Sandra Day O'Connor [automatically transcribed, may contain inaccuracies]
Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst and members of the Texas Senate, senators, staffers, aides, and all of you present here today, it is truly have a tremendous honor for me to be here and to have you extend this honor to me and give me a few minutes—I won't take many—to speak to you today.

I know how tough it is to be in a state senate. When I was in the Arizona State Senate, as Majority Leader, we had a majority of one. So we had an ticklish time, trying to get support for some of the measures that we had. But we managed to get bipartisan agreement on many things. And it was very satisfying to work in the State Senate in those years. And I appreciate it back chance. And I appreciate the time chance to be here. You've already heard I have strong El Paso links. I went to Radford as a grade school and then off to Stephen F. Austin High School in El Paso, which is still there. I visited it several times, and it hasn't changed. But the student body has changed, if I think today predominantly Hispanic, and it was not when I attended Austin High. But it's still a fine High School and much fun to visit.

I was motivated to step down from the Supreme Court, when my husband who suffers from Alzheimer's had reached the stage that he really needed full time care. And that happens over time. The progression of the disease varies from case to case and person to person. Probably another if you have family members or know someone who suffers from Alzheimer's. So you know that the disease takes a slow course, that there is no cure known at present. And that it takes a devastating toll on not only the individual who suffers from it, but the family members because it is a disease that affects every member of the family, by virtue of the care that needs to be provided. It's not a disease that fits very well under medicaid medicare situation because you get the diagnosis, and you don't go to the doctor and get any immediate relief, you just live with it thing while it sucks out your memory and your capacity of the brain to function.

We really in this country have managed a couple of times to address major diseases and do something about them. I think of tuberculosis as one, and we pretty much brought it under control because we had a national focus on it and every state cooperated. We did it with polio, we really managed with the cooperation of every state and at the national level, to pretty much get polio under control. We need to do that with this disease of Alzheimer's. We need a focus in every state. And we need a national focus on the disease. There are a few promising areas for research to find something that will alleviate the symptoms and perhaps provide a cure, perhaps prevent it from occurring in the first place. And we desperately need the cooperation at every state level. You have a good program here in Texas. And I've been privileged to meet today with some of the people associated with that effort here. And I think that as a legislature, you've provided some financial support. Congratulations on doing that.

Our nation really needs to take action now. We anticipate that we are going to have a more than 50% increase in the number of people with Alzheimer's in the next 20 years. We're told that one in two people over 80 will have the disease. That gets serious, and it hits home because we're living a little longer than we used to. And it's taking a terrible toll. So I congratulate Texas and you in the legislature here for what you've done thus far. And I encourage you to continue with your efforts to support the research that it takes to find something in the way of a solution. I encourage you to encourage other states to do the same.

Arizona is taking steps not unlike those that you're doing in Texas. And I think with the help of all, at the end of the day we'll see some relief on this disease of Alzheimer's. Thank you so much for honoring me today, for listening for a minute or two, and for all that you're doing. Many thanks.