Letter to Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, and Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader - DelBene, King Lead Bipartisan Letter Rejecting Cuts to Medical Research

Letter

Dear Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi:

As the House works to enact further appropriations legislation for FY 2018, we urge you to strengthen and protect medical research funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To maintain America's role as a global leader in innovation and groundbreaking medical discoveries, we respectfully request that you continue NIH's support for facilities and administrative (F&A) research costs in any further appropriations bill enacted for FY 2018.

On a bipartisan basis, members of Congress have repeatedly demonstrated our clear and unambiguous support for NIH-funded medical research. We know these investments help us push the boundaries of scientific knowledge, advance promising research and offer hope to millions of Americans who are suffering. Funding for this life-saving work is also a key economic driver, supporting more than 400,000 jobs and generating over $60 billion in new economic activity. It delivers a significant return on our investment today and for generations to come.

For all these reasons, Congress has collectively dedicated $4 billion in additional resources for NIH-funded research in the last few years, including as recently as April, when the President signed an omnibus appropriations bill that provided another significant boost in the agency's funding. Now is not the time to undermine this momentum. Particularly as scientists pursue cutting-edge innovations in precision medicine, immunotherapy and genomics, we should not be taking steps that could severely hamper medical research across the country.

Maintaining federal support for F&A research costs is vitally important to our nation's health and our medical innovation capacity in the 21st century. Simply put, scientists cannot conduct research for the federal government without incurring these costs. Support for F&A helps cover critical components of doing research -- such as hazardous waste disposal, proper and secure storage of dangerous pathogens, maintenance of high-tech labs and essential personnel. That's why we welcomed provisions in both the House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills for FY 2018, as well as the short-term continuing resolution enacted earlier this month, to preserve NIH's support for these essential research costs. We strongly support the retention of this language in any further appropriations bill enacted for FY 2018. Accelerating the development of new cures, therapies and vaccines demands that we continue to support vital research costs like these.

While we understand the difficult fiscal challenges you face, we urge you to prioritize the important role NIH plays in medical innovation and economic growth by protecting and strengthening federally funded research in FY 2018. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

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