Statement by Secretary Heckler

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The credit for these discoveries belongs to many people.
Under the leadership of the Public Health Service, many
scientists, both inside and outside the government and around
the world, have given their time, their dedication, their genius
to solving this puzzle.
In particular, credit should go to Dr. Robert Gallo, chief
of the NCI Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, who directed the
research that produced this discovery; to Dr. Edward Brandt, the
Assistant Secretary for Health, who has led the PHS-wide effort;
to Dr. Vincent DeVita, Director of the National Cancer
Institute; and to Drs. James Mason and James Curran of the
Centers for Disease Control.
And as is so often the case in scientific pursuit, other
discoveries have occurred in different laboratories -- even in
different parts of the world -- which will ultimately contribute
to the goal we all seek: the conquest of AIDS. I especially
want to cite the efforts of the Pasteur Institute in France,
which has in part been working in collaboration with the
National Cancer Institute. They have previously identified a
virus which they have linked to AIDS patients, and within the
next few weeks we will know with certainty whether that virus is
the same one identified through the NCI's work. We believe it
will prove to be the same.