Endocrine Insider
July 22, 2009
(See Full Issue)

The House of Representatives is in the midst of the fiscal year (FY) 2010 appropriations process, and the Appropriations Committee met last week to consider the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill. The Labor-HHS bill determines annual funding levels for the National Institutes of Health.  The committee included $31.3 billion for NIH, $500 million more than the President’s request and $942 million (3 percent) more than FY 2009.  Also of importance, the committee followed the recommendation of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee that NIH funding should not be designated for research on specific diseases as the President had requested in his budget. 

While the funding level approved by the Appropriations Committee is below the 7 percent that The Endocrine Society and the majority of the scientific community recommended for FY 2010, Congressman Obey (D-WI) and the Appropriations Committee have recognized the value of biomedical research by allocating more to NIH than the President’s request.  This is particularly encouraging after the NIH received $10 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The full House is expected to consider the Labor-HHS appropriations bill later this week.  It is vital that Representatives hear from their constituents about the importance of biomedical research and the need to provide NIH with the funds necessary to prepare for the post-stimulus era.  Endocrine Society members may send a letter to their member of Congress by entering their contact information through the link below.  Through this streamlined process, it only takes a minute to ensure that members of Congress hear from their constituents on this important issue.

http://www.endo-society.org/advocacy/capwiz.cfm