Every year, life-threatening illnesses deprive the economy of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of lost work time and productive output. Investment in medical research will cut that loss dramatically. The University of Chicago economists Kevin M. Murphy and Robert H. Topel recently estimated that reducing cancer deaths by just 1 percent would provide a $500 billion benefit to the economy in productivity gains and lower health care costs. What we sometimes call “human capital” and what I call “people power” is the most important infrastructure there is.

So here’s my plea to Congress: Stand up to cancer. Stand up for people fighting serious disease. Stand up and help restore America’s economy. Stand up and help build a prosperous and healthy future for our people by giving the NIH $10 billion for research. Stand up to create jobs, fight illness and deliver hope.