Mr. Chairman, I commend you for opening this inquiry, for holding this hearing, and for insisting that Mr. Azur testify despite the opposition of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The ethics concerns at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) merit the full attention of this Subcommittee, as do efforts to hinder the work of this Subcommittee.

We are still learning how far and wide the problem of outside payments goes. When NIH initially refused to compel its employees to disclose the extent of the "consulting" dollars received from drug and biotech companies, you and Chairman Barton surveyed 20 drug companies for their payments to NIH employees. The companies responded regarding some 264 contracts with scientists employed at NIH. When comparing those contracts with the information ultimately submitted to us by NIH, the staff discovered some 100 of the 264 consulting agreements were not reported to NIH. What else is out there?

We, as well as NIH and FDA, have a duty to ensure that this probe does not harm research or regulatory approvals. But ignoring the problems at NIH and FDA is not an option. The research community, the healthcare industry, and the American people simply cannot tolerate a system where state of the art technology is sold to the highest bidder. Worse, we cannot tolerate a system where the development and use of life-saving drugs and biologics may be delayed while the auction is being conducted.

Nor can we tolerate hindrance and obstruction by the Department of Health and Human Services. Officials in charge of legislative affairs and some misguided government lawyers have tried to stifle the investigation, stonewall our requests for documents and interviews, and otherwise sought to prevent Congress and the American people from discovering very serious problems. Moreover, the Inspector General's curious reluctance to do more than mere desk audits is unacceptable. The American people have the right to know what is going on over at the Department, and I support all efforts to enforce that right.