Help ASH Advocate for FY 2006 NIH Funding – Senate Preparing to Vote on Bill

December 19, 2005—Later this week, the Senate will vote on the fiscal year (FY) 2006 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Conference Report that was narrowly approved by the House on December 15. Under the final and revised version, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would receive $28.6 billion, an increase of 0.9 percent. If enacted, this would be the smallest increase for NIH since 1970.

Please go to the ASH Advocacy Center and click on the FY 2006 NIH funding campaign to send an e-mail to your Senators to help encourage increased funding in the FY 2006 Labor-HHS bill.

In addition, it is highly likely that Congress will conclude the legislative year by enacting an additional 1 percent across-the-board cut in all discretionary spending (including NIH). The net result would be a real cut in funding for the biomedical research portfolio at NIH. Moreover, combined with the expected medical inflation rate of 3.5 percent next year, the funding levels under consideration may force NIH to choose between ongoing basic research efforts or new clinical research activities, resulting in an overall slowdown in medical discoveries.

The medical research community’s final opportunity to influence the FY 2006 appropriations for NIH rests with the Senate. A vote is expected to take place later this week. We encourage all ASH members to contact their two Senators right away and encourage them to vote against the FY 2006 Labor-HHS Appropriations Conference Report. ASH is supporting an NIH budget of at least $29.4 billion for FY 2006, the same level approved by the Senate on October 27.

More information about FY 2006 NIH funding is available online.

Thanks for your help with ASH’s grassroots advocacy efforts. If you have questions, or need more information, please contact ASH Government Affairs Manager Jeff Coughlin at (202) 776-0544 or jcoughlin@hematology.org.