mr.chairman , i rise today to join my colleagues in urging full funding of the national children 's study . 
two of the most important health studies ever conducted were large , ambitious epidemiological studies . 
the framingham study followed the health and risk factors of thousands of men and women for fifty years . 
the result has been a major change in the way we view , treat and prevent heart diseases . 
the nurse 's study has monitored the health of over one hundred thousand women for decades . 
it , too , has resulted in unprecedented leaps forward in public health . 
now , we must turn our attention to one of the biggest sources of public health threats of our time : our own environment . 
the national children 's study will follow 100 , 000 children from before birth until age 21 . 
similar to the framingham study and the nurse 's study , it could yield giant steps forward in our efforts to solve some of the most complex and pervasive health problems of our time : obesity , asthma , and autism are just a few . 
and we could start to see results within a few years of data collection . 
yet the study has been left in a holding pattern . 
in order to begin recruiting participants in the study , 69 million dollars is required for this year . 
only 12 million dollars is provided in the fy 06 labor hhs bill . 
i hope that the conference committee allocates 69 million dollars in the conference report for the fy 06 labor hhs appropriations bill to the national children 's study . 
we are not doing our future children any favors by postponing this study until it is financially convenient . 
the need is here . 
the possibilities are here . 
