April 8, 2005

Capitol Hill Day Success
Thanks to all Committee members who participated in the Committee’s Capitol Hill Day. Committee members visited 23 congressional offices where they shared ASH's appropriations recommendations, urged support of $10 million to fund the Sickle Cell Treatment Act, and expressed concern about the NIH public access policy. Thanks also to those Committee members who could not attend the Capitol Hill Day, but contacted their Senators and Representatives with ASH’s messages.

ASH Submits Comments on new NIH Conflict of Interest Rules
The NIH has issued far-reaching conflict of interest changes for its employees. Details and ASH’s comment letter are available online. ASH supports ethics rules similar to those recommended by the NIH Blue Ribbon Panel on Conflict of Interest and the NIH Assembly of Scientists that ensure that personal financial interests do not compromise the NIH research program, but expressed serious concerns about the ability of NIH to recruit and retain the best scientists under the new rules and about the possible extension of the rules to extramural researchers.

Congressional Budget & Appropriations Process Continues; Difficult Year for NIH
House and Senate negotiators are trying to iron out the differences between their respective FY 2006 budget resolutions. While the House plan provides for only a 0.7 percent increase over last year for NIH, the Senate boosted funds for the NIH, adopting an amendment by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) to provide a 5.2 percent increase. Meanwhile, ASH submitted written testimony to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees that urged support for several FY 2006 issues, including a 6 percent increase for NIH.

House Leadership Agrees to Hold Vote by July 4 on Increasing Eligible Embryonic Stem Cell Lines
The House Leadership’s agreement to hold a vote on expanding embryonic stem cell research opportunities is a major step forward for supporters of this issue—the House has been a major barrier to addressing the issue of expanding the number of embryonic stem cell research lines eligible for federal research funding. ASH needs all Government Affairs Committee members to contact Congress and urge support for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S 471/HR 810). This bill provides for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research on lines derived after August 9, 2001 and requires strong ethical guidelines for implementation. Please visit the ASH Advocacy Center to send a letter to your Members of Congress today.

Legislation to Ban All Forms of Cloning Introduced in the House and Senate
The “Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005” (HR 1357/S 658) was introduced in the House and Senate and would ban all forms of human cloning, including nuclear transfer (NT) research. This is the same legislation that passed the House by large margins in 2003 and 2004 but was stalled both years in the Senate. Sources have indicated that Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are preparing to introduce legislation in the next few weeks to ban human reproductive cloning but allow NT research under strict guidelines.

Important Information for Practitioners
For the latest information concerning Medicare reimbursement, pay-for-performance measures, and news for practitioners, please see the ASH Committee on Practice Update.

If you have questions, or need more information, please contact ASH Government Affairs Manager Jeff Coughlin at (202) 776-0544.