108th Congress

Juvenile Diabetes—Examining the Personal Toll on Families, Financial Costs to the Federal Health Care System and Research Progress Towards a Cure—Hearing before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs

June 24, 2003

Witness: Dr. Allen Spiegel, Director of National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Held in conjuction with the 3rd Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's (JDRF) Children's Congress, this hearing gave the delegates to the Children's Congress and their families the opportunity to discuss the hardships of living with diabetes. They thanked Senators for keeping their promise to double funding for NIH, and urged them to keep investing in diabetes research.

From the research perspective, Mary Tyler Moore, and Dr. Bernhard Hering, Director of Islet Transplantation, University of Minnesota, stressed the promise of pancreatic islet cell transplantation, and the overwhelming need for pancreas donors. Ms. Moore also emphasized the promise of stem cell research, and the need for the Bush Administration to change its policy. Dr. Allen Spiegel, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, thanked the Senators for their support of the Special Statutory Funding, which was used to augment NIH's regularly appropriated funding for diabetes research. He noted the progress made in converting adult stem cells into insulin-producing cells.

Senator Specter appeared briefly, to interject his views that the "hands of scientists are being tied" by the Administration's policy and fears, prompted by legislation from the House of Representatives criminalizing research on stem cells. During questioning, Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) asked Dr. Spiegel if NIH would endorse her bill, S. 518, the Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation Act of 2003. He explained that he was not able to comment on pending legislation, but that NIH saw promise in the science in this area.