FY 2006 NIH Funding in Jeopardy After House Appropriations Committee Approval

June 16, 2005—The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations legislation for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies earlier today. The bill approved by the Committee adopted the funding recommendations proposed by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee on June 9.

Overall, the bill provides $28.5 billion for NIH, a $142.3 million or 0.5 percent increase over FY 2005, but $3 million less than President George W. Bush's FY 2006 budget request. Such a small increase is effectively a cut in funding since this level would not keep up with the cost of medical inflation. The Senate has yet to address FY 2006 appropriations for NIH, and is not expected to take up that bill until July.

Although the full Committee kept most of their funding levels in line with the Subcommittee’s recommendations, they did move $12 million of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Title VII funding from the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students program to the Centers of Excellence program, which was unfunded in the Subcommittee bill.

In addition, the Committee rejected an amendment (by a 36-29 vote) sponsored by Representative Dave Weldon (R-FL) that would have prevented NIH from funding any entity involved in human cloning or research using “all or part of any cloned human embryo or human clone at a later stage of development.” Many supporters of stem cell research spoke out in opposition to this amendment, along with members of the Committee leadership, who were concerned this controversial issue would jeopardize final passage of the bill.

Outlook
With FY 2006 funding for NIH in jeopardy, please visit the ASH Advocacy Center and send an e-mail to your Members of Congress to strengthen their support for NIH funding. The House leadership is expected to bring this bill to the House floor within the next two weeks and Senate action on this issue is not far behind. In a very tight year for the entire federal budget, grassroots support for NIH funding is critical to gain any traction in the appropriations process. ASH is supporting an NIH budget of at least $30 billion for FY 2006, a 6 percent increase over the FY 2005 level.

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