Government Affairs Committee Update

July 2005

Senate Appropriations Committee Provides NIH with 3.7 Percent Increase
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved fiscal year (FY) 2006 legislation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies on July 14. The bill approved by the Senate Committee provides NIH with $29.42 billion in FY 2006, a $1.05 billion or 3.7 percent increase over FY 2005. On June 24, the House agreed to $28.5 billion for NIH, a $142.3 million or 0.5 percent increase over FY 2005, but $3 million less than the $28.845 billion in President George W. Bush's FY 2006 Budget Request for the agency.

Every E-mail Counts—Contact Your Senators on NIH Funding Today!
With the appropriations process underway in the Senate, it is important for ASH Government Affairs Committee members to visit the ASH Advocacy Center right now and send an e-mail to their Senators to strengthen support for NIH funding. As you can see, it is a very tight year for the entire federal budget and grassroots support for NIH funding is critical.

ASH-Recommended Appropriations Committee Language Included in Senate Report
The Government Affairs Committee’s work to build support on Capitol Hill for the Society’s NIH research agenda paid off yesterday with the approval of the FY 2006 Senate Labor, HHS, and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Committee Report 109-103. The Senate report includes language that promotes and furthers the NIH research interests of ASH, in areas such as hemoglobinopathies, vascular biology, blood cancers, and thrombosis. Government Affairs Committee members were very successful in conveying to Congress the benefits of and opportunities in hematology research at NIH. Interested Committee members can find the ASH-recommended language in the sections for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and National Institute on Aging.

Stem Cell Vote Pending in Senate; Alternative Methods for Obtaining Embryonic Stem Cells under Discussion
Pressure continues to mount around the upcoming vote in the Senate on increasing the number of embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federal research funding. With the groups opposing embryonic stem cell research actively soliciting support on Capitol Hill, it is critical for you to contact your Senators now to urge support for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (HR 810). Please visit the ASH Advocacy Center and participate in the Stem Cell Campaign. In addition, the release of a White Paper from the President’s Council on Bioethics on alternative ways for scientists to derive embryonic stem cells prompted the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee to hold a hearing on June 12 on the issue. The hearing focused on four methods for establishing pluripotent stem cell lines: dead embryos, biopsied blastomeres, biological artifacts, and reprogramming somatic cells.

ASH Continues Advocacy Efforts on NIH Public Access
ASH continues to have concerns about the NIH policy on public access because it duplicates private sector online publishing initiatives, diverts limited NIH resources away from funding biomedical research, and may undermine the activities of nonprofit peer-reviewed journals. Of further concern is language included in the report accompanying the FY 2006 House Labor, HHS, and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Bill that prejudges the value of this policy and calls for more aggressive action to maximize participation. ASH led a coalition of 51 nonprofit publishers that sought and received inclusion of language in the FY 2006 Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Committee Report directing NIH to provide cost information and determine the availability of NIH research articles through existing private sector services. The report language is available online under “public access.”

House Committee Begins Discussions on Reauthorization of NIH
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health circulated a discussion draft of a bill to reauthorize NIH earlier this week. The Subcommittee plans to hold a hearing on NIH reauthorization on July 19 and expects to pass the legislation prior to the August recess. It is unlikely that the Senate will take up the NIH reauthorization legislation this session, but Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)—Chair of the Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee—has expressed interest in the process and may hold a hearing on the issue in August.

Senate Committee Approves Bill to Unite Cord Blood and Bone Marrow Networks
On June 29, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved legislation (S 1317) that would combine the National Marrow Donor Program with a proposed umbilical cord blood bank network. The legislation passed by the HELP Committee incorporates the language included in the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (HR 2520) that passed the House on May 24. S 1317 establishes a national network of centers under the rubric of the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Cell Transplantation Program that would collect and maintain umbilical cord blood stem cells and bone marrow for treatment and research purposes as well as share a single case management office and database registry to allow physicians to search for bone marrow and umbilical cord blood donors. The ASH Policy Statement in support of a federally-funded national cord blood bank program is available online.

Update on Practice Issues
For the latest legislative and regulatory information on Medicare reimbursement, pay-for-performance initiatives, and news for practitioners, please review the July 2005 Committee on Practice Update.

2005 ASH Advocacy Awards—Send in Your Nominations
One of the duties of the Government Affairs Committee is to choose the annual recipients of the ASH Advocacy Awards (with the approval of the ASH Executive Committee).  The ASH Award for Public Service, ASH Award for Outstanding Service, and ASH Outstanding Lifetime Service Award were developed as a means to recognize and honor individuals who have served as effective advocates for government support of biomedical research and the practice of hematology.  By Wednesday, July 20, please send in your nominations to Jeff Coughlin.

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