Congress has recognized the importance of respiratory health and has em- barked on programs to make a difference. From 1998–2003, Congress doubled the budget of the National Institutes of Health. We have strengthened the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, granted the Food and Drug Administration the ability to regulate tobacco, improved pollution control through the Environmental Protection Agency, and funded tuberculosis programs throughout the world because we realize that in order to control tuberculosis at home, we need to control it worldwide. The money invested in research has been money well spent. Americans are living longer and healthier and, for the.
