Endocrine Insider
October 11, 2007

As indicated in a recent Endocrine Society alert, the Senate is expected to vote next week on the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill, which contains proposed funding levels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and many other vital health programs for FY 2008. The President has already announced his intention to veto any appropriations bill that exceeds his spending targets, which includes the Labor-HHS bill. It is vitally important that you contact your Senators now and encourage them to vote in support of the Labor-HHS appropriations levels approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which would provide the NIH with $29.9 billion in FY 2008. The scientific community needs to send a strong message to the President, and the best way to do this is to ensure that the Labor-HHS appropriations bill passes with a veto-proof majority.

Under the President’s proposed FY 2008 budget, most NIH institutes and centers would see their budgets remain flat for the fourth year in a row. The President’s proposed FY 2008 NIH budget of $28.7 billion is $230 million less than the FY 2007 budget. If the President’s budget were passed, the NIH budget would fall 12 percent from 2004 to 2008 when adjusted for biomedical research inflation.

Please take a minute to e-mail your Senators by clicking on “Action Alert: Show Your Support for Increased NIH Funding – Contact Your Senator Now!” at the following link: http://capwiz.com/endocrine/home/. Let them know of the need to support an increase in research funding levels for FY 2008. A sample letter has been created for you; you may customize it if you wish.