlocking new cures and treatments – attached to a health care system that holds the potential to bankrupt families and businesses. A system of energy that powers our economy – but also endangers our planet. Threats to our security that seek to exploit the very interconnectedness and openness so essential to our prosperity. And challenges in a global marketplace which links the derivative trader on Wall Street to the homeowner on Main Street, the office worker in America to the factory worker in China – a marketplace in which we all share in opportunity, but also in crisis.

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Sebelius Nomination Draws Fire but Advances

Posted on April 22, 2009October 17, 2012

The nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee yesterday, leaving only a vote of the full Senate. What was once expected to be a rather comfortable confirmation has evolved into a rather partisan debate over President Obama’s intentions in reforming the U.S. health insurance system. Conservatives on the panel sought assurances — which they did not receive — from Governor Sebelius that HHS would not seek a plan that limited consumer choice of doctor, hospital, or coverage options. Despite the reservations expressed by some members, the Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination on a largely party line 15-8 vote. Consideration of the nomination by the full Senate could take place later this week.

President Obama Creates White House Office on Health Reform

Posted on April 9, 2009October 17, 2012

On April 8th, President Obama issued an Executive Order establishing a White House Office of Health Reform. The new office will provide leadership to the executive branch on federal health reform efforts. Nancy-Ann DeParle, who ran the Health Care Financing Administration under President Clinton, will direct the new office. The order also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an Office of Health Reform, which will work in collaboration with the White House office.

Senator Murray Will Introduce Bill to Aid Trauma Centers

Posted on March 26, 2009October 17, 2012

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) held a press conference today to announce the introduction of the National Trauma Center Stabilization Act. She was accompanied by two representatives from the National Foundation for Trauma Care, Dr. Ronald Maier from Harborview Hospital in Seattle, and trauma surgeons from the Medical College of South Carolina, Ohio State University, University of Tennessee, Yale Medical Center and Med Star of the DC metropolitan area.

The cost for providing trauma care has increased, often trauma centers provide care for which they are not paid for by either insurance or the patient, and the economy has affected their ability to provide service. The bill will provide assistance for trauma centers that are facing economic hardships by reauthorizing federal funding for those centers facing the highest uncompensated costs, provide emergency funding to those centers facing closure, and provide financial support for core mission services.

The House companion bill, HR 936, was introduced on February 10, 2009. It establishes four programs to award grants to public or nonprofit trauma centers across the nation that are facing downgrades or closure. The bill authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY 2010 – FY 2015 and specifies percentages to be reserved for the different types of grants.