Although changes in Washington with the new administration and the 107th Congress could change the picture for federal funding of biomedical research, public statements indicate that efforts to double the National Institutes of Health budget will be sustained.
President Bush spoke regularly during his campaign, and more recently as president, of his support for increasing the NIH budget, and the project has received enthusiastic endorsement from both sides of the aisle in the Congress.
With Bushs proposed tax cuts and instructions to the White House Office of Management and Budget to keep next years spending increases parallel with inflation, tough decisions will be made on how to allocate the nations resources. Even though Republicans maintain a slim majority in the Congress, with the 50-50 split in the Senate, it will largely be up to them to reflector notthe Presidents priorities at appropriations time.
Returning in the 107th Congress as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) characterized his committee as "committed to working with President Bush to hold the line on spending and shrinking the size and scope of government, while preserving such important priorities as education, defense, and medical research."
Retired Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.), who has been a champion of biomedical research and continues to advocate budget increases for NIH, was replaced as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in the new Congress by Ralph Regula (R-Ohio).
Regula, who is also vice chairman of the full Appropriations Committee, is assuming the chairmanship after serving his full term, as limited by the Republican caucus, of 6 years as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Interior. While he has not worked closely with the issues addressed by the Labor, HHS, and Education subcommittee, he began his career as a teacher and school principal, has been an advocate for education issues, and is actively informing himself on the subcommittees other coverage areas. He will visit the NIH in late February and has scheduled a series of "theme hearings" in March to broaden his understanding of the NIHs work.
Craig Higgins, formerly of the National Human Genome Research Institute, is serving as staff director of Regulas subcommittee and will contribute his experience with processes on Capitol Hill and at NIH.
In the Senate, the Appropriations Committee continues to be chaired by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) will remain chair of the Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) returns as the ranking minority member of the subcommittee. Both Stevens and Specter have gone on record as supporting efforts to double the NIH budget. Specter and Harkin recently introduced a resolution, supported by 11 others, both Republicans and Democrats, showing the Senates support for increasing the NIH budget in 2002 by 16.5%, a figure that is in line with the doubling effort and pushed by advocacy groups.
With polls showing that voters from both parties overwhelmingly approve of increases in federal funding of biomedical research, it will be difficult to find someone on the Hill who will oppose, on principle, those expenditures. However, the real test will occur during budget negotiations when competing priorities and limited resources will challenge Congressional commitment to biomedical research.
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