there will how to develop the polio vaccines in one of the space missions. or so for the first conquered urging some of the first match, the scientific and mexican from the solstice go on and on. >> and their subpoenas today? connect behalf. >> what is this outline? >> a cell line is their souls to live in the laboratory and grow indefinitely. so they will keep growing and multiplying and living outside of the body as long as you keep them third and clean in the right temperature and everything. so they'll just live on forever. >> why did the doctor taker sells? >> so this was a point when scientists were trying to grow any cells they could get their hands on really. and so they been taking samples from anyone who came into the hospital, lots of different hospitals. so if scientists had taken hundreds of samples from people and they'll die. >> with their knowledge or without? >> pretty standard to do without their knowledge. very few people know this is happening. >> this is in the 40's? >> this is in the 50's. 1951 and from the cells were taken. it was stan

i think it may be fairly common among post-polio people. we always try and strive to live normal lives. >> and were you able to do so? have you done so? >> guest: it's a process and i think i've done so to the point that i've had more physical problems, which have made it impossible to live of the life i had lived. >> host: well, mr. wieler, tell us about the life you had lived. you went to law school and of after that what happened? >> guest: well, i guess i'll start at the beginning. i got poleo at 15, -- polio at 15, just before the shot became available, so i struggled to get through high school, thanks to the superintendent of county schools, i started in college, living with my uncle because he said no one would give me a chance unless i could prove that i could do it, and then i spent a year doing that, and then on to missouri. they developed a program for handicapped students and i was expected there and law school had always been kind of a dream, because two of the patients at the rehab hospital were lawyers and they didn't -- they

people with polio have always been chasing normality. >> and have you been able to do so? >> i think i've done so to a point but lately i've had more physical problems, which has made it impossible to live the life i had lived. >> well, mr. wieler, temperature us about the life you had lived. you went to law school and after that, what happened? >> well, i guess i'll start at the beginning. i got polio at 15, just before the shots became available, so i struggled to get through high school, thanks to the superintendent of county schools, i started in college living with my uncle, because he said no one would give me a chance unless i could of prove that i could do it, and then i spent a year in south dakota doing that, and then on to missouri, they had developed a program for handicapped students and i was accepted there and law school had always been kind of a dream, because the original rehab hospital for lawyers, they seemed like they had something going for them, they wanted to finance their normal -- continue their normal lives and that's what i wanted. so i wanted to

it was the classic symptom of polio. i checked into a hospital probably two days later and i started losing muscle over the course to the point to the point i had to be put in a iron lung to keep breathing. >> within a week? >> yeah, within a week. it all changed within one week. >> now, most polio patients don't live but a few years; is that correct? >> i don't know. i don't know if there's studies on that or not. we seem to have the ability to live fairly normal life spans. one of my friends died of cancer. one died of a brain hemorrhage. franklin roosevelt died of a brain hemorrhage. but i think that was a result of overwork and undermedication. >> so overnight, mr. wieler, you went from playing baseball and being a part of 4h and being a farm boy as you say to being in a wheelchair? >> this is true. within the space of a week. i actually went from farm boy to iron lung. and i spent the '60s in that iron long. -- lung. and believe it or not i didn't want to come out of it when the time came. i was scared to death. and

>> i often get this question accounted cancer cells help the polio vaccine. it seems like a complete disconnect so there's a lot of different ways. one of them is that they do have a lot of things about them that are normal. the have abnormal dna. but they still metabolize and produce protein, energy and a half cell membranes that function like a normal cells see you can study what is normal but the cancer cell and applied to any cell, but they also work as little factories. so if you in fact the cells with a virus like polio, the cells grow and grow and the fibers -- virus will reproduce and so you can mass produce five verses and extract them from the cells so they work as little factories but just more generally, they are just really widely studied so they are a sort of baseline for any research. scientists know how the honor flights and they know what to expect from this. so is the expose them to a drug or something else and thus the seventh react, they know what they're starting from city to see what changes so there's different ways. >> what are the fee

they became one of the most important things that happened in medicine and they were used to help the polio vaccine. they went up in the first space mission to see what would happen at schuman's be 18 in zero gravity. her jeans were the first map. the scientific maps that can go on and on. >> and they are still used today? >> still one of the widely used. yes. >> and what is a cell line? >> the hour cells that live in the laboratory and grow indefinitely, so basically they will keep growing and multiplying and living outside of the body as long as you keep them safe and clean and the right temperature and everything so they will live on forever. >> why did the doctor take her cells? >> this was a point when scientists were trying to grow any cells they could get their hands on the release of the been taking samples from anyone who came into the hospital. lots of different hospitals. scientists had taken hundreds of samples from people and they all died, their samples all died. >> with their knowledge or without? >> pretty standard to do it without their knowledge, yes, so very few people kn

>> when you think of the disability, the physical disability he had of polio where he never could stand again, where he was truly a paraplegic. where he couldn't walk on his own, i think mrs. roosevelt often said that this is what really changed his life in terms of his values and his commitments and his purposes he is an icon in the sdabled world. when people understand what he did. and governor paterson, interestingly, is very interested and been very helpful regarding this memorial. >> rose: because he has... is sight impaired. >> in part when he was at columbia university and his disability was causing him to drop out a professor gave him a biography of franklin roosevelt and said "don't change until you understand this." and i think... plus, also roosevelt was a master politician in leading our country. he saved the free enterprise system. he put into place a regulatory system that we're now looking back on with envy. >> rose: do you think what nelson rockefeller admired was that he was a patrician who was able to devote himself to public service? >> yes. i think nelson rockefeller

for polio, that is the last place in africa it still is. we have seen some relief there with a bit better government. >> senator, could i go back? one thing you said relates to what senator lugar asked me on the impact to our foreign policy. before the current coalition government took office in zambabwe, we were providing pediatric medicine and some other retrovirals. 2/3 of all the kids who get this medicine didn't have any other way to get it. now, we cleared it, but the state department made the right decision. they said even though we are at odds with must guantanamo bay -- mugabe bi, people are still pouring across the border from zambabwe. there is an inherent conflict sometimes between how good the government is and how much the need is. there is no one rule. but you can't walk away from the humanitarian crisis, and it turns out that is the best policy. >> senator cardin? >> president clinton and mr. gates, thank you for everything you have done, and thank you for beale here. your presence helps in the challenge that senator kerry p

the success of polio we are near to eradication. the success of malaria were the target countries are down 50%, including rwanda and zambia. the 4 million people receiving aid treatment that would have died years ago. my favorite statistics is that since 1960 the number of children who die every year has dropped from 20 million to less than 9 million. things like new vaccines deserve a lot of credit for that. the united states is the biggest funder of global health. we deserve a lot of credit for these advances. just over a quarter of the money given for global health comes from this country. and yet in total it represents only point to 5% of the federal budget. as we get the successes to be understood, i think we can get strong support. the image of foreign aid that people had during the cold war, where much of the money was political and there were not controls to measure how the money was spent -- those days are gone, particularly in the health area. we can look at the outcomes. if people do, the conclusion would be inescapable.

nigeria, polio is the last place in africa where it still is. >> one thing you said relates to what senator lugar asked about, the impact on foreign policy. before the current coalition government took office in zimbabwe, we were providing pediatric aids medicine and some other anti retroviruals. two-thirds of the kids in the world who get this mess and get it from the contracts we negotiate. -- who get this madison. the state department made the right decision. even though there are all these controversies, there is a humanitarian case to be made. south africa is wallowing in an aids problem that has been aggravated by people pouring across the border from zimbabwe. i think that goes back to what bill said. there is an inherent conflict sometimes between how good the government is and how much the need is. there is no one rule, but you cannot walk away from the humanitarian crisis, and it often turns out that is the best policy. >> thank you very much for everything you have done to help internationally on help, and thank you for being here. i think your presence here today helps in the ch

. >> when you produce these besides polio where else have they gone? >> everywhere. >> other examples? of products? >> you can use them as a baseline. you can grow as i said you can grow various things so if you want to grow a certain protein you can use the cells for that. and just the research literally is if you go to a scientific data base and taipei and hela it's like going on google and typing "and" the research still goes today. >> what is hela? >> it's the name of the cells, it stands for henrietta lacks, and it's still going. i can't remember the number but it's the scientific journal articles published each month using hela cells i think it's about, i don't remember the number of around 3,000 papers a month. so just enormous amount of research. >> how did you find this story? -- >> after the 70's it became more public knowledge? >> most people don't know her name or anything about her that there are these cells, so scientists or biology teachers will talk about cancer and cells and say we learned a lot of what we know about cancer and cells f

i remember last time we had a problem like this when i was a child i remember the polio epidemic and what we did for the polio epidemic we went to them with a kind of -- there was no debate in congress about whether it was pro or con. we took everybody in america. now this year i believe the playing field must be level. i think we're going that direction any way. so we must take care of every one in an equal american way. i am concerned these facts have been told and the other meanings are true that we lose an african-american man or to every day. to prostate cancer. i think it should be modernized. i think the mammograms have shown we can do the same thing with prostate if we get a little accent to the research. my mind is fairly creative. i did book coming out next month and i take a train and a bus and promote my foundation to level the playing field for the next generation. if we do not plant negatives in the next generation they will grow up free of certain prejudices we might not know we have so i think this generation is of the inside of making sure we don't add to the problem

debate is a far cry from the days of jonas salk, who in 1955 announced he had developed a vaccine for polio>> who owns the patent on the vaccine? >> dr. jonas salk: there is no patent. would you try to patent the sun? >> safer: he said it was like trying to patent the sun. >> noonan: yes, i know. but maybe it was a slightly different time. today, you're going to have to have people to get their investment back. >> safer: but they're not selling cars, they're selling health. >> noonan: whether it's cars or health, there has to be a profit for some investor to invest. if we want to eliminate profit, we're talking about a different economic system. >> safer: i don't think people are talking about the elimination of profit; they're talking about reasonable cost. >> noonan: again, i think that, yes, i'd like the test to be cheaper. and when the patents expire, they will be. >> safer: the last of myriad's patents on the breast cancer genes expires in eight years, but if chris hansen has his way, that could be even sooner. he is the lead lawyer for the american civil liberties union in what could

i remember last time we had a problem like this when i was a child i remember the polio epidemic and what we did for the polio epidemic we went to them with a kind of -- there was no debate in congress about whether it was pro or con. we took everybody in america. now this year i believe the playing field must be level. i think we're going that direction any way. so we must take care of every one in an equal american way. i am concerned these facts have been told and the other meanings are true that we lose an african-american man or to every day. to prostate cancer. i think it should be modernized. i think the mammograms have shown we can do the same thing with prostate if we get a little accent to the research. my mind is fairly creative. i did book coming out next month and i take a train and a bus and promote my foundation to level the playing field for the next generation. if we do not plant negatives in the next generation they will grow up free of certain prejudices we might not know we have so i think this generation is of the inside of making sure we don't add to the problem

>> at think as this committee is polio where historically no administration has ever made the ada requests it really put them behind the eightball. that is one of the reasons why we came for this year and have, in fact, made the $22 million request to start funding those legitimate needs. >> thank you. senator bond. >> thank you, madam chair. i would just no one thing as a former governor. i can tell you that looking to the states to make massive investments in high-speed rail is not bowing to happen anytime soon until the states did out of the holes they are and. in california you mentioned, probably is an somewhere out there between greece and spain. having budget problems. madame chair, i am going to submit questions in writing for the record. i need to have a lot more specifics, firm priorities, amounts, not just we are going to work on a plan, but the plan, criteria, priorities before i can support any of these requests and need to know how they fit in our overall budget. thank you for your testimony, mr. administrator. we have other witnesses. we will be communicating with you. they