Thank you to all who responded to our call to action this week by sending a letter to your member of Congress in support of biomedical research funding in the economic recovery package.  The House passed the package on January 28th by a vote of 244-188.  The legislation includes $1.5 billion for grants, $500 million for intramural construction, and $1.5 billion for extramural facilities renovation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The National Science Foundation (NSF) will also receive $3 billion and Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science will receive $1.9 billion.

The Senate Appropriations Committee marked-up its portion of the Senate recovery package on January 27th and included $3.5 billion for the NIH to be used for grants, capital equipment, and intramural facilities.  It likely that Senator Specter (R-PA) will offer an amendment during floor debate to add $6.5 billion for NIH, which would bring the total to $10 billion.  NSF will receive $1.4 billion and DOE will receive $430 million if the package is passed in its current form.  The Senate could consider the legislation early next week, and it is vital that your Senators hear from you today about the immediate impact that research funding has on the health of the nation’s people and the economy.

A sample letter has been created for you; you may customize it if you wish.

Write a letter today by using this link: http://capwiz.com/endocrine/home/ and your message will automatically be sent to your Senators.

Let them know of the need to increase research funding levels in order to stimulate the economy.