Alzheimer's Awareness

Floor Speech

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Mr. RIGELL. Mr. Speaker, I found in my public service that one of the great privileges of serving are the opportunities it has afforded to me to meet with so many amazing Americans and Virginians from all walks of life. Many of these occasions have been moments of great joy: greeting servicemembers when they have returned home from serving abroad, graduation ceremonies.

There have also been moments of profound sadness and serious moments where not only me, but I am sure my colleagues here, have had the opportunity--and the difficult one--to actually meet with those who have lost a servicemember in service to our country or those whose families have really been hit so hard with a debilitating, indeed, fatal disease.

One of those fatal diseases that I come to the floor this morning to speak about is Alzheimer's. I believe probably every Member of this House has been affected by it in some way; both sides. It certainly affected my own family.

Alzheimer's damages and eventually destroys brain cells. It leads to memory loss and other challenges in brain function. It usually develops slowly and gradually gets worse. Ultimately, Alzheimer's is fatal.

Every 66 seconds, Mr. Speaker, a fellow American is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. But let's be clear: we are not talking about statistics here. We are talking about people.

To my left is the Garner family. I have learned so much from the Garner family about Alzheimer's. If you ever wonder if engaging your local Representative makes a difference; indeed, it does. This family is an example of that.

This is Jim; his wife, Karen; and their two beautiful children. I got to know Jim when he was diagnosed in the early stages of Alzheimer's. He was an officer in the United States Air Force at Langley. He served with distinction. Alzheimer's cut that short.

This is Frankie. Their daughter, Frankie, is amazing. She is one of the strongest advocates I know for a cause that she believes in. I have learned a lot from her and her entire family.

Jim passed away this past April, just days before his 54th birthday. Karen kept a blog about her experiences, and with her permission, I want to read from that blog. This is Karen speaking:

I want people to see what Alzheimer's disease does to a wonderful human being. I want to break the misconception that Alzheimer's disease is just old people forgetting someone's name or getting lost. I want to erase the stereotypical patient idea. I want the stigma that follows a diagnosis to be a thing of the past.

Well, we have got a long way to go before that is a complete reality across our Nation, but she and the family have helped me understand this. I am grateful to them and to the Alzheimer's Association for helping me further grasp at a deeper level just how this disease is harming our country.

Now, if we look at it, here are some of the statistics that we have got to keep in mind. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Of the 10 top killers of Americans, Alzheimer's is the only disease that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed.

The rate of diagnosis is increasing. Right now, we have about 5 million Americans that are suffering from this disease, including 135,000 Virginians. If we fail to act, Mr. Speaker, the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's could soar to as many as 16 million by 2020.

I am a fiscal conservative. I am acutely aware of our fiscal trajectory. Yet, as I look at the cost of Alzheimer's--and it is far more than a cost--if we look at what is happening here statistically, here is where our expenses are going, Mr. Speaker. I, as a fiscal conservative, come to the House floor today to say that we need to be investing more in Alzheimer's research.

We worked in, I think, an admirable and bipartisan way to increase funding to over $660 million a year. Mr. Speaker, I call for $2 billion. It is money well invested. Some things that we invest in are true expenses. Other things are true investments. This is one of them.

We should fund every program and medical research opportunity that shows promise. And, indeed, there are great opportunities for promise here. We can investigate brain imaging, biomarkers, and clinical tools that may result in earlier and more accurate diagnoses, timely interventions, and effective disease monitoring.

If we had advanced this, we could have done a better job for Jim and his family's lives. We ought to really set for our country something like the great moon shot that my father was so an integral part of.

Mr. Speaker, I am convinced that we can do this. We can find a cure. We can do right by the next generation. Keep in mind that it is not about statistics, but it is about people.

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