Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Aurora, Colorado
Thank you, Lieutenant Governor Primavera. You’re a fighter and a true champion for the people of Colorado. Dianne, you took my breath away last night – it was cold and late, very late, and you were out at the airport to welcome me to Colorado – your service knows no bounds. Thank you.
Today marks 25 years since 12 students and a teacher were killed in the shooting at Columbine. And, in this community, almost 12 years ago, that same pain ripped through Aurora.
This has to stop. Enough funerals. Enough death.
President Biden knows that. And that’s why he’s doing everything he can to protect our communities. But he can’t do it alone. Congress must act to end this senseless gun violence.
Please join me in a moment of silence.
Thank you.
Mayor Coffman, thank you for helping us make women’s health research a priority for the women of Aurora. You have dedicated yourself to common-sense solutions for the people of Colorado, and the President and I applaud your leadership.
President Saliman – the University of Colorado is making a tremendous difference. We are at an incredible inflection point, ready to make significant advances in this women-focused research and your leadership will help lead the way.
Thank you all for joining us today, for giving me part of your precious weekend.
If you ask any woman in America about her healthcare, she probably has a story to tell. You know her. You may even be her.
She’s the woman who gets debilitating migraines, but doesn’t know why, and can’t find treatment options that work for her.
She’s the woman going through menopause, who visits her doctor and leaves with more questions than answers, even though half the country will go through menopause at some point in their lives.
She’s the woman whose heart attack isn’t recognized because her symptoms don’t look like a man’s, even as heart disease is the leading cause of death among women.
This is why we are here today.
Too many of our medications, treatments, and medical school textbooks are based on men and their bodies. And that’s because research on women’s health has always been underfunded and understudied.
Even though we’ve made great strides in the last 20 years, women are still seeking health care in a medical world largely designed for men.
In November, President Biden changed that. He launched the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research to fundamentally transform how our country approaches and funds women’s health research.
Joe called on Congress to invest $12 billion into women’s health research at this year’s State of the Union.
And we’re pushing forward innovation that could be life-changing for women. We’re making sure that when the government funds research, that work includes women from the beginning. And when we make discoveries, those ideas get to the women and families waiting for answers.
That’s the power of research: to investigate and innovate, to help and heal, to build a better health care system.
Somewhere in this room may be the idea that will cure cancer, cure heart disease, cure Alzheimer’s.
Heart health, brain health, chronic diseases – you might just have the answers if only we dissolve the barriers standing in your way.
Through the White House Women’s Health Research Initiative, we begin to do just that.
We will write new stories about women’s health care. Ones where women leave doctors’ offices with more answers than questions. Where no woman or girl has to hear that, “it’s all in your head,” or, “it’s just stress” ever again.
Where women don’t just survive, they lead long, healthy, and happy lives.
Thank you.
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